Economy and Business
The Devil Is in the Taxes
While pretty much everybody agrees that the U.S. tax code is a mess, nobody does anything about it. Oh, politicians talk about doing something, but mainly what they do is make it worse. There's a reason for this. You. You're the reason. People, alas, tend to be greedy...
The Bezillionaire Times
Amazon's bezillionaire CEO is buying The Washington Post, America's second-most prestigious daily newspaper. Jeff Bezos only had to pay $250 million, less than 1 percent of his $28 billion personal fortune. Has plutocracy finally overwhelmed our press? Some veteran...
Blowing the Whistle on Philanthropy
Inequality has a silver lining. At least the awesomely affluent think so. If we didn't have grand fortunes, their claim goes, we wouldn't have grand philanthropy. No foundations and handsome bequests for underwriting good causes. No gifts and grants by the tens and...
Why I’m Fed Up with Summers
Will America ever get rid of Robert Rubin? The Wall Streeter became a top economic witch doctor for Bill Clinton in the 1990s. During his tenure, he convinced old Gullible Bill to Drop his campaign promise to help working families by raising the minimum wage. Push...
Exploited by Your Tax Dollars
McDonald's really stepped in it this summer when the fast food empire created a budget for its underpaid employees to help them make ends meet on the low wages they bring home after flipping burgers all week. At first, the McBudget didn't include any money for food or...
The Real IRS Scandal
For weeks, we watched Representative Darrell Issa and the conservative media circus concoct a "scandal" surrounding the IRS's handling of applications by tea party groups for tax-exempt status. The California Republican and his allies then sought to tie the Obama...
Steve Cohen, Meet Al Capone
Al Capone was a bad boy. How bad? He cheated on his income taxes. He went to prison in 1931 for that. Not for the people he gunned down, nor for any of the other gross illegalities the guy committed as a notorious Chicago mobster. Tax evasion landed Capone in the...
The Mother Teresa of Global Retail
Want to see pure altruism in action? Go to Washington, D.C. — not to the federal government's marble buildings, but to the real city, where ordinary folks live. There you'll find a business organization that wants nothing more than to serve the people, help improve...
Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation
After graduating from high school, I had two choices: I could earn a college degree while shouldering debt, or struggle in a highly competitive job market without one. I chose the former. And I'm not the only one. My generation is setting records in higher education....
Depending on the Kindness of Strangers
The other shoe finally dropped in Detroit. The once-proud city — variously known as "Motown," "the Arsenal of Democracy," and "the City of Champions" — filed for bankruptcy. There's a local effort to head off the filing, but most people don't think it will get...
