Economy and Business
Chief Tax-Dodging Officers
Republican and Democratic leaders don’t often see eye to eye on taxes. But surprisingly, corporate tax reform looks like one area where there might actually be some potential for bipartisan action in Washington. This should be good news, since our corporate tax system...
High-Status Sad Sacks
Here's something that might not have occurred to you: It's not easy being rich. Well, yes, there are all those things that money can buy to alleviate the burden of fabulous wealth — things like servants, summers in Provence, private jets, and such. But as an article...
Leave No Generation Behind
Over a decade ago, I got a call from Bill Gates. Not the Bill Gates you're probably thinking of. It was Bill Gates Sr., the Microsoft founder's dad. He was eager to speak out in support of the federal estate tax, our nation’s only levy on inherited wealth. He called...
Silicon Valley Shakedown
The demigods of Silicon Valley like to present themselves as miracle workers, able to create electronic wonders (and wondrous profits) from nothing but their vaunted imaginations and entrepreneurial prowess. Well, yes. But there’s another part to that program: their...
Your Server Isn’t on the Menu
At a popular sit-down restaurant in Independence, Missouri, Allison waits tables for $3.60 an hour — the going rate for servers at her restaurant. Advocates of raising the federal hourly tipped minimum wage of $2.13 up to the standard minimum wage — currently pegged...
The 0.01 Percent’s ‘I Reap All’ Accounts
Do you remember when Mitt Romney's IRA made headlines during his failed 2012 presidential campaign? That outsized retirement stash estimated at between $20 and $102 million probably led President Barack Obama to propose limiting the buildup of IRA values. It turns out...
You Just Got ‘Richsplained’
Tiffany Beroid, a mother and Wal-Mart employee in Laurel, Maryland, was forced to drop out of college because of her employer's low wages and erratic scheduling practices. When she spoke out about the problems she faced, Wal-Mart fired her. Since then, Beroid has...
America’s Grand Fortunes Go Overboard
Imagine yourself part of the typical American family. Your household would have, the Federal Reserve reported in September, a net worth of $81,200. That's not a whole lot of money. But half of America's households would actually have less wealth than you do. Now...
Olive Garden Execs Parachute Away
Imagine the Three Stooges as waiters. Curly's pouring hot soup in laps, Moe's sneezing in the spaghetti, and Larry's lighting a well-coiffed woman's hair on fire with the bananas flambé. When their boss finally gives them the boot, the customers cheer. And if the...
Try to Buy a Baloney Sandwich with That
As an old popular song asks: What do you get if you "work your fingers right down to the bone?" Boney fingers. As housekeepers in the sprawling Marriott hotel chains know, that's more than a cute lyric. It's the truth. These "room attendants," as they're called, are...
