Jun 27 Louis XIV’s accounting shenanigans and the threat they pose today By Jacob Soll Leaders have known how to do good accounting for nearly a millennium, but many financial institutions and regimes have just chosen not to do it. Historian Jacob Soll traces the origins of capitalism and representative government to basic accounting, and… Continue reading
Jun 26 Ikea to boost average minimum wage in U.S. By Talia Mindich Swedish furniture retailer Ikea will boost average minimum wage for its U.S. retail employees by 17 percent to $10.76 per hour, the company announced Thursday. Continue reading
Jun 26 Why brokerage account insurance is a bigger scam than Madoff By Laurence Kotlikoff Responding to the president and CEO of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, Larry Kotiloff stands by his call for readers to close their brokerage accounts because the SIPC, he argues, doesn't exist to protect them; it exists to penalize them. Continue reading
Jun 26 Your brokerage account is safe with the Securities Investor Protection Corporation By Stephen Harbeck Do you really need to close your brokerage account, as Larry Kotlikoff warns? Stephen Harbeck, president and CEO of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, argues that the SIPC has recovered lost investments for victims of investor fraud, such as Bernie… Continue reading
Jun 25 Watch 9:28 Former treasury secretary urges business world to heed climate change risks By PBS News Hour If you are an American investor, the risks of climate change should matter to you. That's the message from the Risky Business Project, led by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, billionaire financier Tom Steyer and former Treasury Secretary Henry… Continue watching
Jun 25 U.S. economy shrinks to a 5-year low By Sarah Corapi Since the recession ended in 2009, the U.S. economy has experienced mainly positive growth. But new data from the Commerce Department on Wednesday reveals that in the first quarter of 2014, the economy contracted -- suffering its sharpest pullback in… Continue reading
Jun 25 How this community college student turned her biggest weakness into a marketable strength By Stephanie Pinto After years of teachers scolding her for talking too much, Stephanie Pinto thought she had a problem. In community college, her grades were lackluster; she wasn't putting in the effort and she didn't have any confidence. But through the career… Continue reading
Jun 24 What employers really want: Skills get you hired; behavior gets you fired By Gerald Chertavian How does Year Up, a career development program for urban young adults, place students without college degrees in stable jobs? Paul Solman speaks with Year Up founder and CEO Gerald Chertavian about teaching the cognitive abilities that land their students… Continue reading
Jun 23 Watch ‘Ivory Tower’ explores why American higher education is so pricey By PBS News Hour The rise in U.S. college tuition is unsustainable. That’s the argument of a new television documentary, “Ivory Tower,” which tackles growing worries and critique over college costs and student debt. Jeffrey Brown talks to filmmaker Andrew Rossi about the origins… Continue watching