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Are You Eating Recalled Food?

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Companies don’t recall products unless they absolutely have to. So why are so many people ignoring recall warnings?

  • Because recalls have become so common, consumers are experiencing “recall fatigue.” They either never get the recall message or they choose to ignore it. In the case of fresh food, the product has usually already been eaten by the time the recall is issued.
  • When a product is recalled, it’s relatively easy to have retailers pull it off the shelves. But it’s much harder to track down each individual that’s purchased that item already to let them know.
  • Costco, a member-based retailer, tracks each member’s purchases and calls them when one of the products they’ve purchased has been recalled.

Facts & Figures

  • In 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission facilitated 465 recalls.
  • 12% of Americans have eaten food they knew had been recalled.
  • The government keeps an updated list of recalls at www.recalls.gov. Mobile versions of the site are in the works.

Best Quote

“The national recall system that’s in place now just doesn’t work. We call it the Chicken Little syndrome. If you keep shouting at the wind — ‘The sky is falling! The sky is falling!’ — people literally become immune to the message.” – Craig Wilson, Assistant Vice President for Quality Assurance and Food Safety at Costco

Strikes In Greece And Spain Indicate A Shaky Economy

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Stress in southern Europe reaches a high as citizens protest continued economic blows.

  • Strikes raged in Greece and Spain as governments desperately tried to revitalize the tumbling Euro by cutting pension plans and public sector pay.
  • The European Central Bank, in a one year cash injection strategy to get Spanish banks back on their feet, has reported that their bailout strategy will not roll over into the following year, leaving shaky Spanish banks furious.
  • Investors fear that the rising stress caused by widespread strikes, coupled with the weak condition of the Euro, could hurt European economic recovery.

Facts & Figures

  • The Euro has been pushed to a lifetime low against the Swiss franc.
  • European shares fell to their lowest in nearly three weeks, dropping -1.7%.

Best Quote

“Sentiment appears fragile and significant downside risks remain to already pretty muted euro zone economic recovery.” – Howard Archer, Chief EuropeanEconomist, IHS Global Insight

Putting A Price On Immigration

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Economists consider if the best way to control entry into a country is a fee…

  • Economist Gary Becker advocates an economic solution for the global immigration problem. He proposes attaching a price to immigration, either by selling the right to migrate or auctioning immigrant visas.
  • Becker argues that only the most determined or resourceful migrants would be successful, greatly simplifying the process and allowing governments more immigration control. In addition, the receiving country would benefit financially, potentially helping to reduce budget deficits.
  • For those who were committed to immigrating, but unable to pay the fee, Becker advises a loaning system in which migrants could borrow from the government and pay them back over time.

Facts & Figures

  • Charging 50,000 dollars for the right to immigrate into America would yield the country $50 billion if it let in 1 million immigrants a year.

Wal-Mart Fights Hunger

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

America’s king of low low prices shares some of their profit with the poor.

  • Wal-Mart and the Wal-Mart Foundation announced a plan to donate $250 million in cash and $1.75 billion worth of food to fight hunger in the United States.
  • Because of the recession, food banks in the United States have been struggling to keep up with demand.
  • Wal-Mart remains committed to reducing hunger nationwide, including providing healthy food for schools.

Facts and Figures

  • About 49 million people in the U.S. don’t get enough healthy food to eat (up 36% from last year).
  • Wal-Mart’s plan will provide enough food for more than 1 billion meals.
  • Wal-Mart donated $423 million in 2008 and $512 million in 2009 (in both cash and products).

Best Quote

“Increasingly, we see opportunities to use our scale and reach to solve challenges in our communities. This is one of those times. By working together, we believe that we can reach a day where no individual in this country has to go to bed hungry or worry there will be food to put on the table tomorrow.” – Eduardo Castro-Wright, Vice Chairman of Wal-Mart

Americans Save Up In A Fragile Economy

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

It seems our consumer culture is starting to appreciate a nest egg – spending less and saving more.

  • This May, wary Americans put more into savings then any other month since September, reflecting a cautious financial attitude after the economy’s tumble.
  • This conservative financial attitude comes mostly from sluggish wage growth, which could get even worse at the end of the year when temporary census jobs expire.
  • The gross domestic product takes a blow when consumer morale is low, because it is largely based on spending; meaning that saving – though wise – slows America’s economic recovery.

Facts & Figures

  • In May, the personal savings rate rose +4%
  • At the height of the housing boom in 2005, the personal savings rate was barely 1%

Hulu Makes A Grab For Your Wallet

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Hulu is introducing a paid subscription model in addition to its existing service.

  • Hulu Plus, Hulu’s new subscription service, charges a monthly fee in exchange for offering users a much wider range of episodes and programs, including full seasons of current shows and back seasons of past programs.
  • Hulu Plus will be available on many different devices, including laptops, the iPhone, iTouch, and iPad, Samsung TVs, and Blu-ray players. A deal with Sony to bring the service to the PS3 is expected, and it will also be available on the 360 next year.
  • Hulu Plus’ biggest challenge will be attracting users who are used to getting the same programs for free on regular television.

Facts and Figures

  • The starting subscription fee for Hulu Plus is $9.99 per month.
  • Three of the four major broadcast network owners- General Electric (NBC), Disney (ABC), and News Corp (Fox) – hold equity stakes in Hulu. CBS Corp is the only holdout.

Best Quote

“We believe that any lasting solution to the challenge of making TV show discovery and viewing dramatically easier has to work for all three of our customers, and those are our end users, our advertisers, and our content suppliers.”  Jason Kilar, Hulu Chief Executive

Air Traffic Rebounds In May

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

After chaos in April when Eyjafjallajökull’s spewed volcanic ash all over northern Europe, air traffic increased in May.

  • Airlines remain focused on recovering from 2009.
  • The airline industry lost about $2 billion when passenger planes were grounded because of the eruption.
  • Because of recent economic turmoil, Europe has shown weak airline industry growth.

Facts and Figures

  • International passenger air traffic increased +12% in May.
  • Airlines expect a $2.5 billion profit in 2010 – a huge turnaround from the $9.9 billion loss in 2009.
  • Air freight increased +34% in May, up from 26%.

Best Quote

“This is good news, but it is only a 0.5% margin. We are still a long way from sustainable profitability.” – Giovanni Bisignani, Director General of the International Transport Association

New Homes Didn’t Sell In May

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Because a special tax credit for purchasing new-homes expired in April, sales plunged in May.

  • The drop in new home sales, which are at the lowest number since 1970, may be the result of buyers rushing to purchase homes before the tax credit expired.
  • New home construction and applications for home-buying loans also declined in May.
  • The decline may not be indicative of a weak recovery, but instead merely a reaction to the expired tax credit.

Facts & Figures

  • New home sales fell -32.7% from April to May.
  • Sales had increased by +12.1% in March and +14.7% in April.
  • In May 2010, the median price of a new home was $200,900, which is 9.6% lower than in 2009.

Best Quote

“It’s a concern that even with very low interest rates, you’re seeing there’s an inability of home sales to move up at all in the past year, but there’s a reason to believe going forward things wouldn’t be quite as bad as they are in May.” – Michael Feroli, Chief U.S. Economist at J.P. Morgan Chase

Making A Legal Profit With Marijuana

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Colorado’s medical marijuana industry is hampered by a slew of rules and restrictions as lawmakers attempt to establish standards of respectability within this promising new market.

  • Amendment 1284, a new set of regulations for the marijuana industry, is expected to put many dispensaries out of business. But some dispensaries are welcoming the regulations since the more regulated (and respectable) their business appears to be, the easier it will be for them to operate.
  • In order to succeed as a dispensary of medical marijuana, entrepreneurs must grow their own weed (which vastly increases profits), and secure “caregiver rights” (the more customers who give your establishment caregiver rights, the more marijuana you can grow).
  • Thus far, the industry has failed to generate anywhere near the amount of revenue predicted by the lawmakers who supported the drug’s legalization. In fact, the people making the most money from the business are not dispensaries, but the medical professionals who issue medical marijuana certificates.

Facts & Figures

  • To date, 80,000 people in Colorado have medical marijuana certificates, and the number of certificate holders is increasing by about 1,000 people per month.
  • Americans spend approximately $25 billion per year on marijuana. The sales in Colorado so far are expected to generate about $2.7 million in license fees (not including the $681,000 in income taxes collected from July 2009 to February 2010). By contrast, Dr. Boland, a certificate-issuer interviewed by the newspaper, has grossed $1 million over the past year.
  • 13 states and the District of Columbia currently have medical marijuana laws.

Best Quote

“We’re past the days when people call here to ask if marijuana will give men breasts. Now, the calls are from angel investors, or REITs – people who are looking for ways to invest or offer their services.” – Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

The Rocky Relationship Between Philanthropy And Government

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

The federal government and philanthropic programs have always struggled to get along, but they’re trying to put their differences aside to help programs grow.

  • The government sometimes has a hard time following through on promised funding to nonprofits. For example, $50 million that might have been allocated to Teach for America’s 2011 budget met calamity when political pressure cut the funds completely.
  • Program funding is moving away from direct government disbursements and toward foundations with grant applications and matching programs.
  • As budgets are expected to tighten, the relationship between philanthropy and the government will only become more complicated.

Facts & Figures

  • Teach for America received $18 million in the 2010 federal budget.
  • The Investing in Innovation Fund, run by the Department of Innovation, gives up to $50 million to education programs that are able to match 20% of the grant with private money.
  • 12 foundations have pledged over $500 million that they will use to either match winners or help programs that do not win government money from the fund.

Best Quote

“Partnership with government is going to continue to be hard. We should pursue it but with a sober recognition there will be curves ahead on the road that you can’t see coming.” – David Gergen, Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

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