Olympia rally draws defiant gun owners to protest new edict … A crowd of gun rights activists, many armed, estimated at 1,000 by the Washington State Patrol and at up to 3,000 per a photo gallery caption accompanying The Seattle Times' report, gathered at the State Capitol in Olympia Saturday to collectively declare "I will not comply" with the recently passed Initiative 594. T...Read More
Corporate transparency … The openness revolution … As multinationals are forced to reveal more about themselves, where should the limits of transparency lie? … Howard Schulz, the head of Starbucks, said last year that "the currency of leadership is transparency." If so, bosses should be feeling ever more qualified to command their troops. Business is being forced to ope...Read More
Sadly, as a result of a new Spanish law, we'll shortly have to close Google News in Spain. Let me explain why. This new legislation requires every Spanish publication to charge services like Google News for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications, whether they want to or not. As Google News itself makes no money (we do not show any advertising on the site) this new approach i...Read More
Corporate transparency … The openness revolution … As multinationals are forced to reveal more about themselves, where should the limits of transparency lie? … Howard Schulz, the head of Starbucks, said last year that "the currency of leadership is transparency." If so, bosses should be feeling ever more qualified to command their troops. Business is being forced to ope...Read More
Sadly, as a result of a new Spanish law, we'll shortly have to close Google News in Spain. Let me explain why. This new legislation requires every Spanish publication to charge services like Google News for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications, whether they want to or not. As Google News itself makes no money (we do not show any advertising on the site) this new approach i...Read More
Headquartered in Toronto, Barrick Gold Corporation is the world's biggest gold producer, boasting a range of operations around the globe. But for Deutsche Bank analysts Jorge Beristain and Wilfredo Ortiz, Barrick (ABX-TSX; ABX-NYSE) has lost some luster.Not only are they downgrading the mega miner to a "hold" from a buy, but they're cutting their 12-month price target to C$16 from C$22 a share....Read More
Congressional leaders hammer out deal to allow pension plans to cut retiree benefits … The measure would alter 40 years of federal law and could affect millions of workers. A measure that would for the first time allow the benefits of current retirees to be severely cut is set to be attached to a massive spending bill, part of an effort to save some of the nation's most distressed pensio...Read More
Congress will block marijuana legalization in Washington, DC … Congress's massive appropriations bill will likely block a voter-approved marijuana legalization initiative in Washington, DC. The bill "prohibits both federal and local funds from being used to implement a referendum legalizing recreational marijuana use in the District," according to a summary from the House Appro...Read More
Congressional leaders hammer out deal to allow pension plans to cut retiree benefits … The measure would alter 40 years of federal law and could affect millions of workers. A measure that would for the first time allow the benefits of current retirees to be severely cut is set to be attached to a massive spending bill, part of an effort to save some of the nation's most distressed pensio...Read More
Congress will block marijuana legalization in Washington, DC … Congress's massive appropriations bill will likely block a voter-approved marijuana legalization initiative in Washington, DC. The bill "prohibits both federal and local funds from being used to implement a referendum legalizing recreational marijuana use in the District," according to a summary from the House Appro...Read More
Greek turmoil and China worries spark market sell-off …The FTSE 100 suffered its second-heaviest fall this year, wiping £36bn off the value of the index … Political turmoil in Greece and worries about a violent swing in the Chinese stock market combined to spark a global sell-off in equities … In Greece, the ASE index tumbled 12.8pc, a plunge that was its worst one-day fall...Read More
To deter U.S. from torturing again, those involved should be prosecuted … The publication of the long-awaited summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's torture provides a useful moment to consider the lessons learned from this sorry chapter in American history and the steps that might be taken to avoid its recurrence. With the truth now told about this blatantly il...Read More
Greek turmoil and China worries spark market sell-off …The FTSE 100 suffered its second-heaviest fall this year, wiping £36bn off the value of the index … Political turmoil in Greece and worries about a violent swing in the Chinese stock market combined to spark a global sell-off in equities … In Greece, the ASE index tumbled 12.8pc, a plunge that was its worst one-day fall...Read More
To deter U.S. from torturing again, those involved should be prosecuted … The publication of the long-awaited summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's torture provides a useful moment to consider the lessons learned from this sorry chapter in American history and the steps that might be taken to avoid its recurrence. With the truth now told about this blatantly il...Read More
The status of economists … The power of self-belief … A new paper looks at how economists became so influential … "If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people, on a level with dentists, that would be splendid!" said John Maynard Keynes, a British economist. Despite their collective failure to predict the financial crisis, let alon...Read More
Pew: 75% 'better informed' because of Internet news sites, don't feel 'overloaded' … The Internet is revolutionizing news consumption, with more than seven in 10 telling Pew Research Center that they are better informed than they were five years ago because of the news websites they visit daily. In Pew's latest survey of Internet use, 75 percent said they are "be...Read More
The status of economists … The power of self-belief … A new paper looks at how economists became so influential … "If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people, on a level with dentists, that would be splendid!" said John Maynard Keynes, a British economist. Despite their collective failure to predict the financial crisis, let alon...Read More
Pew: 75% 'better informed' because of Internet news sites, don't feel 'overloaded' … The Internet is revolutionizing news consumption, with more than seven in 10 telling Pew Research Center that they are better informed than they were five years ago because of the news websites they visit daily. In Pew's latest survey of Internet use, 75 percent said they are "be...Read More
Is Europe Too Rigid to Survive? … The European Union is suffering from a democracy problem: Too many Europeans feel that integration is being forced upon them. What's worse, they may be right … New research from a group of economists – Luigi Guiso, Paola Sapienza and Luigi Zingales – paints a grim picture of the European project from the perspective of its participants....Read More
Arkansas governor pardons own son for a pot offense. He should pardon a lot more people … Mike Beebe, the Arkansas Democrat whose term as governor is expiring early next year, has formally announced that he plans to pardon his own son for a 2003 marijuana conviction. The plan was first reported last month by local media. It's perfectly reasonable to believe that dealing marijuana –...Read More