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Tag Archives: business
Tax breaks for bonuses? So what?
Once again, newspaper stories are brimming with oh-the-injustice-of-it-all: Those banks paying all that moolah in bonuses get to take it as a tax deduction. Well, of course they do. Here’s the telling sentence in the New York Times: The tax … Continue reading
Posted in business
Tagged bonuses, business, Goldman Sachs, Income tax, Investment, New York Times, tax, Tax deduction, Wall Street
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Stop the presses! It's caveat emptor on Wall Street!
We’ve all heard those radio ads for mutual funds and such, followed by the (legally obligatory) disclaimer that past results are no guarantee of future results, and that you can lose all of your investment. An even minimally sophisticated investor … Continue reading
Is GM using AIG as its role model?
Okay, I’m overstating the case. But I couldn’t help but gasp when I read in today’s NYTimes that the government has authorized GM to use $2.8 billion of our money to, as the Times put it, “help its former parts … Continue reading
Posted in business
Tagged Bailout, bankruptcy, business, Chapter 11 Title 11 United States Code, Delphi, Delphi Corporation, divestiture, GeneralMotors, GM, Languages, Programming
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And yet more proof that retention bonuses are stupid
There’s an excellent piece in the NYTimes chronicling the many times Citigroup has risen and fallen over the last decade. I do remember, in fact, when Sandy Weill, head of Travelers (which many of you may not realize actually evolved … Continue reading
The compensation wars: Some battles won, still more to fight
This has been a day of mixed blessings when it comes to braking runaway compensation. On the wow-how-great side: Ken Feinberg has ruled — and boy, has he ruled right. Top execs at Citigroup, AIG, BofA, GM and Chrysler — … Continue reading
Hookers can't be green? Such cynicism!
I don’t know what’s more hilarious — Steven Levitt’s posting on the Freakonomics blog telling of a German brothel that is giving a discount to folks who arrived by bike or public transportation — or the analysis of it, and … Continue reading
One thing the insurers have right
I hate being on the side of the health insurance companies on anything. But I’ve got to admit, there’s one very fair point amidst all the scare tactics they are employing as they try to derail health care reform. They claim … Continue reading
Enron's Skilling: A new definition of chutzpah
So Jeffrey Skilling, one of the few Enron chiefs who actually faced jail time for the huge fraud they perpetrated on Enron’s shareholders and employees, is appealing his conviction. And it brings to mind the old definition of chutzpah: Someone … Continue reading
Will the fat cats finally have to diet too?
Until now, layoffs and firings have hit the labor force, up through maybe lower management — in other words, those who can least afford to lose their jobs, and are probably least at fault for the economic predicamant causing them … Continue reading
Health care reform, yes — but not on the backs of doctors
It seems every time I pick up a newspaper or tune into a talk show, I hear another plan to reduce reimbursements to doctors. I think that is a singularly bad idea. Doctors have gone through years of expensive schooling. … Continue reading
new bottom line 