Photo stories
Month: January 2017
Gotchas / Consumer
Scenes from the inauguration: Practice
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Gotchas / Consumer
Two people claiming to be director of a federal agency? Here’s the courtroom drama to watch in Trump’s first days
There’s a courtroom drama playing out that’s likely to spark a Constitutional crisis during the first few days of the Trump Administration — and could lead to two people simultaneously claiming to be the director of a major federal agency. You’ll need a scorecard to follow along, so that’s what [Keep reading]
Gotchas / Consumer
Will a Trump presidency mean the return of Gotcha Capitalism?
Free markets mean corporations and consumers are engaged in a constant arm-wrestling match over prices and rules governing marketplaces. When President-elect Donald Trump takes office, will the rules of this engagement change substantially? Already, Republicans are fighting hard to dismantle, or at least dis-empower, the nation’s newest federal consumer protection [Keep reading]
Gotchas / Consumer
BREAKING: CFPB sues Navient, formerly Sallie Mae, largest student loan servicer, says it ‘cheated’ borrowers
If this is the last act of Richard Cordray’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it’s a doozy. The bureau announced Wednesday it was suing Navient, formerly Sallie Mae, for allegedly deceiving student loan borrowers about their rights during repaying. The state of Illinois also announced it had sued Navient on Wednesday, [Keep reading]
Cybercrime / Privacy
Credit, debit card fraud activity up sharply — thanks (?) to those new EMV chips
Those fraud-fighting, chip-enabled credit cards seem to be everywhere now and — credit card fraud activity is up dramatically. That might actually be a good thing, however. Retail fraud attempts rose 31 percent during the holiday shopping season, compared to last year, according to fraud-fighting firm ACI Worldwide. The firm [Keep reading]
Gotchas / Consumer
‘Nothing to do but pay until we die’ – student loan debts soar among the over-60 crowd
It’s an old joke that’s quickly becoming reality for many student loan borrowers: “I’ll be paying off my student loans until I die.” During the past decade, there’s been a stunning rise in student loan debt owed by older Americans. The number of Americans aged 60 or older with one [Keep reading]
Cybercrime / Privacy
Ignore those ‘keep your shoes on’ airport security ads; high heels still don’t fly
“Keep your shoes on,” hawks the advertisements, with the image an elegant very-high-heeled sandal there to catch the eye. The ads urge weary travels on airport security lines to sign up for expedited screening, which is said to come with this major side benefit — no walking through security on [Keep reading]
The Restless Project
If you are in these 50 professions, robots are coming for your job (and a few that are safe from ‘digital outsourcing’)
Every time you check yourself out at a grocery store, even if you find it terribly convenient, there’s probably a little voice inside you that thinks, “Uh-oh.” As in, “Uh-oh, there’s a machine doing the job a person used to do.” Well, here’s the bad news. There’s plenty more where [Keep reading]
Features
Grocery shopping is so 20th Century; eaters are looking for ‘experiences’ now (or what is old is new again)
Next time you run to the grocery store for bread and milk, you might find yourself staying for a champagne tasting. Or seduced by Comice Pears. Or perhaps you’ll just stay home and cook the elicoidali pasta and mascarpone cheese from your Blue Apron box. The digital age has changed [Keep reading]