There was recently a very public debate about how awful airline travel is…vs. how whiney airline passengers are. In the New Yorker, Tim Wu argued that airlines actually create “calculated misery,” in order to trick you into paying more. Criminy, people pay extra now just to board the airplane early,theoretically [Keep reading]
It’s obvious that smartphones and driving are a dangerous combination. At this point, it should be obvious that ever-more-drastic laws banning cell phone use while driving have been ineffective, other than as another revenue-producing tool for law enforcement. A new study of teen drivers offers some insight into why. Experts [Keep reading]
A Georgia firm called millions of consumers attempting to
There’s a huge blind-men-and-the-elephant problem when talking about the economy. Writers can’t help but talk about it like’s it a single thing, that’s either doing well or poorly. Basically, if you’ve lost your job, the economy stinks. If you have a good job, it’s hard to understand what everybody is [Keep reading]
Victims of tax-refund identity theft have a nightmare on their hands — a long-term nightmare. A government audit found that it takes an average of 278 days for the IRS to resolve ID theft complaints and issue tax refunds. And that’s an improvement over the 312 days it took the [Keep reading]
Starbucks said this week it is “doubling down” on its free college offer, expanding from two years to four years the ambitious tuition reimbursement program it announced in 2014. The announcement also deals with criticism the program has received because student/employees had been required to shell out considerable sums and [Keep reading]
Internet firms have a tough time dealing with the kids issue. The temptation to rope children into brand loyalty is great, but many of the things that are most effective are at least immoral, if not illegal. After all, kids’ brains aren’t fully formed, and they are even easier to [Keep reading]
The way Americans spend money is on the verge of its biggest change in decades, but the drumbeat of doubters continues to get louder. New chip-enabled credit cards are slowly getting into consumers’ hands in advance of a looming deadline later this year. But a Walmart executive recently told CNN [Keep reading]
Travell Thomas is desperately trying to save his business, or at least part of it. His debt collection firm, Four Star Resolution, was raided during the morning on Feb. 11, as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission. Employees were told to leave immediately. A temporary restraining [Keep reading]
In the 1970s Sci-fi movie Logan’s Run, viewers are let in on a dirty little secret about a Utopian society — everyone gets killed at age 30. Sure keeps labor costs down. America hasn’t quite become Logan’s Run, but we seem to be tilting that way. It’s no secret that [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan