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THE RED TAPE CHRONICLES

Technology has hidden side effects -- we reveal them here

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Gotchas / Consumer

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

Thanksgiving was stolen from this mom; a taxpayer hacking scandal was revealed

November 27, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

Imagine loading up your shopping cart on Thanksgiving week, strolling to the checkout counter with a buggy packed with stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, apple pies….only to be told by the store clerk that your card won’t work.  Crying baby in one arm, smartphone in one hand, you are ushered to [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Big Tech ‘banks’ like Venmo now subject to fed oversight; for now, anyway

November 21, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

If it acts like a bank, works like a bank, makes money like a bank — and when things go wrong, it can wreck lives like a bank — it should have to follow the same rules as a bank.  That’s the logic behind a new rule established Thursday by [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Finally, the end of subscription traps is in sight. Unless new FTC rule is put on hold

October 24, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

It’s an irony too obvious to avoid writing: a group of big tech firms has sued to put the new “Click-to-Cancel Rule” on hold. Enough. We should hang up on them. Maybe I’m just unlucky, but I often pull my smartphone out of my pocket and I’m aghast to see [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Inflation? We’re living in the golden age of Gotcha Capitalism

August 22, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

Inflation. That might be the most important word in the future of America right now, so it’s worth taking a few moments to understand it a little better. I think I can help by talking today about how prices are set.  Well….in reality, technology has changed business so radically that [Keep reading]

Cybercrime / Privacy

Social media hack attack relies on the kindness of friends; I was (almost) a victim

August 13, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

You might think your humble social media account would be of no use to multinational crime gangs, but you’d be wrong. Computer criminals have dozens of ways to turn hijacked Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Twitter accounts into cash…or worse. You’d be stunned how quickly friend-of-friend attacks escalate into massive crime [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Enough with the spam texts already; and a scam roundup

July 9, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

The above messages are all fake; they all landed on my smartphone in the past couple of days. You’ve probably seen them, or texts just like them.  If they feel relentless, that’s because they are.  According to Robokiller.com, Americans received 19 billion fake texts in June.  Just in June! That’s [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Finally, alarm bells about kids and tech. But it’s not just kids and tech

June 20, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

You roll over in the morning, and you impulsively reach for it.  You walk away from your desk and dig into your pocket for it. You have a free second or two waiting for a bus….or waiting for a red light…and you grab it.  When you can’t get at it, [Keep reading]

Bob Sullivan's podcast projects

As job scams soar, a new set of victims emerges — small businesses

April 26, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

Imagine getting a flurry of emails and calls from angry people claiming you’ve stolen their money — by promising them a job that doesn’t exist.  And you have no idea who they are, or why they are calling. Work-from-home scams aren’t new, but I’ve seen enough data points lately that [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Angry about inflation? It’s time you got to know rockets and feathers

April 10, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

It’s rockets and feathers. All over the economy. As economists and politicians keep wringing their hands about inflation, I sure wish they would read up on asymmetric price adjustment — a phenomenon dubbed “rockets and feathers” in this 2009 paper. Prices rise faster than they fall. Inflation always “sticks” longer [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

When we treat workers like server space, (almost) everyone loses

February 23, 2024 Bob Sullivan 0

The $15 minimum wage battle cry always rang hollow to me.  I know, $15 sounds like a lot to people who grew up in the 1970s or 80s (the minimum wage was $3.35 when I got my first job. Come to think of it, this would be a fun first [Keep reading]

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About me

BOB SULLIVAN is a veteran journalist and the author of four books, including the 2008 New York Times Best-Seller, Gotcha Capitalism, and the 2010 New York Times Best Seller, Stop Getting Ripped Off! His latest, The Plateau Effect, was published in 2013, and as a paperback, called Getting Unstuck in 2014. He has won the Society of Professional Journalists prestigious Public Service award, a Peabody award, and The Consumer Federation of America Betty Furness award, and been given Consumer Action’s Consumer Excellence Award.

Bob Sullivan

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