Proposals to ban the $100 bill, as a way to thwart terrorists and other criminals, were in the news a couple of years ago, as we reported here at the time. Nothing much happened on that front, but today’s New York Times has a provocative op-ed piece that takes the concept a big step further: banning cash altogether, worldwide. The alternative to cash, according to the piece’s author, Jonathan Lipow of the Defense Resource Management Institute at the Naval Postgraduate School, is smart-card technology that would allow consumers to transfer money from a buyer’s card to a seller’s, for example. Apparently the cards themselves would keep records of all transactions, which would periodically be downloaded onto centralized computers. There, according to the piece, “insurgents’ and terrorists’ electronic payments would generate audit trails that could be screened by data mining software.” Presumably your transactions and mine could be similarly searched, if anybody cared to. What do you think of this? Read more…
With our grocery dollars seldom going any farther than they used to, many households are hit with the dilemma of how to acquire food for less. Organizations like Angel Food Ministries and SHARE offer viable solutions to individuals and families by providing monthly boxes of groceries for considerably less than what they sell retail.
Each website offers a different monthly menu as well as specialty items which can be picked up at a host site located in your community.
– Lew Prince is managing partner of Vintage Vinyl, an independent music store in St. Louis. He is also a member of Business for Shared Prosperity, which has circulated a petition against extending the Bush-era tax cuts. The views expressed are his own. –
As a small business owner for more than 30 years, I have to be reality based.
I budget and make decisions that consider both short- and long-term realities. My company wouldn’t last a week if we kept repeating mistakes.
The Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans were a big mistake. We should let them expire, not repeat the mistake by extending them. It’s an illusion that it will be easier to end them after a two-year extension.
High-end tax cuts haven’t trickled down as job creation. President Bush had the worst job creation record since 1939. The only thing trickling down was economic meltdown, foreclosures, unemployment, business closures and budget cuts.
Contrary to myth, my tax rate doesn’t affect hiring. If I think
Here’s some food for thought. Bruised by debt and swelling competition, A&P, one of America’s most venerable supermarket chains filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection over the weekend, though the company says all of its nearly 400 stores will remain open, fully stocked, and operating business as usual. At least for now. Founded in 1859 as a coffee, tea, and spice merchant, A&P today runs nearly 400 stores in the Northeast under its flagship name as well as Waldbaum’s, The Food Emporium, Super Fresh, Pathmark, Best Cellars, and Food Basics logos. The bankruptcy filing will give the company breathing room to restructure its debt, reduce “structural” costs, and keep paying its bills via access to some $800 million in what’s called “debtor-in-possession” financing. Experts predict that A&P might end up scuttling as many as a quarter of its stores on the road back to solvency. Like many supermarket operators, A&P has been pummeled by the sour economy and reduced consumer spending. The chain, a Read more…
It should come as no surprise that the new year is a time of reflection and setting new goals for ourselves. Sometimes it’s a vow to be healthier, or maybe you will finally pay off that nagging credit card balance, but whatever it is we always seem to use January 1st as some sort of finish line for bad habits and starting line for change. Well, unless you’re talking about something that does rely on the calendar year such as taxes, there’s really no difference between today and January 1st. So, why wait?
Rather than waiting for the turn of the calendar you should sit down today and put a few things into motion immediately rather than waiting. This doesn’t mean you won’t stick to your guns and make any changes come January, but the longer you wait to do something, the better the chance of something else coming up and prolonging it even further. So, here