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Cyber Monday Is a Fake Holiday
Tweet Share on Facebook November 30, 2009 Comment (10)I know, as a journalist, I'm supposed to write about how today is Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year, and how it's the latest rival to Black Friday, and about all the amazing deals that are coming your way. While it's true that there are deals out there today, let's put the charade aside: Cyber Monday is a made-up marketing term that has been promulgated by journalists looking for an easy way to write about online retail. Yes, the subject of the growth of online retail versus the decline of traditional retail is an interesting one and should be tackled, but let's not pretend that there is some online shopping day equivalent to Black Friday.
Here is the best breakdown of everything you need to know about Cyber Monday—as a marketing term, not an actual event. The key fact is that since 2005 (the year "Cyber Monday" was first widely promulgated), the first Monday after Thanksgiving has never been the biggest online shopping day. Instead, consumers seem to buy more in roughly mid-December. Last year, the Monday after Thanksgiving was only the third-biggest online shopping day.
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China: The Collapse of an Economic Model
Tweet Share on Facebook November 30, 2009 Comment (4)The housing bubble's pop led to a lot of Americans fundamentally questioning capitalism as an economic system, from Michael Moore's most recent flick to a poll that found that many Americans prefer socialism.
But despite these misgivings, I don't think anyone has seriously thought that capitalism is on the way out in this country. Free enterprise, in one shape or another, is a tradition that has been with Americans since before the nation was founded.
What about a country that does not have those same traditions? Tyler Cowen asked that question in regards to China and the possible popping of an economic bubble there:
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Healthcare Reform: The Industries That Might Have To Pay
Tweet Share on Facebook November 25, 2009 Comment (1)The version of healthcare reform passed by the House would tax employers that fail to offer health insurance to employees if they are above a certain size—$500,000 in annual payroll (the Senate version takes a less aggressive approach.) That range covers about 13 percent of all firms in the country. What kinds of businesses are these?
The Small Business Administration just released some data that provides some answers to that question by revealing which industries have the most businesses with over $500,000 in annual payroll. These statistics show the number of firms within different industries grouped by payroll size. I crunched some numbers and found out the industries with the highest percentage of firms that would be susceptible to the employer mandate if the House bill's provision makes it into the final version of healthcare reform.
Click for the list after the jump.
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Big Box Retailers Continue To Perform Relatively Well In Recession
Tweet Share on Facebook November 25, 2009 Comment (3)Online shopping is expected to grow this holiday season—impressive for such a weak consumer market. Might big box stores get a similar boost in the next month as consumers look for the cheapest way to shop?
The data gurus at Sageworks Inc. imply as much in a release today. Their evidence is that big box retailers have held up much better than other retailers in 2009:
Because people feel they can do more one-stop shopping and bargain finding at big retail stores, sales at publicly-traded retailers have fared better in 2009 (-.7% in 2009) than at smaller, privately-held retailers (-5.8% in 2009).
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Schumer Criticizes Outsourcing of NBA Uniforms to Thailand
Tweet Share on Facebook November 25, 2009 Comment (10)Adidas recently announced it is moving its NBA uniform factory from upstate New York to Thailand. The sportswear company has an exclusive contract with the NBA to make its uniforms.
But now, noted Adidas executive Chuck Schumer reversed the company's move, and decided that, based on his close, personal knowledge of the inner workings of the company, it would be best to keep the factory in the U.S.
Actually, that's not what happened. NBA commissioner Chuck Schumer decided to cancel Adidas's contract because he no longer wanted the NBA associating with a company that outsources U.S. jobs, and, through the powers invested in him by the league's owners, has the power to make that call.
Nope, that's stiill not what happened. The truth is, New York Senator Chuck Schumer became to the NBA what Arlen Specter is to the NFL and John McCain is to Major League Baseball. Read his office's announcement.
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Younger Americans Less Likely to Start Businesses
Tweet Share on Facebook November 23, 2009 CommentOver the weekend, Elliot Gerson of the Rhodes Trust wrote about the trend over the last two decades of more and more Rhodes scholars going into business over supposedly more noble pursuits such as medicine, law, science and public service (HT: David Boaz). Although he never explicitly says it, Gerson strongly implies that the financial crisis should make bright young people question the value of business as a career, and maybe even reverse this trend among Rhodes scholars (although he's not hopeful):
Many thought a silver lining of last year's financial crisis -- or from the populist rage that flared against Wall Street excess and to profits born not from creativity but from leverage -- would be that earnings differentials would return from obscene to merely enormous levels, if not to the very generous multiples that had long been adequate to fuel a vibrant economy. Well, the hyper-bonuses are back -- astonishingly having been made even easier to achieve with taxpayers socializing the downside risks. And the crisis? What crisis?
So how many more of America's young and brightest will ask themselves what kind of chumps they are to give up the chance to earn 100 or 500 times as much as their mentors, their doctors, their favorite professors, their idols and heroes?
But Gerson should be careful what he wishes for. It's probably true that the Great Recession has made business a less desirable career. But when business loses its luster among those entering the workforce, we don't just lose Ken Lays or subprime mortgage lenders—we also lose the entrepreneurs who will start the next great businesses.
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Should Consumers Vote With Their Dollars on Gay Rights Issues?
Tweet Share on Facebook November 23, 2009 Comment (3)Remember when progressives staged a boycott of Whole Foods after CEO John Mackey wrote an op-ed criticizing single-payer healthcare, and critics of Obamacare staged a "buycott" to promote the company? Of course, that won't be the last time activists use consumer power as ammunition in political battles.
What was strange about that episode is that Mackey has for a long time publicly declared himself as a libertarian, and made clear he supports economic policies many progressives find horrific. But what about companies where we don't know the ideologies of executives? Activists have an incentive to find out those secrets.
Enter the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign. It's an annual index that rates companies based on what HRC sees as adherence to LGBT rights. Large employers filled out surveys with questions regarding company policies toward LGBT people, such as harassment policies, or benefits for same-sex couples.
You might think that because it's a voluntary survey, only the most progressive companies would comply. BUt HRC says that the index reveals stark differences between some competing companies.
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Palin Fan Can't Believe Sarah Supported Bank Bailout
Tweet Share on Facebook November 20, 2009 Comment (4)Skip to about two minutes into this video, and enjoy the awkwardness.
She responds, "I don't think if you asked [Palin] today, she would support it."
Well, of course not. That's what you do when supporting small government suddenly becomes politically convenient—you switch positions.
Bruce Bartlett has a column today on a much bigger instance of Republican hypocrisy regarding small government. Most Republicans in Congress today argue that healthcare reform is unacceptable because it would cost $900 billion over 10 years. But six years ago, when President Bush proposed a prescription drug benefit that would cost $1 trillion over 10 years, many of those same Republicans were all for it.
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Ron Paul Fed Provision Passes House Financial Services Committee
Tweet Share on Facebook November 20, 2009 Comment (55)Ron Paul has received the most attention he's got since his presidential campaign with his "audit the Fed" bill. Now, that legislation seems to have a shot at passing, as it has been attached to Barney Frank's financial regulation bill.
But the irony is that, for Paul and other Republicans, in order to limit what they see as overreaching federal government power in the form of the Federal Reserve, they would have to greatly expand federal government power in the form of other aspects of the Frank bill. Among other things, it would establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, an idea that has been maligned by free-market groups.
See my interview with Rep. Paul for more on his plan, which may become a reality.
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Interchange Fees: GAO Recommends Caution on Regulation
Tweet Share on Facebook November 19, 2009 Comment (3)The Government Accountability Office just issued a report on the issue of rising interchange fees for merchants who offer credit card services. As I wrote in a previous article, merchant groups have got the ears of certain members of Congress, and regulation is on the table that would theoretically lead to lower interchange fees for merchants and lower prices for consumers.
But, as I explained, the issue isn't that simple. There are several myths that both sides (merchants on one side, credit card issuers on the other) are bandying about to make their individual stance look like the unalloyed good.
The GAO report serves to show how complicated interchange regulation is. But it does provide some notes of caution that Congress should heed before it acts.
