As if there hasn’t already been enough bad news this year, there’s this little bit of additional local gloom: Colorado is about to become the first state to lower its minimum wage since the minimum wage became law in 1938. The three cent drop is coming because the state’s minimum wage is tied to inflation … Continue reading Colorado minimum wage to drop
I saw a Dex ad yesterday reminding me that a new phone book season is coming soon. And when it arrives, those trashy blocks of paper will begin proliferating on my porch like rabbits (apologies to rabbits everywhere). Hoping to head off the impending population explosion, I went looking for a way to weasel out … Continue reading Phone books: opt out!
Sure enough, the news channels were right. Letters have showed up from the credit card companies announcing all sorts of changes to our terms before new federal regs hit ’em early next year and seriously cramp their style. How badly am I going to get screwed, I wondered, as I started opening the mail. Well, … Continue reading Here we go again with the credit cards
Once upon a time you dressed so fine You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you? — from “Like a Rolling Stone,” Bob Dylan Hey there, Citigroup. How’s it goin’, BoA? What’s that you say? The treasury that gave you all that bailout money last year has abruptly, unexpectedly changed the terms … Continue reading Zing!! How does it feel, BoA?
I’ve been watching the Sunday morning talk shows, and naturally health care reform is the favorite topic. Ideas swirling today: Doctor Shortage On Andersen Cooper, they got around to the shortage of primary care physicians. Sanjay Gupta noted that even in Massachusetts, where something like 97% of the people now have health care coverage, there … Continue reading Do it right the first time
Marketing matters. Corporations spend millions of dollars developing and promoting their brand names. Even the little mom-and-pop business on the corner gives a lot of thought to its branding and reputation in the community. It baffles me, then, when I see well-known, long-established names being discarded when companies merge, split, or otherwise change direction. Such … Continue reading Marketing brinkmanship
