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Wealth Inequality in America

abbe — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:52:27 +0000

YouTube Video Published on Nov 20, 2012 Infographics on the distribution of wealth in America, highlighting both the inequality and the difference between our perception of inequality and the actual numbers. The reality is often not what we think it is. References: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2… http://danariely.com/2010/09/30/wealt… http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011… http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/19/news/…
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The triumph of the virtual corporation

abbe — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:36:41 +0000

Original article By Jerry Davis This post is part of an Aspen Institute Business & Society Program conversation series exploring ways to align the incentives of business and the capital markets with the long-term health of society. To learn more, visit www.aspeninstitute.org/bsp. Dell’s (DELL) buyout is the latest in a series of firms leaving the [...]
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Property Protection for the Virtual Nobility

abbe — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:42:55 +0000

“For the Executive With Everything, a $230,000 Dog to Protect It” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/12dogs.html?hp
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The End of the Information Frontier

abbe — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:35:10 +0000

Source Introduction The possibility now exists of capturing a cradle-to-grave record of everything a person says or does. No longer must a personal history be a partial picture. Technology has made it possible to record, process, store, and retrieve all the text, sounds and images that are required to paint a complete picture of an [...]
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Addendum to Transfer Pricing

abbe — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:20:31 +0000

Just the tip of an offshore rig. “Transocean, shifted its headquarters for tax purposes to the Cayman Islands from Houston, though a vast majority of its executives still work in Houston. [T]hen, in 2008, for tax purposes, it moved its headquarters again, this time to Switzerland from the Cayman Islands.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/business/global/08ocean.html?hp Like transfer pricing, shifting [...]
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Transfer Pricing

abbe — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:48:41 +0000

Transfer pricing is an accounting practice employed by multinational companies to minimize their global tax obligation (see discussion of this topic in Virtual Organization). A company can book profits in low tax countries and claim expenses in high tax countries. Suppose, for example, a car manufacturer has plants in the US and Mexico and that [...]
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Fighting the Debt Farmers

abbe — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:40:28 +0000

Since posting the piece on “Debt Farming” I have come across a New York Times article reporting on one person’s effort to take on the debt farmers. Steven Katz, an accountant in suburban Tuscon, Arizona, having been burned himself, advises others on how to deal with debt collectors. Like the character Howard Beale in the [...]
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THE WAGES OF VIRTUAL SIN: Debt Farming

abbe — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:26:15 +0000

The sale of debt obligations to ‘debt farmers’ is a particularly insidious practice of present day business. Portfolios of unpaid and disputed bills from phone, credit card, utility companies or retailers are routinely sold to specialized firms for pennies on the dollar. This may be a very profitable operation for the purchaser if the firm [...]
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THE WAGES OF VIRTUAL SIN: Financial predators

abbe — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:16:01 +0000

FRIAR BARNARDINE. Thou hast committed– BARABAS. Fornication: but that was in another country, And besides, the wench is dead. - from “The Jew of Malta,” Christopher Marlowe, 1589/1590 Wars and calamities breed predators. Morality is almost always a casualty of the disorder following upon conflict and social upheaval. So we should not be surprised, however [...]
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THE WAGES OF VIRTUAL SIN: Diminished trust in borrowing and lending

abbe — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:14:21 +0000

LORD POLONIUS Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. - from “Hamlet,” William Shakespeare, 1599/1601 Few of us have been following Lord Polonius’ advice. Credit is the lubricant of the modern economy. In the throes of a major financial collapse [...]
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