Business Pundit

What defined business in 2009? Bankers and bailouts, for one. The proliferation of social media. A radical shift in the ways we find and accept jobs. A redefinition of the real estate, credit, and media markets. In a word, 2009 was full of… Read more

Here’s a recap of the Madoff case, from the Wall Street Journal: Bernard L. Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market and a force in Wall Street trading for nearly 50 years, was arrested by federal agents Thursday, a day after his… Read more

From the LA Times: The National Bureau of Economic Research, the private body charged with determining the onset of a recession as well as its endpoint, said Monday that the current downturn met its definition of a recession: “a significant… Read more

NPR shares news indicating that GM is actually willing to cut costs to preserve itself: For years, General Motors has been the biggest sponsor of professional football, indeed of professional sports. But this year, the automaker is pulling… Read more

The Financial Times reports an ironic twist for an industry that was in a tailspin just a few months ago: The biggest US airlines stand to return to profitability next year, a stunning turnround for an industry that appeared to be heading… Read more

From NPR: Credit card companies are trying to cut the credit lines of many customers. And they’re looking well beyond payment history — to who holds their mortgage, even where they shop. Customers are outraged, but card issuers say they are… Read more

I couldn’t resist the Soup Nazi reference in the title. Here’s the article, from the New York Times: As people around the country respond to financial and economic hard times by juggling the cost of necessities like groceries and housing,… Read more

In the spirit of scrambling to keep tabs on federal attempts to grease our economic machine, here’s a roundup of the government’s latest news-making moves: Move #1 Forbes reports that the Fed unveiled the Money Market Investor Funding… Read more

When in doubt, when shaky, you can always turn to one reliable source to get your name out there: The media. It worked for former nobodies such as Monica Lewinsky and Joe the Plumber. Now, AIG CEO Ed Liddy is using the media to redeem both… Read more

I often ponder how “Made in the USA” goods can become more marketable. Products made here are often of better quality, but more expensive to buy. To some extent, US-manufactured goods can save our economy. But what could possibly propel… Read more

Joe the Plumber is doing darn well for a guy from Main Street. While everyone else loses money, Joe is worried about being taxed as a “rich” person. Joe was John McCain’s new poster child for the all-American small business owner last night…. Read more

The Financial Times describes today’s rash of international bailouts: Leaders of the 15 eurozone countries agreed to a plan that will guarantee loans between banks through 2009 and allow governments to buy stock in distressed financial… Read more

Congratulations, Mr. Krugman! From today’s New York Times: Paul Krugman, a professor at Princeton University and an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday. Mr. Krugman… Read more

Mark J. Perry points out that pumpkins may be scarce this year. My home state, Colorado, is one of the states hit by the shortage: Poor weather conditions have led to a bad pumpkin crop across Colorado this year, according to… Read more