Gene Giannotta

Gene Giannotta is a writer based in Washington, D.C. He reports on economic policy, finance and business news.

  • Donald Trump Business Politicians

    17 Politicians With Business Backgrounds Who Aren’t Donald Trump

    Almost five months after announcing what many considered a long shot campaign for president, real estate mogul Donald Trump is still leading Republican primary polls nationwide. Carly Fiorina’s candidacy has also received greater attention over the last two months. Their campaigns represent a continued tradition in American politics: the businessman (or businesswoman) candidate. Here are […]

  • Twitter Layoffs

    Twitter Laying Off 8% Of Its Employees

    It’s official: after much speculation as to how co-founder and newly-appointed permanent CEO Jack Dorsey would remake Twitter, he announced late Tuesday that the company would be laying off 336 employees or 8% of its workforce. In a memo to employees released on Tuesday, Dorsey said the restructuring plan adopted by the board would focus […]

  • Netflix Epix Deal

    Netflix Ends Epix Deal, Says Goodbye To Hunger Games And Transformers

    Netflix will not be renewing its streaming deal with cable network Epix when it expires next month. So if you’ve been waiting to watch Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and World War Z, you’re on the clock. Epix, a premium channel and joint venture of studios MGM, Lionsgate, and Paramount Pictures, will be […]

  • China Stocks Down

    China Stocks Down Again In Wild Day Of Trading

    The Shanghai Composite was down again in Wednesday trading, closing 1.3 percent lower after a day of ups and downs. That mirrored Tuesday’s yo-yo in markets worldwide as global fears continued to take their toll on investors. American markets were all down, with the Dow opening higher but falling 205 points at the close after […]

  • China Cuts Rates

    China Cuts Interest Rates As Stocks Tumble Yet Again

    The People’s Bank of China cut interest rates by 25 basis points (0.25 percent) on Tuesday after the country’s benchmark Shanghai Composite index fell another 7.6 percent. But in a sign that world markets are adjusting to the bad news in China, stocks elsewhere rebounded. London’s fuse 100 was up 2.9 percent, in what The […]

  • Putin Aide Rate Cut

    Putin Economic Aide: $40 Oil Might Halt Russia Rate Cuts

    Andrey Belousov, a key economic aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is predicting that a dip in oil prices to $40 a barrel could mean his country’s central bank stops its run of interest rate cuts. “If the situation on the foreign-exchange markets changes as a result of a significant drop in oil prices – […]

  • Obama Clean Power Plan

    Here’s What Obama’s Clean Power Plan Might Mean For The Economy

    Over the weekend, President Obama announced an ambitious plan to combat climate change through a new regulatory structure that would set greenhouse gas emission targets for the states and give them several years to meet those goals. In a video released on social media late Saturday, the White House introduced the initiative in broad strokes […]

  • Iran Nuclear Deal

    Now That We Have An Iran Nuclear Deal, What Will Be The Economic Effects?

    Today’s announcement of a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program also will lift many, if not all, of the crippling economic sanctions that the West has levied over the years. While inhibiting the Islamic Republic’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon was the goal of the P5+1 nations (the U.N. Security Council – the United States, […]

  • AIG Bailout and the US Government

    The 10 Biggest Government Bailouts In U.S. History

    The word “bailout” became ubitious during the Great Recession. From banks “too big to fail” to the faltering auto industry in Detroit, Washington has been the go-to lender of last resort for many American companies. And the rise of the tea party on the right and Elizabeth Warren (and Bernie Sanders) on the left have […]

  • How The ‘Tyranny Of Choice’ Could Hurt Your Chances Of Getting Hired

    Matthew Yglesias wrote a perceptive piece at Vox this weekend on the “mystery” surrounding unfilled jobs. Basically, there are a lot of job openings right now but they don’t seem to be filling up as fast as you’d think, given the equally high number of folks looking for work (or new work). This problem has […]

  • The Rooney Rule and Hiring in America

    The Rooney Rule Is Coming To Corporate America. Will It Actually Increase Diversity?

    Facebook recently implemented a new hiring process that requires recruiters to consider minority candidates, similar to the NFL’s longstanding “Rooney Rule.” According to Bloomberg, Facebook has made a point to include at least one minority candidate for open positions in some departments. It’s a proactive (well, reactive) move to address the glaring diversity deficiency in […]