Jennifer Taub: Fight over resolution making CEO Dimon give up board chairman’s job shows what an oxymoron “shareholder democracy” is; concentration of power is extreme in the worlds biggest bank … Read More
Tumblr Founder Says Site Will Stay an ‘Independent’ Effort
A day after Yahoo’s board approved a deal to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion, Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s chief executive, and David Karp, Tumblr’s founder, reassured users that Tumblr would continue to operate as it did before. … Read More
Federal Reserve: rising inequality jeopardizes economic recovery
Fed Board of Governors member Sarah Bloom Raskin was in Washington, DC on Thursday, and during an address before the Society of Government Economists and the National Economists Club she said the widening gap between the rich and poor is just one of the issues being investigated as attempts are made to rebound from the financial crisis of 2009.“In my view, the large and increasing amount of inequality in income and wealth, which has been an ongoing development for decades, may have exacerbated the crisis and I think more research is required to determine whether it may also pose a significant headwind to the recovery from the crisis for years to come,” Raskin told the crowd. “So, while I am hopeful that pressures will ease further as home prices continue to rebound, I also believe that some of the restraints on the recovery may be quite long-lasting.”When the Pew Research Center released their findings on inequality last month, they concluded that the wealthiest 7 percent of Americans saw their average net worth surge by 28 percent when the great recession ravaged a majority of US households. In that same span between 2009 and 2011, those on the bottom 93 percent saw their net worth drop 4 percentage points.“It has been a very good recovery for those at the upper end of the wealth distribution,” Paul Taylor of the Pew Research Center wrote of his report, “But there has been no recovery for the lower 93, which is nearly everybody.”And as that trend is obvious to pollsters, economists are worrying that a widening gap between sectors will reduce the likelihood of a rebound anytime soon. Before Raskin touched on inequality during this week’s address, she admitted that the recovery process in the post-recession years has been “a very weak one.”According to Raskin, the problem stems from massive lay-offs in the wake of the recession’s start that primarily had an impact on workers of certain sectors that have been unable to find employment elsewhere. Raskin said “currents of globalization and technological change” meant that many Americans fired in 2009 have been unable to adopt for the jobs that are in demand today.“About two-thirds of all job losses in the recession were in middle-wage occupations — such as manufacturing, skilled construction, and office administration jobs — but these occupations have accounted for less than one-fourth of the job growth during the recovery. By contrast, lower-wage occupations, such as retail sales, food service and other lower-paying service jobs, accounted for only one-fifth of job losses during the recession but more than one-half of total job gains during the recovery. As a result of these trends in job creation, which could well have been exacerbated by the severe nature of the crisis, the earnings potential for many households likely remains below what they had anticipated in the years before the recession,” she said.“The increase in economic activity and the decline in the unemployment rate are, of course, welcome, but we still have a long way to go to reach what feels like a healthy economy. In fact, the pace of recovery has been slower than most had expected. The gap between actual output and the economy’s potential remains quite large, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, and the unemployment rate today remains well above levels seen prior to the recession, and well above the level that the Committee thinks can be sustained once a full recovery has been achieved,” added Raskin.Thursday’s remarks by the Fed board member was actually the third time in as many months that she warned of what widening inequality was doing to America. During an event in New York City last month, Raskin said, “Of course, it is not part of the Federal Reserve’s mandate to address inequality directly, but I want to explore these issues today because the answers may have implications for the Federal Reserve’s efforts to understand the recession and conduct policy in a way that contributes to a stronger pace of recovery.” … Read More
San Francisco surrenders in fight over cell phone radiation law
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors said Wednesday that they will no longer pursue a years’ long fight to force cell phone retailers into warning customers of potential health risks.Had the ordinance gone into effect, it would have been the first of its kind in the country: retailers would be required to inform customers over the radiation emitted by mobile devices and possible links to cancer.After the “Right to Known” ordinance was approved by the Board in 2010, the city quickly found itself in court with cell phone industry reps determined to fight the decision. Telecom companies responded by getting a preliminary injunction against the ordinance, and a federal appeals court agreed to uphold that decision in 2012. San Francisco was considered challenging that ruling in yet another round of legal battles, but on Wednesday the city said they would retire that fight and would instead settle with the relentless wireless industry.Supervisor David Campos told the Associated Press that by not settling, the city could have been liable for more than a half million dollars in legal fees if they lost in court. In exchange for dropping the case, however, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association waived their right to force the city into paying any legal fees they would have incurred.”I think the legal reality is that if we don’t approve the settlement, we’re talking about having to pay $500,000 in legal fees,” Campos told reporters.For some, though, that’s a small price to place for some added security. “This is just a terrible blow to public health,” Ellen Marks, an advocate for the measure, told Reuters this week. Marks said her husband suffers from a brain tumor on the side of his head he holds his phone to.In an email to CNET, Marks — who also serves as director of the California Brain Tumor Association — blamed leadership in San Francisco on abandoning the fight.“The dynamics have changed in the chambers of City Hall,” she wrote. “Many other states and cities wanted to follow San Francisco’s lead.”CTIA Vice President John Walls hailed the news this week. “The US Court of Appeals in San Francisco has found that the FCC ‘has established limits of radiofrequency energy exposure, within which it has concluded using cellphones is safe,’” he wrote in a statement sent to the media. “Moreover, as the Federal District Court observed, ‘San Francisco concedes that there is no evidence of cancer caused by cellphones.’ The ordinance would have compelled retailers to make statements to consumers that the federal courts found were ‘misleading.’”Federal Communications Commission adopted a rule in 1996 requiring all cell phones sold in the United States to meet certain radiation levels, but according to the National Cancer Institute, research on the hazards posed are largely divided. The organization acknowledges on their website that the International Agency for Research on Cancer considers the radiofrequency fields (RF) emitted by phones “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” while the American Cancer Society believes evidence is not strong enough to be considered causal and needs to be investigated further.“The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) states that the weight of the current scientific evidence has not conclusively linked cell phone use with any adverse health problems, but more research is needed,” they add.On their website, the FCC says, “If there is a risk from these products–and at this point we do not know that there is–it is probably very small.” Others, though, are still insisting that more research needs to be completed before a determination could be made for certain.”If the nation’s experience with tobacco taught us anything, it is that it is dangerous to wait until there is scientific consensus about a potential health threat before providing consumers with information on how they can protect themselves,” Environmental Working Group researcher Renee Sharp told Reuters. … Read More
U.S. Appeals Court strikes down labor board’s ‘poster rule’
A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. on Tuesday struck down National Labor Relations Board regulations that required workplaces to display a poster about worker’s federal rights. The NRLB issued new regulations in 2011 that required companies to inform employees about…
Renowned tech executive Jon Rubinstein joins Qualcomm’s board
Former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein has joined Qualcomm’s board of directors. The tech executive, who most recently served as senior vice president of product innovation for HP, brings more than 30 years of experience to the table, Qualcomm said in a press release on the matter. … Read More
Nugent to Alex Jones: Soldiers committing suicide because Obama ‘violates the Constitution’
Appearing on “The Alex Jones Show” Tuesday, rocker and National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent claimed the epidemic of soldier suicides that’s baffled some of the nation’s brightest psychologists is much easier to understand if you just blame President Barack…
