Currently, it is estimated that an average middle-income family in the United States can expect to spend about $245,000 over 18 years to raise a child. This is from the Department of Agriculture’s annual “Cost of Raising a Child” report. Questions: 1. If you adjust for inflation, how much more will an average middle-income family… Read more »
Monthly Archives: August 2014
Scamming scammers: The underbelly of debt collection
From 2006 to 2009, the nation’s top nine debt buyers purchased almost 90 million consumer accounts with more than $140 billion in “face value.” This article details the saga of debt accounts that continue to be stolen, double-sold or otherwise exchanged without accurate supporting information by “debt collectors, including statements or copies of original signed… Read more »
Fraudsters are always looking for a way to rip off the Government
This article details a wheelchair scam that was designed to exploit blind spots in Medicare, which often pays insurance claims without checking them first. The fraud begins with criminals disguised as medical-supply companies. Questions: 1. Based on the article, which major internal control allowed this fraud to happen? 2. What type of control slowed down… Read more »
Living without Water
Thousands of people in bankrupt Detroit haven’t paid their water bills. Even some businesses have skipped payment. How is the bankrupt city dealing with the most basic of problems — getting people to pay their bills? Questions: 1. Detroit is the poster child for shutting off water to customers delinquent on their bills. Even though… Read more »
Bad Blood
Questions: 1. Explain why this is such an unusual labor action. 2. Based on John A. Davis’ blog, what could the board chairman do to help rebuild family unity and commitment to Market Basket? 3. At this point, Market Basket as a continuing entity is hemorrhaging financially. From a corporate governance standpoint, do you think… Read more »
Where in the world are all the vinyl records going?
Hoarding goes beyond compulsive collecting, affecting finances and other areas of the hoarder’s life. Unable to stop buying records, Zero Freitas, a wealthy Brazilian businessman, follows a therapeutical quest to acquire precious and neglected records that haven’t been preserved or transferred to digital files. This post examines what is going on with the world’s vinyl… Read more »
Is Herbalife a Ponzi Scheme?
Herbalife is a company that sells weight loss shakes, vitamins and other similar products worth billions of dollars. The company has been around for more than 30 years. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. So what could be more legitimate? Bill Ackman, who manages a hedge fund thinks the whole thing is… Read more »
Lose-Lose and Win-Win: Time for Change
Most airline tickets are nonrefundable and require a hefty change fee plus any fare differential. And many hotel rooms are totally nonrefundable and nonchangeable, so you could lose the entire value of your room. So why isn’t it the same policy when the airlines or hotel changes your arranged plans? As this article points out,… Read more »
Will McDonald’s Appeal the Decision All the Way to the Supreme Court?
In an era when companies increasingly use subcontractors and temp agencies to free themselves of employment decisions and headaches, the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board ruled on July 29th that McDonald’s could be held jointly liable for labor and wage violations by its franchise operators. Questions: 1. What percentage of the 181… Read more »
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