As we head into the hot summer, what sounds great? Well, ice cream, of course! And who is in the news? Ben and Jerry’s. According to the Huffington Post, Ben and Jerry’s is removing a controversial ingredient from its ice cream: Genetically-modified organisms (or GMOs). The back story is that only 80% of Ben &… Read more »
Posts By: LuAnn Bean
Pension Predators – A New York Investigation
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ordering New York’s top banking regulator to investigate “pension advance” firms. The payments by these firms are advertised as advances. However, they are really cleverly disguised high interest rate loans that target older citizens’ assets. Questions: 1. What are the benefits for the firms on insisting that they are advances rather… Read more »
Why is the IMF chief in court?
Recently, Christine Lagarde was grilled by a French court in regards to a business settlement with disgraced tycoon Bernard Tapie in 2007. Questions: 1. What is the IMF? Why was the IMF in the news in 2011? 2. What is the controversy about? Is anyone alleged to have profited from the incident? 3. What does… Read more »
The Value of Newsjacking
Newsjacking refers to the practice of capitalizing on the popularity of a news story to amplify your sales and marketing success. The term was popularized in David Meerman Scott’s book Newsjacking: How to Inject Your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage. In this video, Christine Romans and PR expert… Read more »
Is it fair that some hospitals are charging 400% above their costs to deliver services?
According to government data, hospitals charge Medicare wildly differing amounts — sometimes 10 to 20 times what Medicare typically reimburses — for the same procedure. This raises questions about how hospitals determine prices and why they differ so widely. Questions: 1. Discuss the data set and what was included. 2. According to the article, who… Read more »
IPO Fever
U.S. companies are on track to raise the most money through initial public offerings since before the financial crisis. It appears that this trend is driven by the same thirst for risk among investors that has pushed the stock market to new highs. Questions 1. Based on the information given in this article, what is… Read more »
The Tragedy of “Fast Fashion”
A garment factory, manufacturing products for international clothing companies, collapsed outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, last month. The collapse killed more than 400 workers and injured many others. This tragedy came on the heels of a factory fire in November 2012, which killed 112 workers. Questions: 1. Who are some of the chains that supply “cheap… Read more »
Access to Material Confidential Government Information?
According to The Washington Post, the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued subpoenas to Height Securities, a Washington-based stock brokerage firm, and individuals in connection with the leak last month about a federal funding decision that appeared to cause a surge in stock trading of several major health companies. Questions: 1. What healthcare stock surged… Read more »
JPMorgan Chase: Transition from Model Citizen to Problem Child in the Eyes of the Government
According to The New York Times, government investigators have found that JPMorgan Chase devised “manipulative schemes” that transformed “money-losing power plants into powerful profit centers.” In addition, they allege that one of its most senior executives gave “false and misleading statements” under oath. Questions: 1. Who is Jamie Dimon; who is Blythe Masters? 2. At… Read more »
Austerity Brings about Desperate Times and Desperate Acts
Two penniless Spanish men chopped off their own hands and tried to claim the insurance payout as accidents. Unfortunately for them, both have been exposed as fraudsters because they performed the amputations too well to be accidents. Both cases come amid a steep rise in the number of false insurance claims that have been revealed… Read more »