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U.S. Representatives Brett Guthrie (R-KY) introduced a bill misleadingly called the “Save America’s Pastime Act,” with the sole purpose of excluding Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players from regulation under federal minimum wage and overtime requirements.

Questions:
1. What is Mr. Guthrie’s reasoning for exempting the pay of Minor Leaguers from Federal pay laws?
2. What is the average salary of a minor league player and when does he get paid; in other words, what seasonal obligations remain unpaid?
3. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) first supported the bill and then withdrew her support. What is her position now?
4. What is your opinion about this issue?

Source:
Gibbs, L. (2016). The ‘Save America’s Pastime Act’ Aims To Keep Minor League Baseball Players In Poverty. Think Progress.org, June 30 (Retrievable online at http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2016/06/30/3794617/save-americas-pastime-act/)

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Amazon, who made its reputation on offering deals, is now quietly dropping list prices from its items. The new model is that Amazon does not have to entice customers anymore because they will buy anyway.

Questions:
1. When did Amazon begin as a company?
2. When did the company begin dropping list prices?
3. Why is there conflict associated with reporting list prices and what is the conflict? Discuss.
4. What types of lawsuits have been filed with respect to list prices?
5. About what percentage of list prices have been dropped on the website?

Source:
Streitfeld, D. (2016). Amazon Is Quietly Eliminating List Prices. The New York Times, July 3 (Retrievable online at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/business/amazon-is-quietly-eliminating-list-prices.html)

Amazon Kindle Fire

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Uncategorized.

According to the New York Times, millions of customers at such banks as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, currently log into their bank accounts through their mobile phones using their fingerprints. Introduced in the last few months, this feature enables a huge share of American banking customers to verify their identities with biometrics. Millions are expected to opt in as more phones incorporate fingerprint scans.

Questions:
1. If biometrics have been tested for years, why haven’t banks used them before now?
2. What is the tradeoff between security and convenience when using biometrics?
3. In your opinion, will passwords be completely phased out at banks? If so, when, and if not, why not. Discuss.

Source:
Corkery, M. (2016). Goodbye, Password. Banks Opt to Scan Fingers and Faces Instead. The New York Times, June 21 (Retrievable online at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/business/dealbook/goodbye-password-banks-opt-to-scan-fingers-and-faces-instead.html)

bank of america

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

According to the New York Times, private equity firms have increasingly been taking over public services, like emergency care and firefighting, often with dire effects.

Questions:
1. What are the factors that private equity firms apply to public services that put these arrangements into jeopardy?
2. About how many Americans work for companies owned by private equity-backed businesses?
3. Explain some of the disadvantages and dire effects caused by private equity firms that took over ambulance services.
4. Explain some of the failures associated with the firm TransCare ambulance service and then its supposed rescue by Patriarch.
5. In your opinion, what was the most troubling issue pointed out in this article?

Source:
Ivory, D., B. Protess, and K. Bennett (2016). When you dial 911 and Wall Street Answers, The New York Times, June 25 (Retrievable online at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/business/dealbook/when-you-dial-911-and-wall-street-answers.html)

Posted by & filed under Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Principles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Ethical Dilemma, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

According to the Washington Post, the IRS paid $3.1 billion in bogus tax refunds in 2014 due to ID theft. Yes, that’s billion with a “B.”

Questions:
1. How many individual tax returns did the IRS process in 2015?
2. What percentage and amount did the IRS identify as fraudulent claims before it paid them?
3. What is the TPP program and how are fraudsters able to circumvent detection?
4. Where does the IRS need to do more work and risk assessment to prevent these fraudulent payments?

Source:
Davidson, J. (2016). $3.1 billion – at least — lost in bogus tax refunds to ID thieves in 2014. The Washington Post, July 1 (Retreivable online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/07/01/3-1-billion-lost-to-id-theft-tax-fraudsters-in-2014-at-least/?tid=hybrid_collaborative_2_na)

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While demand for other white-collar jobs has grown substantially since the start of the recession, law firms and corporations are finding they can make do with far fewer in-house lawyers than before, squeezing those just starting their careers.

Questions:
1. What do the data show regarding new law graduates getting jobs?
2. Discuss the costs of attending law school. How is it changing?
3. What has changed in this industry as compared to its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s? Discuss in terms of applications to law schools, good students, law school capacity, and law school faculty.

Source:
Scheiber, N. (2016). An Expensive Law Degree, and No Place to Use It. The New York Times, June 17 (Retrievable online at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/business/dealbook/an-expensive-law-degree-and-no-place-to-use-it.html)

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Due to the slow transition to chip credit cards by U.S. retailers, counterfeit credit card fraud will likely rise to $4.5 billion this year.

Questions:
1. What percentage rise will this year see as compared to last year’s credit card fraud?
2. Why are these thefts hurting retailers rather than issuing banks?
3. According to the article, what are the three types of Smart cards available?
4. Many retailers that have wanted to implement chip acceptance faster. Why couldn’t they do it?
5. What percentage of U.S. consumer credit cards now have chips?
6. When will the anti-fraud benefits be recognizable?

Source:
Kharif, O. (2016) Crooks rush to beat clock as U.S. retailers switch to chip cards. McClatchyDC.com, June 17 (Retrievable online at http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article84343102.html)

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According to Stacy Cowley of the New York Times, only around 1.5 percent of self-employed taxpayers are audited each year. Audits are not random, because the IRS has a secret algorithm that calculates how likely each taxpayer is to have unreported income. In looking at sizing up the honesty of small-business owners, the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent office within the I.R.S., has found that there are certain geographic areas where tax dodging among sole proprietors is more prevalent.

Questions:
1. Where are the tax dodging clusters?
2. Where are the high tax compliance areas?
3. According to the article, what typically happens after an audit for a small business?
4. What finding from the research was most interesting to you and why?

Source:
Cowley, S. (2016). Why the I.R.S. Fails to Crack the Small-Business Tax Nut. The New York Times, June 15 (Retrievable online at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/business/smallbusiness/why-the-irs-fails-to-crack-the-small-business-tax-nut.html)

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Questions:

1. Do you see this as a competition between Walmart and Amazon? Why or why not and are there any other players in the grocery war?
2. According to the video, why didn’t Walmart just create their own logistical team rather than use Uber and Lyft?
3. Would you be willing to pay $7 – $10 to have your groceries delivered? What kind of problems do you see associated with this service?
4. How many markets will be serviced? How large a market (in dollars) is the grocery delivery market estimated to be?

Source:
BBC Staff (2016). Walmart to test food delivery with Uber and Lyft. BBC.com, June 3 (Retrievable online at http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36443107)