21st May 2013
Apple’s Taxes Expose the Rotten U.S. Code
When Apple Inc.’s chief executive
officer, Tim Cook, bragged to a U.S. Senate subcommittee this
week about his company’s culture of innovation, he probably
hoped people would think of Apple’s gadgets, not its tax
strategies.
By Bloomberg News
21st May 2013
The Military’s Culture of Sexual Violence
I have a suggestion about how to help
instantly reduce sexual assaults in the military. Round up those
in charge of handling sexual-assault cases.
By Bloomberg News
21st May 2013
How Dangerous Are Government Leaks? Let’s Find Out
It’s hard to feel comfortable with
the Barack Obama administration’s aggressive pursuit of national
security leaks. Last week, the Justice Department acknowledged
seizing phone records from Associated Press reporters in
connection with a leak concerning a 2012 counterterrorism
operation in Yemen. This week, we learned that Fox News
correspondent James Rosen’s e-mail was examined to track down
unauthorized disclosures about North Korea. In this case, the
Justice Department went so far as to call the reporter a “co-
conspirator.”
By Bloomberg News
21st May 2013
Sympathy for the IRS
Much to my surprise, I find myself
sympathizing with the Internal Revenue Service. Tenderness
toward that agency isn’t my default position. I’m a British
expat living in the U.S., with retirement savings locked up in
the U.K. and other cross-border entanglements -- these small
complications have sometimes caused my dealings with tax
professionals to displace landscape photography as my main and
most expensive pastime. Say “IRS” to me and watch my teeth
grind.
By Bloomberg News
21st May 2013
Did You Graduate in Four Years? Congratulations
For the U.S. college students who
will be paying for a four-year bachelor’s degree long after
graduation day, here’s some consolation: At least it didn’t take
you six or eight years.
By Bloomberg News
21st May 2013
Swaps Vote Is Another Big Win for the Big Banks
Click on the section of the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission website about the 2010 Dodd-Frank
financial-reform law and the first thing that jumps out is a
quotation, in bold, from CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler about how
Dodd-Frank would transform the derivatives market -- for the
better.
By Bloomberg News
21st May 2013
Is Detroit's Recovery for Real?
President Barack Obama hails it. Super Bowl commercials celebrate it. But is it real? I refer, of course, to the vaunted recovery of the Detroit automakers.
By Bloomberg News
21st May 2013
Debate: What's Next for JPMorgan?
Editor Paula
Dwyer and columnist Jonathan Weil met online today to discuss JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s shareholder vote and
next steps for the company.
By Bloomberg News
20th May 2013
Japan Inc. Should Take a Look in the Mirror
Sony Corp.’s curt dismissal of a
foreigner’s advice last week didn’t shock Michael Woodford, the
former chief executive officer of Olympus Corp.
By Bloomberg News
20th May 2013
Apple Just Can't Help Innovating
Perhaps it's not surprising that the company that redefined personal technology, entertainment and communications would also redefine the meaning of a tax haven.
By Bloomberg News
20th May 2013
Demoting Jamie Dimon Won’t Fix JPMorgan’s Poor Governance
Should the board of JPMorgan Chase &
Co. force Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chairman and chief executive
officer, to give up one of his jobs? Governance watchdogs,
shareholder advisory services and public pension funds say yes.
Other large shareholders, some prominent academics and the bank
say no. The company will reveal May 21 how many shareholders
support a proposal to separate the jobs (though the vote is
nonbinding).
By Bloomberg News
20th May 2013
Wildly Varying Hospital Prices Keep Health Care Expensive
If further proof were needed that
price competition doesn’t exist in the expensive U.S. health-
care market, it arrived this month. The Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services published 2011 charges for medical treatments
set by more than 3,000 American hospitals.
By Bloomberg News
20th May 2013
How to Humble a Wing Nut
There is no standard definition of
the all-important term “wing nut,” so let’s provide one. A wing
nut is someone who has a dogmatic commitment to an extreme
political view (“wing”) that is false and at least a bit crazy
(“nut”).
By Bloomberg News