Submitted by CARPE DIEM

NEW YORK — Some New York City businesses have begun accepting euros as payment for merchandise, as the dollar remains weak agaist the European currency.
Signs reading “euros accepted” are now being posted in store windows around the city, including liquor stores in the East Village and clothing stores in Midtown.
Foreign tourism […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

ASSOCIATED PRESS–Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will open its first in-store medical clinics under its own brand name after leasing space in dozens of stores to outside companies that operate the quick-service health stops.
The world’s largest retailer said Thursday it will open “The Clinic at Wal-Mart” (pictured above) as a joint venture with local […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

A: Simple. Because there was a 6X increase in the market capitalization of large companies during that period (see red line in graph above for market cap, vs. blue/green lines for CEO pay), according to this forthcoming QJE article by NYU business professors Xavier Gabaix and Augustin Landier.
HT: Kevin “Angus” Grier at […]

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Submitted by The Capital Spectator
The theory of peak oil remains as contentious as ever and by definition unresolved. The supporting evidence starts with the bull market in crude prices in recent years, inspiring some to proclaim that global production is about as high as it ever will be.
The optimists counter that technology will save the […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

Partly due to increasing generic-drug competition (generics were 63% of all prescriptions in 2006 vs. 50% in 2005) and the ongoing, fierce price war among drug retailers (see previous CD posts about $4 prescription drugs at Wal-Mart, Kmart, Publix, and Kroger), the inflation rate for prescription drugs fell to a 34-year low […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

So is Kroger, which now offers more than 300 generic prescriptions for $4 at its 26 stores in the Memphis metro area. See the list of available generics here.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs

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Submitted by Econbrowser
The latest GDP release suggests trade balance adjustment is proceeding. Some of the adjustment is being driven by changes in the dollar’s value. But I think a lot seems to be coming from the reduction in consumption and income growth.
First, let’s take a look at the how much of GDP growth in 2007Q4 […]

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Submitted by Econbrowser
Big news yesterday (e.g., WSJ, Abnormal Returns, and Paul Krugman), was the plunge in the January ISM nonmanufacturing business activity index. But what’s it mean?
The Institute for Supply Management has for many years conducted a survey of purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector, asking questions such as whether output and employment are higher […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
SWEDEN–Health Minister Göran Hägglund publicly criticized the lack of progress made toward shortening wait times in Sweden’s health system.
He made the comments in an opinion article in which he stated that the $39 million spent by the government on lowering wait times has apparently had little effect. The criticism comes in response […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

A previous CD post documented the significant gains in real income (not counting fringe benefits) over just a single generation (for ALL income groups), based on a sample of individuals who were between the ages of 0 and 18 in 1968 and have been tracked into adulthood.
Another important financial gain over that […]

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Submitted by Businomics Blog
Business Week’s Small Business website has taken my data on sensitivity of consumer spending to recession and used it to inspire an online slide show on the topic. The underlying data are available here.
Sectors described in the slide show include automobiles, cosmetics and perfume, clothing, tax preparation, funeral and burial services, […]

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