Economics

I"ve always wondered how much all those digital clocks and other little energy things (e.g., night lights) cost me every year: > [A] typical microwave oven consumes more electricity powering its digital clock than it does heating food. For while heating food requires more than 100 times

I don't like coffee and I don't like Starbucks and I don't like the consumerist culture it stands for. I don't even have a Starbucks in my home town (no, I don't live in hell). But I offer this, in

All monopolies die, without euthanasia from the Sherman Act. It doesn't mean the monopolists die. Some do, but others just step back into the throes of competition. I don't know what'll happen to MS, but its hegemony will end: > Google sparked another battle

This might be the move that makes the Left sit on the curb and cry: > Wal-Mart Stores Inc. aims to be the mass-market provider of organic food, and will have doubled its organic offerings over the next couple of weeks, Wal-Mart's head of dry grocery told Reuters

The Left is roaring about this story: > Under assault as never before, Wal-Mart is increasingly looking beyond the mainstream media and working directly with bloggers, feeding them exclusive nuggets of news, suggesting topics for postings and even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters. NY Times Link [http://www.

> Most U.S. workers say they feel rushed on the job, but they are getting less accomplished than a decade ago, according to newly released research. > Workers completed two-thirds of their work in an average day last year, down from about three-quarters in a 1994 study, according to

Fascinating piece at The Economist that says we're not nearly as overworked as we think [http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5476124]. Excerpts: > Over the past four decades, depending on which of their measures one uses, the amount of time that working-age Americans

Larry Ellison, one of the world's richest men, is struggling to stay within his $1 billion persona line of credit [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/31/MNG62H06991.DTL&type=printable] . Plus, he burns $20 million a year on personal expenses.

> There is only one way to know if a company is paying "too much" (i.e., more than it has to to attract qualified labor) or too little. If there are significantly more job applicants than there are jobs, then the company is overpaying. If it is