Articles

  • Is Bob Herbert Missing Something About the California Toyota Plant?


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 5:05pm

    The New York Times’ Bob Herbert has taken Toyota (TM) to the woodshed not over the Great Recall or sudden unintended recall issues, but because he thinks the company is shafting California, a state that he argues has figured prominently in Toyota’s success:

    Toyota is paying the state back with the foulest form of ingratitude.

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    • Matthew DeBord has written about the auto industry for the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Huffington Post. Follow him on Twitter.

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  • The Big Short: a Book About America's Frustration and Disbelief at the Powers That Be


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 4:19pm

    Chad et al., I suppose I should start by saying The Big Short surprised me. I had been expecting a book that was long on character and short on explication. But I wasn’t prepared for a book that is so angry, outraged, and bitter.

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    • Marion Maneker is a regular contributor to The Big Money.

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  • Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 3:56pm
    Photo illustration by Holly Allen

    Mac geeks estimate Apple (AAPL) presold 120,000 iPads last Friday alone, but it’s not just aficionados who are gearing up for Cupertino’s next big thing: The iPad is expected to be a target for credit-card thieves and online scammers of all types.

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    • Martha C. White is a freelance writer in New York.
    Photo illustration by Holly Allen

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  • Seize Power, Shareholders


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 3:42pm

    from SlateThroughout the economic meltdown, America's focus has largely been fixed on Wall Street and regulating the executives of major banks and corporations. Slate's Eliot Spitzer, shows us why we should shift our focus to the many Americans who already hold power: shareholders.

    • Eliot Spitzer is the former governor of the state of New York.

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  • So Nexus One Sales Are Anemic. Big Deal.


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 2:08pm

    We hate to rip on daily reporters who are just doing their jobs, but Bloomberg's Brian Womack has a piece today in need of a little context. His lede: The Nexus One phone isn't selling very well when compared with the iPhone's debut.

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    • Chris Thompson is a writer living in Brooklyn.

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  • Does Your Business Really Need a Facebook Page?


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 1:59pm

    While it seems that most businesses are aware that they’re supposed to have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, there’s little concrete evidence that they’ll get a good return on the investment. It’s hard to make the connection between brand building on these sites and cash register sales in stores. After all, winning over a million fans doesn’t necessarily do anything for the bottom line.

    • Caitlin McDevitt is an editorial assistant at The Big Money.

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  • Using Food Stamps at Whole Foods


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 1:36pm

    A Salon article on how many "hipsters" are using food stamps to buy a lot of foodie-friendly products (arugula, of course, is the default reference) nicely illustrates the intellectual conundrums that poverty and government welfare present, especially when it comes to food.

    TAP Tagline: 

    Using Food Stamps at Whole Foods

    • Dan Mitchell has written for the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and Wired.

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  • Why Is China’s BYD Changing Its Tune on Electric Cars?


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 12:35pm

    BYD is arguably the hottest EV company in the world that isn’t Tesla Motors. The Chinese carmaker, really a battery-maker with grad automaking aspirations, is partly owned by Warren Buffett. The company recently signed a deal to work with Daimler. And the money is rolling in from sales, as BYD is building China’s best-selling gas-powered car, the small-ish F3.

    • Matthew DeBord has written about the auto industry for the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Huffington Post. Follow him on Twitter.

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  • How Bud Light's Lame "Drinkability" Ads Came to Be


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 11:42am

    What do you get when you hire consultants? You get a four-year-long campaign to convince beer drinkers of your product's "drinkability." A campaign that failed miserably, because, as the marketing executives at Anheuser-Busch (BUD) should have asked: Shouldn't we assume drinkability, and work from there?

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    • Dan Mitchell has written for the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and Wired.

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  • The Taxman Cometh


    Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 11:08am

    from SlateTo many Americans, paying taxes is, well, a hassle. And the jumbled market of online tax-prep services doesn't help. So this year, Slate's Tom Bartlett set out to score some of the more popular services in order to clear through some of the muck and show us the easiest and most effective tax-prep service:

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