The saga started when Greece’s economy could not make it through the financial crisis of 2008 without being bailed out by the IMF. The conditions of the bailout were extensive calling for reform in almost every economic sector. Without an ounce of leverage in the negotiations, nor a choice in the matter, Greece welcomed the cash infusion with open arms. In the face of pressure to implement drastic and largely undesired reforms, Greeks responded by electing a new socialist Prime Minister by the name of Alexi Tsipras. He won on the platform of fighting the IMF’s terms and keeping welfare…
Author: Will Innes
Chinese economic progress was sharply curbed on Friday when both major indexes fell more than 7 percent. With the Shanghai and Shenzhen falling 7.4 and 7.9 percent respectively, the drop came at a volatile time. While this major piece of news was all but ignored, and with relatively good reason, Americans should be seriously concerned. As Europe struggles to get the likes of Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain back on their feet, global attention strayed from China under the assumption of guaranteed growth. Even token growth has been hard to come by though. For the past year or so, the…
Intel has reached an agreement to purchase Altera, a producer of microprocessors, for $16.7 billion. Altera, founded in 1983, is known for its FPGA (field programmable gate arrays) products. These are chips that can be programed to execute a plethora of computational commands. Altera FPGAs are used in every day devices like cars and optical imaging, but also play a crucial role in data processing and storage. For example, earlier this year Audi asked Altera to adapt its FPGAs for assistance in producing its own automated cars. The San Jose based integrated circuits company started working with Intel in February…
After announcing a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University in February, Uber has already started testing driverless car prototypes in Pittsburg. Carnegie Mellon has long been hailed as one of the top robotic engineering research establishments. Taking that into consideration, Uber hired numerous award-winning researchers from the University in addition to other developers for this joint program. A Ford Focus was spotted on the streets of Pittsburgh this week sporting LiDAR sensors and an Uber Advanced Technologies Center badge. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors have been used for mapping and navigation, but are now also being utilized for autonomous driving.…
The minimum wage debate in the United States took a turn this week when the Los Angeles City Counsel voted to raise the minimum wage from $9 to $15 per hour. This increase will occur incrementally over the next five years with the per-year rate sitting at $1.50. In Los Angeles, more than half of the working population earns less than $15 per hour. As the second largest city in the United States, this increase will have the most widespread impact of any wage increase thus far. Many cities on the West Coast have passed higher minimum wage bills. Seattle…
On Monday the Supreme Court extended the statute of limitations for class action law suits against employers for improper management of employee retirement funds. The decision was unanimous and came from the case Tibble v. Edison, a class action suit concerning investment choices and high mutual fund fees. The issue presented in Tibble centered around whether an employer violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in offering retail-class mutual funds when identical, cheaper mutual funds were available. More specifically, the court ruled that the six-year statute of limitations was unjust. This decision redistributes risk of retirement plans back onto…
Apple has acquired Coherent Navigation, a small Silicon Valley startup. This is the perfect archetype of an Apple purchase; small, well-respected and cutting edge. Coherent Navigation will be a great fit for the largest company in the world. As described by Coherent Navigation employees at a Stanford symposium in 2009, the company has been pioneering, “advanced positioning, navigation, timing, and communications solutions for government and civilian markets.” Coherent Navigation has primarily worked with High-Integrity GPS (iGPS). This system, rather than using static GPS satellites, takes advantage of the Iridium Satellite Constellation, working in tandem with the company to provide astoundingly…
Global warming exists. The more fossil fuels we use the more our ozone disintegrates. We must start imposing stricter environmental policies in an attempt to curb carbon emissions. These are all facts. Another fact? Gas prices are incredibly low. A product of such is that people that once bought hybrid cars are returning to combustion engine vehicles. According to a study by Edmunds.com, 55 percent of hybrid car owners now decide to return to gas-powered vehicles, the lowest retention rate since the statistic was measured in 2011. The tough decision between hybrid and gas powered cars will continue to be…
The deal has been finalized. Verizon will acquire AOL for a reported $4.4 billion. While minuscule considering the mobile phone provider’s net worth of $200 billion, this marks a clear move towards expansion across platforms. AOL has long been considered past its prime. Its competition has not only increased in volume, but also in capacity as the company has become largely culturally irrelevant. Once the Goliath and now David, AOL has been forced to change with the times. Google, Facebook and other contemporary media moguls have led the charge in the burgeoning market of Internet advertisement sales. In this department,…
