Here it is Black Friday, the malls have been mobbed since midnight, and retailers are saying they want to be allowed to open on Thanksgiving Day too. They argue that consumers should have the choice to shop on Thanksgiving, which state law now prohibits. Rep. Colleen Garry has in fact filed legislation (House Bill 00989; …
Economy
casinos, consumer issues, convention center, development strategy, housing, industry regulation, inequality, intellectual property, net neutrality, non-competition agreements, olympics, poverty and assistance, turnpike air rights development, work
Saying no to Gambling — again
Last week, I again voted against bringing casinos to Massachusetts. In 2008, when I first voted against gambling, I was voting in the majority.
MA Law unfair to Independent Contractors – needs to be changed
Hi Will – as an intellectual Property worker (software engineer/designer) married to a consulting artist (Powerpoint/photoshop specialist) I’d like to call to your attention the following article and urge you to support reform of this well-meaning-but-misguided piece of legislation. I’m guessing that a fair amount of your constituents fall into the “independent consultant” definition — this potentially …
Continue reading “MA Law unfair to Independent Contractors – needs to be changed”
The Mortgage Meltdown
Gretchen Morgenson’s new book about FNMA and the mortgage meltdown — Reckless Endangerment — is worth a careful read.
Changes to Bank Overdraft Regulations
New regulations have been introduced for financial institutions across the country that will forever change the way they can provide overdraft protection to their customers. Overdraft protection has for years been automatically included in checking accounts at most all major banks across the country. When an account holder withdrew more from their account than they …
Income Trends
There are many ideas out there about how earnings, real and expected, affect spending. Milton Friedman’s 1957 Permanent Income Hypothesis is probably the most famous. In its strictest form, it implies that changes in current income, such as a raise or inheritance, shouldn’t change consumption at all. That’s an awfully strong statement. In 1989, John …