In 2007 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike for 100 days, bringing much of the entertainment industry to a halt. The action left tens of thousands of workers idled and reportedly cost the Los Angeles economy $2 billion. The writers eventually reached a deal with Hollywood studios and ended a dire situation that neither side wanted to see happen again.
Ten years later, though, these two groups found themselves at yet another stalemate during Continue reading
For many attendees of today’s big music festivals, enjoying an interesting atmosphere is often just as important as watching what’s happening on stage. After all, these events don’t happen in a vacuum: festivals like Coachella are endlessly documented through Instagram and other social media platforms. From the fancy food trucks to famous people casually milling about the crowd, music festivals offer no shortage of material to liven up anyone’s feed.
Last weekend’s Fyre Festival promised to be the most Instagrammable Continue reading
The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform act stands as one of the most complicated pieces of legislation ever devised. The law includes more than 22,000 pages of rules, which is equivalent to about 15 copies of Tolstoy’s epic novel War and Peace. These guidelines tell banks how much money they must set aside, how they can advertise, what sort of investments they can make, and many other stipulations and requirements.
As you can imagine, keeping track of all those regulations Continue reading
For years tech giants like Facebook and Google have tried to set up shop in China only to see their efforts blocked by the country’s restrictive government. In place of these global brands, domestic companies like the search engine Baidu and the social network Weibo have flourished among China’s enormous Internet community. And in an ironic twist, this growing tech sector owes much of its success to the structure and culture of Silicon Valley’s biggest names.
Many Chinese companies are Continue reading
Last year, the startup Juicero surprised many in the tech world by becoming one of the industry’s most talked about gadget companies. Venture capitalists invested more than $120 million in the enterprise based on the promise of its $400 Internet-enabled juicing machine. Working sort of like a Keurig coffee maker, the device uses single-serving packets of chopped fruits and vegetables to make cold-pressed juice. Just insert a packet, press a button, and out comes a refreshing beverage without any fuss. Continue reading
After losing a lot of ground during the Great Recession, today’s economic environment seems perfect for retailers looking to return to their glory days. Gas prices are low, wages are rising, and GDP has grown for the past eight years in a row. Still, even these seemingly ideal conditions can’t help this ailing industry. Nine retail chains have filed for bankruptcy in 2017, including HH Gregg and Payless. Meanwhile Macy’s, Sears, J.C. Penney and RadioShack each announced that they would Continue reading
In the 1980s IBM was one of the first companies to make remote work a priority for its employees. Starting with “remote terminals” installed in staffers’ houses, by 2009 40 percent of the tech company’s 386,000 employees worked from home. In the process, IBM reduced office space by 78 million square feet and started saving $100 million in annual costs. Other companies took IBM’s lead and began to follow the remote trend as well. In fact, 25 percent of American Continue reading
This week United Airlines has faced a surge in public anger following the release of a video that showed a passenger being dragged off of an overbooked flight. Along with its plummeting reputation, the company’s stock price has also experienced quite a bit of turbulence since the incident. At its worst point United shares fell 6.3 percent, reducing the the airline’s market value by $1.4 billion. United’s CEO has repeatedly apologized for the way the company handled the situation Continue reading