August 4, 2016

In North America’s biggest cities, skyrocketing property values have led to a surge of home purchases from wealthy foreign buyers. But while this real estate boom is a blessing for savvy investors, locals looking to buy a home are increasingly confronted with an inaccessible market. For instance, the average cost of a detached house in British Columbia, Canada, rose to $1.2 million in June, representing a 39 percent increase from the year before. “There is evidence now that suggests that Continue reading

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August 2, 2016

With credit cards commonplace and mobile payments steadily growing in popularity, Americans just don’t spend cash the way they used to. For instance, the salad-selling chain Sweetgreen claims that cash payments accounted for 40 percent of all transactions when they opened nine years ago. Now, fewer than 10 percent of the company’s sales are completed with cash. In January Sweetgreen eliminated cash transactions at a few locations to see if the change would upset customers. Complaints ended up being scarce Continue reading

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July 29, 2016

While the U.S. corporate tax rate looks tough on paper, this brief video demonstrates how large companies can use legal loopholes to drastically decrease what they owe to Uncle Sam.

Questions:

1. Should companies be able to exploit legal loopholes to lower their tax rate?

2. Would corporations be more likely to leave the U.S. if the government enforced stricter corporate tax standards? 

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July 28, 2016

For years, CEOs at large corporations have attracted the public’s anger due to the exorbitant salaries that many executives earn. Companies counter these complaints by explaining that high-level employees only make their millions if they perform well on the job. After all, the stock options and bonuses that often form the bulk of CEO pay only become available once the company clears a certain set of financial benchmarks. This supposedly gives executives more incentive to do a good job since Continue reading

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July 26, 2016

As anybody with a social media presence knows well, Pokémon Go’s massive popularity has only grown since it landed in American app stores earlier this month. On July 22 the augmented reality game launched in Asia, racking up ten million downloads in Japan on a single day. Still, not everything about the app’s Asian expansion was ideal: Pokémon Go remains banned in China, by far the region’s most lucrative market.

And that’s not the only bad news currently confronting the Continue reading

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July 22, 2016

Chances are that if you hear the word “Hershey” the first thing that comes to mind is “chocolate.” Last year the Pennsylvania-based company earned $7 billion in revenue from selling the sweet treat in all kinds of varieties. But as consumer tastes change to healthier options, Hershey’s candy sales have started to dwindle for the first time in 10 years. In order to prevent any further losses, the company wants to hop on the recent protein craze with new items Continue reading

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July 20, 2016

With cramped cabins, long delays and ever-increasing fees, these days airplane travel is about as exciting as a cross-country bus trip. In the mid-1970s, however, the skies briefly brightened with the arrival of the revolutionary Concorde supersonic jet. Capable of cruising at more than twice the speed of sound, Concorde could fly from London to New York in half the time of normal planes. For optimistic aviation observers, the jet represented no less than the future of air Continue reading

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July 18, 2016

As the immense popularity of Pokémon Go shows, brands that had their heyday in the 1990s can enjoy a second life with today’s nostalgia-obsessed consumers. This summer PepsiCo intends to test the limits of that commitment to the Clinton years by reviving its clear cola brand Crystal Pepsi. The beverage originally launched in 1992 on the back of a $40 million ad campaign that included a bizarre Super Bowl commercial. PepsiCo predicted that the colorless soda would grow into Continue reading

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July 14, 2016

Since Pokémon Go’s launch last week, the mobile app has rapidly grown into a phenomenon with millions of wannabe Pokémasters around the world. In this “augmented reality” game, players literally roam streets, parks and landmarks on a search for the famed “pocket monsters” of the Japanese franchise. When one of these creatures appears on a user’s smartphone screen, they can then capture it to add to their collection. The ultimate goal for players is to abide by Pokémon’s longstanding slogan, Continue reading

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July 12, 2016

One of the first phrases children are taught to say is “thank you.” This simple expression of gratitude then sticks with us throughout life, acting as the appropriate response to a range of situations both simple and serious. In the eyes of Citigroup, however, “thank you” is more than just a common reply. Since 2004 the banking giant has operated a rewards program called “ThankYou” that allows customers to earn points from their purchases. As a result, the company trademarked Continue reading

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