Category: Business

Some Americans have become saddled with credit card debt as rent and everyday prices remain high

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

File – A card reader is used at a drive-thru restaurant in Mount Prospect, Ill., March 13, 2021. Noticeable pockets of Americans are quickly running up their credit card balances and increasing numbers are now falling behind on their debts. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — While the U.S. economy is broadly healthy, pockets of Americans have run through their savings and run up their credit card balances after battling inflation for more than two years.

Experts worry that members of these groups — mostly lower- and middle-income Americans, who tend to be renters — are falling behind on their debts and could face further deterioration of their financial health in the year ahead, particularly those who have recently resumed paying off student loans.

“The U.S. economy is currently performing better than most forecasters expected a year ago, thanks in large part to a resilient consumer,” wrote Shernette McLoud, an economist with TD Economics, in a report issued Wednesday. “However, more recently that spending is increasingly being financed by credit cards.” Continue reading

Traffic-blocking farmers now closing in on EU capital in a protest seeking better market conditions

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

Tractors face military vehicles on a blocked highway, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024 in Chilly-Mazarin, south of Paris. Farmers have captured France’s attention by showering government offices with manure and besieging Paris with traffic-snarling barricades of tractors and hay bales. Protesters say it’s becoming harder than ever to make a decent living from their fields, greenhouses and herds. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

By RAF CASERT Associated Press

HALLE, Belgium (AP) — Farmers blocked more traffic arteries across Belgium, France and Italy on Wednesday, as they sought to disrupt trade at major ports and other economic lifelines. They also moved in on Brussels on the eve of a major European Union summit, in a sustained push for better prices for their produce and less bureaucracy in their work.

While the days of mushrooming discontent have been largely peaceful, French police arrested 91 protesters who forced their way Wednesday into Europe’s biggest food market, the Paris police chief said. Armored vehicles block entrances to the sprawling site at Rungis, south of the French capital. Continue reading

Small biz owners scale back their office space or go remote altogether. Some move to the suburbs

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Hunter Garnett, of Garnett Patterson Injury Lawyers, poses outside his law office near the Madison County courthouse, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Huntsville, Ala. Garnett is seeking a smaller office space in the suburbs closer to his clients, rather than the large space he has now. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — After 46 years, Steve Replin has decided to give up his office space.

Replin, who has a law practice and acts as an alternative lender in Denver, is adapting to the changing preferences of clients, who would rather conduct business online, or in a less professional setting like a coffee shop.

“I am 76 and have grown up being in actual physical spaces as offices, but I really think that the ‘kids’ have it right,” by shunning offices, he said.

The pandemic has had a transformative effect on the office space landscape. Many businesses are shifting away from traditional spaces toward hybrid work and more flexible, collaborative spaces. About 23% of U.S. office space is available, compared with 16% before the pandemic, according to global real estate advisor Avison Young. Continue reading

The world could get its first trillionaire within 10 years, anti-poverty group Oxfam says

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, smiles as he plays bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb., May 5, 2019. The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday Jan. 15, 2024 in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

By PAN PYLAS and MASHA MACPHERSON Associated Press

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Oxfam, which for years has been trying to highlight the growing disparities between the super-rich and the bulk of the global population during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, reckons the gap has been “supercharged” since the coronavirus pandemic.

The group said the fortunes of the five richest men — Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault and his family of luxury company LVMH, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and investment guru Warren Buffett — have spiked by 114% in real terms since 2020, when the world was reeling from the pandemic. Continue reading

Robot baristas and AI chefs caused a stir at CES 2024 as casino union workers fear for their jobs

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Level : Advanced

The Artly barista robot serves a drink during the CES tech show Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

By RIO YAMAT Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The barista tipped the jug of smooth, foamy milk over the latte, pouring slowly at first, then lifting and tilting the jug like a choreographed dance to paint the petals of a tulip.

Latte art is a skill that can take months if not years of practice to master — but not for this barista powered by artificial intelligence.

Robots of all kinds caused a stir on the show floor this week at the annual CES technology trade show in Las Vegas.

It’s innovations like this that worry Roman Alejo, a 34-year-old barista at the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, who can’t help but wonder if the clock is ticking on hospitality jobs in the age of AI. Continue reading

PepsiCo products are being pulled from some Carrefour grocery stores in Europe over price hikes

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – Shoppers enter the new Carrefour store Wednesday Aug. 25, 2010 in Ecully, near Lyon, central France. Carrefour has unveiled its hypermarket reinvention project at two stores in Lyon. The Ecully and Venissieux host the Carrefour Planet concept. The stores split into nine zones, including a ‘discovery’ store for events and seasonally themed products. (AP Photo/Thomas Campagne, File)

By SYLVIE CORBET and DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Global supermarket chain Carrefour will stop selling PepsiCo products in its stores in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy over price increases for popular items like Lay’s potato chips, Quaker Oats, Lipton Iced Tea and its namesake soda.

The French grocery chain said it pulled PepsiCo products from shelves in France on Thursday and added small signs in stores that say, “We no longer sell this brand due to unacceptable price increases.”

It comes as a new French law meant to fight the rising cost of living has supermarkets facing millions in fines if they don’t reach a deal with suppliers on prices by the end of the month.

The ban also will extend to Belgium, Spain and Italy, but Carrefour, which has 12,225 stores in more than 30 countries, didn’t say when it would take effect in those countries. Continue reading

Work From Home: Trends, Trajectory, and Future Outlook

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Ananyaa Bhowmik | Wealth of Geeks undefined

In a 2022 survey, 36% of CIOs believed that work will transition into a hybrid or work-from-home model permanently. And with good reason.

While people commonly believe that the work-from-home culture arrived with the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, 15-16% of survey respondents said that their company had already worked remotely even before the pandemic. Around 2005, with the availability of high-speed internet connections, advanced laptops, and the rising digitization of jobs, work from home became a viable option.

Between 2005 and 2019, the corporate world saw steady growth in remote working, but this was mostly limited to certain sectors. It was the 2020 pandemic that changed it all. As the world went into lockdown, most jobs outside the essential sectors shifted to remote working almost overnight. Continue reading

Mickey Mouse will soon belong to you and me — with some caveats

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – An actor dressed as Mickey Mouse greets visitors at the entrance to Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort, April 18, 2022, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The earliest version of Disney’s most famous character, Mickey Mouse, and arguably the most iconic character in American pop culture, will become public domain on Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — M-I-C-K-E-Y will soon belong to you and me.

With several asterisks, qualification and caveats, Mickey Mouse in his earliest form will be the leader of the band of characters, films and books that will become public domain as the year turns to 2024.

In a moment many close observers thought might never come, at least one version of the quintessential piece of intellectual property and perhaps the most iconic character in American pop culture will be free from Disney’s copyright as his first screen release, the 1928 short “Steamboat Willie,” featuring both Mickey and Minnie Mouse, becomes available for public use. Continue reading

Klarna CEO Siemiatkowski says buy now, pay later is used by shoppers who otherwise avoid credit

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Sebastian Siemiatkowski is a co-founder and CEO of Klarna, the Sweden-based company that’s one of the world’s biggest providers of buy now, pay later services to customers. Klarna started off in Europe and entered the U.S. market in 2015.

Buy now, pay later has become an increasingly popular option for consumers for purchases: its usage is up 10-fold since the pandemic and U.S. regulators see it as potentially a more sustainable way for borrowers to pay for purchases instead of using credit cards. Continue reading

Shein’s Mega IPO Raises Concerns Over Fast Fashion and the Industry’s Impact; Is Fast Fashion a Danger to Society?

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By Tamara White | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Fast fashion giant Shein recently filed for one of the most significant Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of 2023. The rampant growth of fast fashion — a fad turned rage that has dominated the industry for years — now sparks concerns about the trend’s societal and environmental impact.

Shein is not the only contributor to the fast fashion concern. Significant players like UNIQLO, Zara, Forever 21, and H&M have also adopted business models centered around the rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing. While the appeal lies in providing affordable and trendy options for consumers, the dark side of this industry is often overlooked. Continue reading