Economy

Economy

Regulators Warn Banks On Direct-Deposit Loans

8:16pm April 25, 2013

by John Ydstie

Regulators are warning some of the nation's largest banks to stop offering loans that are hard to distinguish from those given out by storefront payday lenders. The banks have been offering high-interest-rate, short-term loans to customers with direct deposit as an advance on their paychecks.

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Economy

Signing Up For Food Stamps: The Choice And The Stigma

2:25pm April 25, 2013

Forty-seven million Americans now rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. For many people, the decision to sign up is fraught with conflicting feelings about taking government assistance.

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Missouri farmer Gary Riedel says wet weather will put him about a month behind last year's planting.

For Corn, Fickle Weather Makes For Uncertain Yields

9:06am April 24, 2013

by Abbie Fentress Swanson

Corn production was down last year thanks to drought. This year, conditions are too cold and wet for farmers to plant the crop. Without a break in the clouds pretty soon, there may be another shortage of the crop at harvest time.

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Online Retailers Take Opposite Sides On Sales Tax Bill

8:04pm April 23, 2013

by Scott Horsley

A bill making its way through the Senate would make more online retailers collect sales taxes. The battle over the bill pits online retailers against brick-and-mortar stores — and, in some cases, against other online sellers. Amazon has endorsed the bill, while eBay is the loudest voice against it.

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Photovoltaic cells on the office building's roof.

This Building Is Supergreen. Will It Be Copied?

10:18am April 22, 2013

by Wendy Kaufman

The Bullitt Foundation's new Seattle headquarters, billed as the world's "greenest" building, is designed to be entirely self-sustaining. The developers hope it can inspire others to build this way.

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Economy

Historical Marker to Recognize R.J. Reynolds Local 22

6:53pm April 19, 2013

A new historical marker will be erected Saturday in Winston-Salem to recognize Local 22, a union that formed at R-J Reynolds in the 1940's.

Economy

NC Plans Adoption of Digital Textbooks

6:20pm April 19, 2013

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Economy

Despite Flaws, Harvard Economists Stand By Research

12:22pm April 18, 2013

by Jim Zarroli

At what point does debt start to drag down an economy? Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff have argued that a debt to GDP ratio of 90 percent is a red line of sorts. That idea is under attack with economists from the University of Massachusetts charging that Rogoff and Reinhart used selective data to make their case.

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Economy

Taxes Without Returns: Pipe Dream Or Possibility?

3:34pm April 15, 2013

A system known as "return-free filing" would allow filers to receive a pre-filled tax return prepared by the government and make any necessary tweaks. According to a ProPublica-NPR report, this approach, which exists in some countries, has taxpayer advocates at odds with tax preparation companies.

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Robert Oliver, 27, dances on the corner of 28th and Crenshaw in west Los Angeles, dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume outside the offices of Liberty Income Tax.

Tax Day Is This Statue Of Liberty's Last Day Of Work

1:28pm April 15, 2013

by Nina Gregory

At the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and 28th Street in Los Angeles, you'll find Robert Oliver wearing a Statue of Liberty costume and dancing to promote Liberty Tax Service. "I'm never embarrassed to be out here," he says. "I'm proud of what I do."

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