2007 December:   Business
Anchor:   Base Index
Other months:    November  January
Other areas:    Climate  computing  education  health  international  Internet  science  social  technology  Others
Topics:   Agriculture  banking  carbon  climate  competition  consumerism  copyright  corruption  economics  environment  fraud  free trade  freight  globalism  management  manufacturing  marketing  media  money  newspapers  outsourcing  pay  policy  politics  privatism  publishing  social  television  trademarks  wealth
Carbon(see also in Climate) last  down  top   on  back

Carrie Lafrenz, Farms stand to gain from carbon crop, The Age, 2007 Dec. 17 (managed farmland could help mop up much of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, converting a hazard into a productive opportunity, farmers and scientists say)
Adam Morton, True cost of carbon cuts, The Age, 2007 Dec. 13 (if Kevin Rudd immediately signed Australia up for the sort of medium-term carbon emissions cuts—25% to 40%—that the UN wants the developed world to take on by 2020, what effect would it have?)
David Adam, UK's official CO2 figures an illusion, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 10 (report undermines UK claims on action against global warming)
Keith Bradsher, A leading Asian utility to cut carbon emissions, IHT, 2007 Dec. 7 (CLP of Hong Kong, one of Asia's largest power utilities, plans to cut the amount of carbon dioxide it emits with each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by 4.8 percent over the next three years, and 76 percent by 2050; to do so, it will step up its investments in nuclear power, natural gas, renewable energy and so-called clean coal technologies)
The Clean Development Mechanism: How to make a clever deal cleverer, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (needed: a new way to get the Kyoto bargain to work)
Competition and Free Trade(see also Marketing) up  down  top   on  back

Gretchen Morgenson, When the SEC turns a blind eye to market mischief, IHT, 2007 Dec. 16 (a report by the Government Accountability Office being released Monday indicates that in its battles against insider trading and market manipulation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declines to use one of the sharpest tools in its arsenal: the internal audits conducted by the stock and options exchanges)
Sean Hargrave, Is Google a Grinch or a good guy?, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 13 (the giant search engine has been accused of 'stealing Christmas' from companies by changing how it ranks results)
Bobbie Johnson, Opera accuses Microsoft of anti-competitive behaviour, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 13 (the Norwegian company Opera, which produces a rival browser, says consumers are sick of Bill Gates' Microsoft making choices for them)
Stephen Moynihan, Cartels to face jail over collusion, The Age, 2007 Dec. 10 (oil company chiefs and petrol retailers found guilty of colluding and price fixing will be jailed and have criminal convictions under reforms promised by the Rudd Government)
E.ON and RWE: Damned duopoly, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (love them or hate them, Germany's two power giants keep the lights on)
Business in Japan: Not invented here, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (entrepreneurs have had a hard time, but things are slowly improving; part of a special report)
Consumerism(see also Social and in Social) up  down  top   on  back

Graeme Wearden and Julia Kollewe, Shoppers flock to high street, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 27 (large queues and pre-dawn scuffles as prospect of cut-price clothes lures 'very aggressive' bargain seekers to Oxford Street)
James Rose, Donations alone will not make the world a better place, The Age, 2007 Dec. 27 (consumerism must not distract us from helping the poorest)
Yvonne Pecujac, From Christmas hangover to retail fever, The Age, 2007 Dec. 27 (in Spain they have the running of the bulls; in Melbourne we have the Boxing Day sales)
Helen Razer, It's where we go to be together with our loved ones: Chaddy, The Age, 2007 Dec. 26 (moments of intimacy are now to be found in the church of shopping)
Retailing: Birth, death and shopping, Economist, 2007 Dec. 22 (the rise and fall of the shopping mall)
Larissa Dubecki, All the rage this season: top tips to avoid blowing a fuse, The Age, 2007 Dec. 17 (a seasonal quiz: Is the embodiment of Christmas, a) joyful times spent with family members, or b) a soul-destroying hour spent finding a car-park space at Chadstone shopping centre before panic-spending on perfunctory gifts?)
Stephanie Bunbury, Check the malls (and fill my trolley), The Age, 2007 Dec. 16 (it seems all everyone wants for Christmas is more stuff, and more stuff means more debt; but as Australians increasingly turn to the plastic solution, economists are wondering, where will it end?)
Daniel Dasey and Michelle Taverniti, Credit's getting simpler, The Age, 2007 Dec. 11 (consumers will soon be able to pay for goods at hundreds of retail outlets with a simple wave of their credit card as smart card technology not requiring a signature is rolled out across NSW)
Technology Quarterly: Watching as you shop, Economist, 2007 Dec. 8 (big shops are using elaborate technology to monitor and influence the behaviour of their customers; part of a special report)
Julia Finch, Tesco calls for cut in interest rates, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 4 (supermarkets group says inflation risks have been 'massively overblown' compared with the dangers of a consumer slowdown)
Katie Allen, Dire warnings as consumers shun burgers, beer and sofas, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 3 (gloomy updates from a burger bar chain, a pubs group and a sofa store show that the impact of the credit crunch is spilling beyond financial markets and into household budgets)
Johnny Davis, Magazine: 'Would madam care to taste the cloud juice?', Observer, 2007 Dec. 2 (why are we prepared to pay up to 100,000 times the going rate for something we can have on tap for free?; the source of the ultimate liquid asset)
Will Hutton, Comment: Let me share the secret of the world's best diet with you, Observer, 2007 Dec. 2 (our entire economic and social system will have to shift if obesity is ever to be checked)
Consumer credit: Card sharks, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (is the subprime mortgage crisis infecting America's credit-card market?)
Copyright and Trademarks(see also in Internet and Technology) up  down  top   on  back

Rayad Abou Awad, Egypt to copyright pyramids, The Age, 2007 Dec. 27 (Egypt plans to pass a law requiring payment of royalties whenever its ancient monuments, from the pyramids to the Sphinx, are reproduced)
James Kanter and Gary Rivlin, WTO gives Antigua right to violate U.S. copyrights in gambling dispute, IHT, 2007 Dec. 21 (the award comes after a WTO decision that Washington had wrongly blocked online gaming operators on the island from the American market at the same time it permitted online wagering on horse racing)
BitTorrent search site loses case, BBC, 2007 Dec. 20 (a website which provided links to films, music and TV programmes loses a copyright case in the US)
Bill Thompson, Microsoft puts upgrade in a spin, BBC, 2007 Dec. 17 (Microsoft make it unnecessarily difficult to upgrade from an Xbox 360 to the Elite)
Vanda Carson, Retailer fails in brand bid, The Age, 2007 Dec. 17 (private equity-owned clothing and footwear retailer Colorado has lost a legal challenge aimed at preventing handbag retailer Strandbags from using the name of the US state on bags and wallets sold through its stores)
Technology Quarterly: Cyberlawyer 2.0, Economist, 2007 Dec. 8 (Lawrence Lessig is known for his work at the interface between technology and law; why is he shifting his focus to corruption?; part of a special report)
Economics and Policy(see also Money) up  down  top   on  back

Robert Gavin, Economic predictions for 2008 are all over the map, IHT, 2007 Dec. 25 (some economists predict that the U.S. economy will slide into recession next year; others expect the nation to avoid recession, if only barely; a few even think the economy will see solid growth)
Peter Weekes, Storm clouds on the horizon, The Age, 2007 Dec. 23 (a soaring dollar, rising interest rates, a global credit crunch, record oil prices and a volatile sharemarket all helped to define 2007; but what about the next 12 months?)
Peter Weekes, Morgan Stanley utters R-word as world's outlook worsens, The Age, 2007 Dec. 16 (a third major US financial institution dared to name the market's worst fear - not only was the US heading for a recession, Morgan Stanley said, but it would have global implications from Europe to Australia)
Ross Gittins, Why a lower level of unemployment can be a bad thing, The Age, 2007 Dec. 15 (more jobs means more money, and that means more inflation)
John Langmore, The economy as a servant of society, The Age, 2007 Dec. 12 (refocusing economic policy to give a central place to individual and community wellbeing, including by improving employment opportunities and human services, curbing carbon emissions and reducing poverty, would have many implications for economic development strategy and macro-economic policy)
Jonathan Watts, Riots and hunger feared as demand for grain sends food costs soaring, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 4 (expert to warn industry of threats to world supply; biofuels and Chinese boom put pressure on harvests)
Environment(see also in Health and Science) up  down  top   on  back

Rachel Kleinman, City threat to native vegetation, The Age, 2007 Dec. 19 (native vegetation has been hit hard across Melbourne and in surrounding regions that include key state tourist attractions, according to an environment snapshot)
Technology Quarterly: Shellfish desires, Economist, 2007 Dec. 8 (a new invention makes trawling for fish much less harmful to coral, sponges, seaweed and other denizens of the seabed; part of a special report)
Will Hutton, Comment: Why the Himalayas might not look like this for much longer, Observer, 2007 Dec. 9 (China's economic growth, underpinned by a lack of political accountability, will have a devastating environmental impact)
Robin McKie, Pylon threat to mountain wilderness, Observer, 2007 Dec. 9 (electricity cables from Highland wind farms would destroy the Cairngorms, say opponents)
John Elder, Macquarie Island on the brink of catastrophe, The Age, 2007 Dec. 2 (help is finally on the way for this unique southern outpost; but will it be too late?)
Fraud and Corruption(see also in Internet and Social) up  down  top   on  back

Nick Cohen, Comment: No happy returns for the Revenue robots, Observer, 2007 Dec. 30 (far from cracking down on fraud, HM Customs and Revenue is allowing the practice to flourish)
Max Hastings, Leaders beyond the law, The Age, 2007 Dec. 27 (global corruption is so endemic it has its own index, and in most places it's heading off the chart)
Fraud and financial innovation: The match king, Economist, 2007 Dec. 22 (Ivar Kreuger was the world's greatest swindler; he would have thrived today)
Corporate crime: Blazing trails, Economist, 2007 Dec. 15 (an intriguing plea deal in America has big implications for Britain)
Technology Quarterly: Cyberlawyer 2.0, Economist, 2007 Dec. 8 (Lawrence Lessig is known for his work at the interface between technology and law; why is he shifting his focus to corruption?; part of a special report)
Ben Cubby, Head of GM panel in conflict claims, The Age, 2007 Dec. 6 (Sir Gustav Nossal, the former Australian of the Year chosen to head the Victorian Government's panel that recommended lifting bans on some genetically modified crops, is the founder of a business designed to reap commercial gain from biotechnology)
David Rood, Fake driver's licences rife, says probe into VicRoads, The Age, 2007 Dec. 6 (fraud, security breaches and criminal activity by organised gangs are rife in Victoria's driver's licence system, a scathing Ombudsman's report into VicRoads has found)
Globalism and Free Trade(see also in International) up  down  top   on  back

Ruth Sunderland, We must learn to live with the reds going into our banks, Observer, 2007 Dec. 23 (the £50bn liquidity lifeline offered by central banks has brought some relief to the markets, and so has another form of state intervention - sovereign funds pouring their cash into bombed-out banks)
John Tagliabue, From Switzerland, selling an over-sweetened world more chocolate, IHT, 2007 Dec. 16 (Swiss chocolatiers, having long ago conquered markets in Europe and North America, are now aiming at the vast expanses of Russia, India and China)
Information technology in India: Gravity's pull, Economist, 2007 Dec. 15 (is India's computer-services industry heading for a fall?)
Seumas Milne, Comment: This crisis spells the end of the free market consensus, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 13 (the credit squeeze is set to trigger the end of the boom that has shaped our times; politics is going to change with it)
Emerging multinationals: They're behind you, Economist, 2007 Dec. 8 (a new report identifies the developing world's most promising multinationals)
Jonathan Freedland, Comment: We would be fools to banish global business from the great climate battle, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 5 (capitalism alone won't save the planet, but it has a critical, innovative role to play; the alternative is to rely on a revolution)
Sovereign-wealth funds: Dishdashing to the rescue, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (Citigroup calls on sovereign wealth; it joins a long line of supplicants)
Business in Japan: No country is an island, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (Japan is reluctantly embracing globalisation; part of a special report)
Management(see also in Computing) up  down  top   on  back

Simon Caulkin, A refreshing tip for 2008: tear up the textbook, Observer, 2007 Dec. 30 (if management by sticks, carrots and over-the-top exhortation is over, it's back to basics)
Gwladys Fouché, Quarter of Norway's firms face shutdown as female directors deadline approaches, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 27 (companies must meet 40% quota by Monday; law helps raise proportion to world's highest)
Christine Haughney, Tech wizards try to branch out - and stumble, IHT, 2007 Dec. 25 (Jim Clark and Tom Jermoluk cut a swath through Silicon Valley in the 1990s with companies like Silicon Graphics, Netscape and WebMD; but they are finding that it is lot harder to maneuver through the real estate market than master the Internet)
Staying at the top: Mao and the art of management, Economist, 2007 Dec. 22 (the disparity between Mao's performance and his reputation is instructive, for behind it are four key ingredients which all bad managers could profitably employ)
Jack and Suzy Welch, Take a pin to balloon of office bureaucracy, The Age, 2007 Dec. 16 (an interview with James Moss-Solomon)
Corporate restructuring: The walking dead, Economist, 2007 Dec. 15 (with credit conditions tighter, more companies will be pursued by their creditors; but restructuring is becoming increasingly complex, contentious and costly)
Computer knowledge 'undervalued', BBC, 2007 Dec. 14 (computer skills are still undervalued in the UK board room, software giant Microsoft claims)
Business in Japan: JapAnglo-Saxon capitalism, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (have Japanese business practices changed enough?; part of a special report)
Manufacturing up  down  top   on  back

Neil Boorman, Comment: Beyond the factory gates, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 31 (businesses must be forced to take back and recycle the products they sell once they wear out)
Reuters, US manufacturing braces for turbulence, The Age, 2007 Dec. 21 (housing market troubles will likely cause the US manufacturing sector to experience "turbulent times" in 2008, report shows)
The European car industry: Collision course, Economist, 2007 Dec. 22 (new European Union emission rules are bad news for Germany's carmakers)
Ian Porter, Emissions law a breath of fresh air for luxury car makers, The Age, 2007 Dec. 19 (the EU Commission has refused to budge on its plan to limit emissions to 120 grams of carbon dioxide a kilometre from 2012, but it has indicated that car makers will be allowed to trade carbon dioxide credits between themselves)
Reuters, Pentagon awards $2.6 billion to build trucks, IHT, 2007 Dec. 18 (the U.S. Pentagon said it had awarded contracts to BAE Systems, Force Protection and a Navistar International unit to build another 3,126 mine-resistant vehicles for U.S. soldiers)
Nick Bunkley, As euro climbs, European automakers consider building U.S. factories, IHT, 2007 Dec. 11 (the dollar's falling value is making European automakers eager to build more vehicles in the United States, even as American car companies continue to shift production to lower-cost countries)
Micheline Maynard, Carmakers unite, in the end, over U.S. fuel economy rule, IHT, 2007 Dec. 7 (in the past week, after a deal on proposed legislation to raise fuel economy by 40 percent to 6.7 liters per 100 kilometers, by 2020, the companies in the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers declared the higher standards would be "good for both customers and energy security")
AAP, Manufacturing activity grows moderately, The Age, 2007 Dec. 4 (manufacturing activity in Australia grew moderately in November, a survey shows)
Simon Caulkin, Comment: Toyota's never-to-be-repeated all-star production, Observer, 2007 Dec. 2 (the TPS is probably the most influential manufacturing model since Henry Ford's moving assembly line of the early 1900s)
Marketing(see also Competition and in Internet) up  down  top   on  back

The Bible v the Koran: The battle of the books, Economist, 2007 Dec. 22 (the business of marketing the Bible and the Koran says a lot about the state of modern Christianity and Islam)
Libby Brooks, Comment: A tide of bland imagery tells girls that sexy is everything, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 20 (pre-teens are increasingly being deluged with the message that an alluring appearance ought to be their ultimate goal)
Stuart Elliott, L'Oréal spoofs product placement in U.S. ads, IHT, 2007 Dec. 18 (the U.S. consumer products division of L'Oréal is starting an online campaign—viral, because consumers are meant to pass it along—that sends up the concept of sponsors insinuating products into television shows, movies and video games)
John Tagliabue, From Switzerland, selling an over-sweetened world more chocolate, IHT, 2007 Dec. 16 (Swiss chocolatiers, having long ago conquered markets in Europe and North America, are now aiming at the vast expanses of Russia, India and China)
Cameron Houston, Smoking device has Quit fuming, The Age, 2007 Dec. 11 (cigarette giant Philip Morris will launch Australia's first hand-held electronic smoking device from its South Yarra concept store today in a move that has infuriated anti-tobacco groups)
Louise Story, Coke promotes itself in a new virtual world, IHT, 2007 Dec. 7 (at CC Metro, an island on the Internet that is shaped like a Coke bottle, visitors can set up a virtual alter ego known as an avatar, which can then shop and dance at the Coca-Cola diner, visit a movie theater to watch short films and soar around on a hoverboard)
Media and Television(see also in Technology) up  down  top   on  back

Dan Glaister, Writers threaten internet breakaway, The Age, 2007 Dec. 30 (leading film and TV writers, accompanied by actors, directors and Silicon Valley investors, poised to announce creation of new ventures aimed at bypassing the studios)
Mark Lawson, Comment: TV's future should not lie in the past, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 29 (programme makers must not forget that the best shows have all begun as risky projects)
Fox films 'for rent via iTunes', BBC, 2007 Dec. 27 (Apple and 20th Century Fox are to announce a deal that will allow people to rent films via iTunes, reports say)
John Glionna, Broadcasting the news with his master's voice, The Age, 2007 Dec. 22 (former ABC weatherman Edwin Maher's new career on Chinese television has raised concerns about journalists accepting censorship)
Michael Cieply, Studios face rising cost of archiving films, IHT, 2007 Dec. 21 (to store a digital master record of a movie costs about $12,514 a year, versus the $1,059 it costs to keep a conventional film master; much worse, to keep the enormous swarm of data produced when a picture is "born digital" pushes the cost of preservation to $208,569 a year)
Elisabetta Povoledo, commercial 'phenomenon' in Italy: teenage fairies, IHT, 2007 Dec. 7 (Winx are fairies, six comely—and fashionable—teenage fairies with a successful television series to their name and a good start on silver-screen stardom)
Tell me the future, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 3 (when we asked Vint Cerf, chief evangelist at Google, to guest edit MediaGuardian, we expected him to bring us some luminaries of the web who we don't often get to hear from; his choices transform an often-asked question ("what's the future?"), into an insight into the thinking of innovators and pioneers)
Money and Banking(see also Economics and Wealth) up  down  top   on  back

Heather Connon, Winter winds whistle ominously through the markets, Observer, 2007 Dec. 30 (financial markets will start the new year with more uncertainty about the future than has been the case for years)
Daniel Flitton, The mighty dollar can buy great cliches, The Age, 2007 Dec. 29 (the US election is about money and how much it can lift a candidate)
Yuan's record gain against dollar, BBC, 2007 Dec. 27 (China's yuan shows its biggest post-revaluation rise against the dollar as the central bank signals a shift in its policy)
Pound at record low against euro, BBC, 2007 Dec. 24 (the pound falls to a record low against the euro, as dealers expect more interest rate cuts in Britain in 2008)
Recalculating China's GDP: Clipping the dragon's wings, Economist, 2007 Dec. 22 (China's economy is smaller than was thought)
Mirko Bagaric, Money: a condition not a cause, The Age, 2007 Dec. 21 (Australians are becoming increasingly obsessed with the idea that we should work hard and be prudent today so we can lead a richer life tomorrow)
Ross Gittins, Why a lower level of unemployment can be a bad thing, The Age, 2007 Dec. 15 (more jobs means more money, and that means more inflation)
Economics focus: The uncomfortable rise of the rupee, Economist, 2007 Dec. 15 (is India suffocating from too much foreign attention?)
Seumas Milne, Comment: This crisis spells the end of the free market consensus, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 13 (the credit squeeze is set to trigger the end of the boom that has shaped our times; politics is going to change with it)
Heather Stewart, Dollar's a drag for Europe, Observer, 2007 Dec. 2 (the greenback's plunge is boosting the US economy, but pushing Europe into the danger zone)
Banks: Dog days of winter, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (liquidity concerns grip the banking industry; how long will they last?)
The falling dollar: Losing faith in the greenback, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (how long will the dollar remain the world's premier currency?)
Outsourcing(see also Pay and in Social) up  down  top   on  back

Julia Kollewe, Shell to outsource 3,200 IT jobs, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 31 (Royal Dutch Shell plans to outsource thousands of IT jobs in a drive to slash costs and simplify its structure, following in the footsteps of its arch-rival BP)
Rajesh Mahapatra, Call center jobs in India take toll on workers' health, IHT, 2007 Dec. 26 (call centers and other outsourced businesses like software writing, medical transcription and back-office work employ more than 1.6 million young men and women in India, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who make much more than their contemporaries in most other professions; they are, however, facing sleep disorders, heart disease, depression and family discord)
Benoit van Overstraeten, France could block EADS moving plants abroad, IHT, 2007 Dec. 17 (the French state will try to prevent defence and aerospace group EADS moving production abroad to help it cope with the weak dollar)
Information technology in India: Gravity's pull, Economist, 2007 Dec. 15 (is India's computer-services industry heading for a fall?)
Aviation: Opposite headings?, Economist, 2007 Dec. 8 (why both Boeing and Airbus are grumbling about their supply chains)
Pay and Wealth(see also Outsourcing and in Social) up  down  top   on  back

Economics focus: The new (improved) Gilded Age, Economist, 2007 Dec. 22 (the very rich are not that different from you and me; or less different, perhaps, than they used to be)
Taxing the foreign rich: Collateral damage, Economist, 2007 Dec. 15 (the Treasury may be overdoing the crackdown)
Ed Pilkington, Trouble, the £12m dog, lies low to evade kidnappers, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 4 (hotel billionaire Leona Helmsley left £12m in her will to her dog Trouble; now it seems that was just the start of it)
Privatisation and Private Equity up  down  top   on  back

Eric Dash, The gilded realm of private equity turns into dross, IHT, 2007 Dec. 31 (the gilded realm of private equity—in which moguls use private money to buy stockholder-owned companies—has turned into dross for everyday investors this year; and hedge funds, those secretive investment pools for the rich and, increasingly, the not-so-rich, have been losers for the investing public as well)
Roy Hattersley, Comment: Name thine enemy, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 20 (the lost data crises are a result of Blair's project of privatisation - and it's time for Brown to say so)
Face value: The new face of private equity, Economist, 2007 Dec. 8 (the future of a controversial business lies with people such as Antonio Bonchristiano)
Publishing and Newspapers up  down  top   on  back

Adam B Ellick, Attacks on journalists increase, IHT, 2007 Dec. 18 (64 journalists died in connection with their work in 2007; nearly half of those deaths, 31, took place in Iraq, which was ranked as the deadliest country for journalists for the fifth consecutive year; most of the killings this year were targeted attacks)
Henry Sanderson, Mounting cost of paper raises book prices in China, IHT, 2007 Dec. 17 (voracious demand for books and a crackdown on small, polluting paper mills have caused a paper crunch in China, pushing up the price of paper by 10 percent so far this year and forcing printers to delay books and publishers to raise prices)
AFP, Read all about it! World's first 'newspaper' mobile launched, The Age, 2007 Dec. 13 (Sweden's Dagens Nyheter launches the world's first "newspaper" telephone: a mobile phone offering the daily's subscribers direct and free access to its website)
Jason Steger, New chapter for literary magazine, The Age, 2007 Dec. 12 (a Melbourne University review of the 67-year-old magazine, Meanjin, decided that it would be produced under the auspices—and in the offices of—Melbourne University Publishing)
Stephen Brook, International Herald Tribune hooks up with Reuters, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 10 (the International Herald Tribune is to launch a daily "Business with Reuters" section in print and online early next year)
Dan Milmo, Tube passengers discard 9.5 tonnes of free papers a day, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 10 (tube contractor misses cleanliness target because of mountains of free papers on Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines)
Richard Pérez-Peña, With nonconformist methods, Consumer Reports magazine thrives, IHT, 2007 Dec. 7 (Consumer Reports, a monthly, refuses to publish ads, which are the primary source of revenue for most magazines, yet it makes a healthy profit; and it not only charges for access to most of its Web site, it has three million paying subscribers online—up about 60 percent in the last 18 months—which experts say may be the largest number in the industry)
Mark Lawson, Comment: Front-page thrillers, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 7 (the hyper-reality of fiction techniques has transformed the way we consume the news)
Cate Doty, AP to reorganize work and accent multimedia, IHT, 2007 Dec. 3 (the Associated Press, the 161-year-old news cooperative, is refitting itself to handle the 24-hour news cycle it helped create; the company is moving toward an all-digital platform it calls the "Digital Cooperative")
Martin Dunn, How to survive Rupert Murdoch, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 3 (the Wall Street Journal's new owner takes control next week; Dunn offers staff some friendly advice)
Social(see also Consumerism) up   first    top   on  back

Madeleine Bunting, Comment: Eat, drink and be miserable: the true cost of our addiction to shopping, Guardian, 2007 Dec. 3 (today it seems politically unpalatable, but soon the state will have to turn to rationing to halt hyper-frantic consumerism)
Politics and business: If firms had the vote, Economist, 2007 Dec. 1 (New Labour is losing the support of business, and it matters)