The NYT points out that even a hike of a few percent on the ultra-rich could yield massive returns. For instance: If the tax increase were limited to just the 115,000 households in the top 0.1 percent, with an average income of $9.4 million, a 40 percent tax rate would produce $55 billion in extra […]
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Although none of the A-list stars in the conversation are living paycheck to paycheck, Hollywood (led by Jennifer Lawrence, one of the highest paid actresses in the world, according to Forbes) is taking note of the differences between pay for men and women — and that it extends to high-paying as well as low-paying jobs. […]
From the NYT: The recall of exploding Takata airbags, one of the largest and most complex auto recalls in the nation’s history, may grow even larger. On Thursday, officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the top federal auto safety regulator, said it had expanded its investigation of the defect beyond the airbags situated […]
The Federal Communications Commission has fined six companies a combined $30 million for deceptively marketing prepaid calling cards. The FCC found that the companies falsely advertised that their low-cost prepaid calling cards could allow consumers far more calling minutes than were in fact being sold. The FCC press release explains that "[t]he companies targeted advertising […]
In two cases today (one of them litigated by Public Citizen), the Fourth Circuit held that the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) is not entitled to claim Pennsylvania's sovereign immunity because PHEAA is not an arm of the state. In fact, PHEAA is effectively an independent business, which holds, services or guarantees more than $100 billion […]
by Paul Alan Levy Earlier this year, I discussed a troubling decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that reinstated a complaint by Multi-Time Machine, a maker of fancy watches, based on the way in which Amazon’s internal search engine returned results when users entered the search string “mtm special […]
That's the name of this article by Kevin Drum. Here's an excerpt: In 2010, just after Obamacare passed, CBO estimated that the uninsured rate would hit 8 percent by 2016. This was based on the original law, but in 2012 the Supreme Court made Medicaid expansion voluntary and most red states opted out. In July CBO updated its projections to […]
by Paul Alan Levy Yesterday I discussed a lawsuit filed by Amazon seeking relief against over a thousand anonymous individuals who offered to sell their services posting phony positive reviews about products available for sale on Amazon. The theory of Amazon's complaint is that the users are all registered Amazon users and hence forbidden from […]
As regulators and policymakers consider how to respond to VW's emissions scandal — in which the company programmed its vehicles to emit less during tests than under normal conditions (for our prior discussions, see here, here, and here) — one angle they might consider for future reform is copyright. Sen. Ron Wyden opined last week […]
In wake of last week's announcement by New York restaurateur Danny Meyer that he would be eliminating tipping at his restaurants (and instead building a service charge into the menu prices), dueling op-eds in the Times and Post over the past week debate the merits of tipping as a custom and means of paying workers. In the Times, Saru […]