When is change too much, too soon?

Tuesday, 032613

In the know on current events through Marketplace 

Big picture economic indicators-some positives

Us home prices up.

Durable goods up.

Wireless phone – tmobile no contract but full price on phones

check out Ask Maggie - interesting commentary

Finish paying off phone and cost of wireless access goes down.

Are people willing to pay upfront for phones?

Spotify listen to music for free-subscription fee of $10 for music w/out ads.

Service provided is costing these companies money-they aren’t charging enough

Rule on planes – shutting off wireless devices is under review-no evidence that planes aren't affected by these devices-passengers question the necessity and evidence behind this rule and want this rule changed.

Congress is out of town for the next couple weeks.

Will be talking about overhauling the tax codes particularly for corporations

Tax reform will take cooperation from both parties.

Attorneys exaggerating their billable hours.

Lawyers billing $300-1000 per billable hour.

Currently lawsuit against one of the biggest firms accused of overbilling

Bigbook blog check this out!

Safety nets-safety nets made of nylon for trapeze artists.

Safety nets are to ensure survival…funding for safety nets for the basic homeowner/worker comes from taxes.

It is important to nudge people out of safety nets.

Richard Burkhauser, the economist from Cornell, said getting people out of the metaphoric safety net is important, too.  He applauds the welfare reforms of the 1990s that emphasized work incentives and put time limits on many forms of cash assistance.  He says other programs could benefit from similar changes.

"It nudged people in to the workforce, which is what society expected of them” said Burkhauser.

The submerged state…tax deductions for homeowners and for those who can save money. People benefit from a wealth of assets to provide a safety net.

In the same way, government safety net programs can also be invisible, said Suzanne Mettler, author of "The Submerged State."

Mettler says many tax credits and deductions are actually social policies in disguise, which are designed so that they "obscure government's role in helping people out to do particular things."

Marketplace wants to know..."what is your safety net?"

Cool gadgets-greatest hoodie ever made-American Giant forced to make change before they were ready-termed catastrophic success-$79.00 for hoodie

Article was written on Slate by Farhad Manjoo.

Winter Olympics in Russia worried about having adequate amounts of snow for the 2014 Olympics due to unusually warm weather so Russia is storing snow now, which will cost $11 million.