670,557 new vehicle sales later, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), popularly known as Cash for Clunkers, has come to a close. While America is collectively parking their new cars at the farthest ends of the lot to avoid door dings, the program’s end left the auto industry with smiling faces followed by frowns.
Myself (editorial/photography), Dan Sweet (design/photography) and Dawson Hunter (video) went up to Seattle this weekend and met Malawian William Kamkwamba. He's a person you're not going to want to forget.
When trying to ignite growth, car companies and the government have recently used a few strategies: the bailout strategy; or the research, development and adaptation strategy. Let me explain:
The bailout strategy:
We’re a 21st-century company at brass. We drive hover cars (or at least we wish we did), drink our food in astronaut pouches, and we use computers for pretty much everything we do. Research, writing, editing, even communicating with one another: almost all of it’s done in front a computer screen.
It appears that, as a nation, we would rather give away $34 than eat brussels sprouts.
The average Goldman Sachs employee will receive a $700,000 salary this year. That's an average employee, not a top executive. In comparison, the average salary in the U.S. is $42,270, or $657,730 less.
Some of you may remember our Winter 2006 cover story Meg & Dia: Emerging Monsters Of Rock. They're on fire this year. They released an album in April titled Here, Here and Here.
It seems commonly accepted that money equals success. The more you have, the more successful you are. This exaltation of wealth is common from Forbes' lists to rap videos like T.I's "Whatever You Like." The problem with this equation is that it puts an emotional value on money: the more you have, the better you are. The less you have, the less worth you have as a person.
When was the last time you saw a sewing machine? When was the last time you used one? I know, no one really uses sewing machines regularly. When my mother gave me my grandmother's machine, I nearly cried--and they were not tears of joy. The thing was a wreck and almost an antique. However, I've never regretted the money I spent fixing it up. I've been able to do a lot with it (and saved a lot of money), despite the fact that I’m not a very good seamstress.
It’s fall. Begrudgingly we must accept that summer is over. With the absence of that large orange sun comes the revival of those large orange squash that we know and love. You know what I’m talkin’ about. Oh yeah…it’s pumpkin time!
I was playing around with a new online accounts management tool--which you'll find out about next week in my new addition to our Modern Money Managers blog series--and after adding all my information into the software, I quickly came to the realization that my lack of a proper budget is not helping my credit card debt.
Baseball has been an American pastime since its modernization in the 1840s. Its rules harken to a day where life wasn't quite as complicated: "The ball must be pitched and not thrown for the bat." As if such a rule would be necessary in today's competitive world.
