Talk about multi-tasking. MIT’s Senseable City Lab, which tries to find ways to better understand modern cities, has a great new program called City Scanner. They are taking single-purpose garbage trucks and turning them into multi-tasking centers. There are currently five trucks in Cambridge, Massachusetts that are measuring many variables including air pollution, traffic status,… Continue Reading
Reach back in memory to January and the well-publicized meeting between newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump and Executive Chairman Jack Ma of Chinese mega-company Alibaba. At that meeting Ma made a pledge to launch an online sales platform which would give at least 1 million small US businesses a chance to market their wares… Continue Reading
Researchers at the University of Vermont have been working to encourage the cultivation of the world’s most expensive spice, saffron. The exotic spice comes from a fall-flowering crocus, which is now grown mostly in Iran. U of V scientists have already been raising the flower and extracting the valuable spice, and now would like to… Continue Reading
Illinois, with the backing of the state treasurer, is looking to enact a law which will help ensure that insurance companies pay out benefits of life insurance policies which until now have not been distributed. The new legislation will compel companies to look at the last 20 years of payment history to check that all… Continue Reading
It’s always interesting to see where the movers and shakers today got their education. There are many fine institutions that are teaching students about public policy, public affairs and international relations. One such school, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, has an extensive alumni directory where they are continually updating… Continue Reading
Brendan Lindsay, founder and 90 percent owner of kitchen plastics company Sistema, said yes to Newell’s second offer to purchase his company for $660 million. In 2014 Lindsay turned down a similar offer because Newell would not commit to keeping the factory and its 700 jobs at home in New Zealand. This year, after visiting… Continue Reading
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics published a report stating that half of all the money spent on research and development in the US is spent in only five states. The report focuses on the R&D expenditures for 2013, the total of which was $255 billion. It showed that business R&D is more… Continue Reading
German supermarket chain Lidl is entering the US market. With about 10,000 stores in 26 countries throughout Europe, Lidl is planning to add up to 150 stores along the East Coast of the US by 2018. The chain’s headquarters in the US is in Arlington, Virginia, and its warehouses are now being built in Cecil… Continue Reading
Promising to “revolutionize” the tax code in favor of business, Donald Trump revealed a comprehensive and coherent agenda for how he will lure businesses back to the United States through taxation policy. In his address to the Economic Club of Detroit, the Republican candidate for president promised what he called the biggest “tax revolution” since… Continue Reading
On the campaign trail in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, billionaire Warren Buffet challenged Clinton’s rival, Republican candidate Donald Trump, to release his tax returns. The race for the President of the United States is Trump’s first encounter with running for any kind of office. Not a politician, Trump is a businessman who… Continue Reading