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	<title>George S. May Business BlogGeorge S. May Business Blog</title>
	<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com</link>
	<description>Business news and current events.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Fed’s Zero Percent Interest Rates May Cause Problems</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Federal Reserve’s traditional role of setting the interest rate has been admittedly easy since they set the rate at 0%. The low, low rate of zero percent is known as the Zero Interest Rate Policy or ZIRP for those of you given to funny sounding acronyms.
The Fed’s chairman Ben Bernacke has repeatedly said these [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/fed%e2%80%99s-zero-percent-interest-rates-may-cause-problems/</link>
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		<title>AIG sells Alico Division to MetLife Inc.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[American International Group Inc. said on Monday it has made a deal sell off its American Life Insurance Co. division for $15.5 billion. MetLife Inc. is the second company in two weeks to buy a sizable asset from the cash-strapped AIG. The government-approved deal, will give the company more liquidity to help them repay the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/aig-sells-alico-division-to-metlife-inc/</link>
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		<title>Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac&#8217;s Golden Ticket</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the scariest aspects of the implications of the government bailout is that it left the U.S. government liable for an incredible debt generated by the private sector. That’s not the scary part, the scary part is that taxpayers are on the hook for these companies for over $5 trillion.
These private companies made their [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/fannie-mae-and-freddie-macs-golden-ticket/</link>
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		<title>Wal-Mart Expands Into the Digital Marketplace</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There are few sentences that include both the words “Wal-Mart” and “expansion” that would shock many people. Wal-Mart has always been a symbol of corporate gigantism, and their lightning-fast expansion into the American marketplace would make the black plague envious. Wal-Mart has moved quickly and aggressively into so many marketplaces,  which when coupled with rock [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/wal-mart-expands-into-the-digital-marketplace/</link>
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		<title>Facebook: The Cost of Free Social Networking</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When I was in college, I was a few years younger than Mark Zuckerberg, the inventor of a start-up little website called Facebook.com. Less than a decade later, that young man who designed this big site as a college student has already turned down an offer to buy the company. Zuckerberg probably refused the offer [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/facebook-the-cost-of-free-social-networking/</link>
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		<title>Paper or Plastic the Future of Canadian Currency</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For years the question of paper or plastic has been asked to Canadians every time they leave a grocery store. Now at long last the tables have turned, and Canadians can finally ask the cashier which they’d prefer.
Canada’s current combination of paper and cotton will soon be replaced by plasticized versions, according to the government [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/paper-or-plastic-the-future-of-canadian-currency/</link>
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		<title>Citigroup CEO Thanks Taxpayers</title>
		<description><![CDATA[You read that correctly, it’s okay April Fool’s is still a little ways off. Vikram Pandit, the CEO of Citigroup thanked taxpayers for their help in the form of more than $40 billion dollars in TARP funds.
Sure, this may simply have been a shrewd move on behalf of now seasoned criticism taker, the apology came [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/citigroup-ceo-thanks-taxpayers/</link>
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		<title>Tis the Season for Job Creation?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Jobless rates have been very confusing of late. Some confusing data seems to be sending some befuddled signals. While certainly many countries will make some progress only to lose that ground as they struggle to recover, it’s worth considering the data to see if these mixed messages will prove to be good news or ill [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/tis-the-season-for-job-creation/</link>
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		<title>Retail Sales Hail a Stronger Economy</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Another positive sign of strength from America’s economy, long thought to be flat-lining after a disastrous few years. Retail sales have been growing at an impressive rate in the early months of this year.
The surge in retail spending has led to increased orders made to factories as well as money being spent at retail outlets, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/retail-sales-hail-a-stronger-economy/</link>
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		<title>Should the Government Get a Raise?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The recent crisis and pending solution for Greece’s economic troubles have a lot of people wondering: how much can be saved by cutting government spending? Particularly, how much would we be able to save if we were to actually reduce government salaries in America?
America was only too quick to jump on executives of large financial [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/should-the-government-get-a-raise/</link>
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		<title>Greece&#8217;s Good News Buoys Euro</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week it seemed certain that the Greek government was teetering on the brink of ruin, but today that storms seemed to have passed. The violent protests of the previous week must have done something to jar the government into action, pledging that they will trim $6.5 billion in tax cuts and spending reduction.
In mid-morning [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/greeces-good-news-buoys-euro/</link>
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		<title>Less Bang For Your Buck</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There is much said as to what the strengths and weaknesses of the dollar, but not much is ever really mentioned as to why it’s so vital to have a strong currency in the first place. Many people assume that this really only has a bearing on the exchange rates they enjoy (or revile) while [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/less-bang-for-your-buck/</link>
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		<title>Post Office Posts Huge Losses, Ponders Future</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The United States Postal Service has long been fond of saying that they will deliver mail through rain, sleet, and snow. Unfortunately the USPS has finally found the one thing that can derail the mail: a $7 billion loss over the course of this year. This loss coupled with a planned rate increase makes for [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/post-office-posts-huge-losses-ponder-future/</link>
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		<title>Can the Fed Head Consumer Protection?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A U.S. Senate effort to create a consumer protection unit in the Federal Reserve encountered a wall of resistance from lawmakers over the scope of the powers planned for the regulator.
Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) as well as Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) drew immediate complaints from colleagues today for suggesting a new department within [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/can-the-fed-head-consumer-protection/</link>
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		<title>Goldman Sachs Strikes Back</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs may be embroiled in bad publicity, hostile Congressmen, and campaigns by shareholders to cut executive compensation. Nevertheless, Sachs still remains a money making machine. The bank has disclosed that it had 131 trading days last year in which it made at least $100 million in net trading revenue &#8212; a new record for [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/goldman-sachs-strikes-back/</link>
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		<title>Banks Do The Right Thing to the Surprise of Millions</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This has been the era in which America has ended its love affair of the Gordon Gecko-inspired financial executives and the “greed is good” mentality that they acted out in the form of the derivatives crisis. People are no longer envious of these opulently wealthy executives, nor do they have much latitude for the continuing [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/banks-do-the-right-thing-to-the-surprise-of-millions/</link>
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		<title>Cramming: A Scamming Perennial Makes a Comeback</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As cell phones have become more numerous than people over the last decade, so too have the bills become gargantuan. Few people don’t at least know of someone who was hit with huge cell phone overages: thousands of dollars racked up by someone completely unaware of the true cost of their lengthy chatting and texting [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/cramming-a-scamming-perennial-makes-a-comeback/</link>
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		<title>Gas Prices Raised Again for Seemingly No Good Reason</title>
		<description><![CDATA[American dependence on foreign oil seems to have largely manifested itself as a political problem, a complicated situation involving many of the world’s most powerful nations which could result in higher prices at any moment. Oil companies and politicians try and explain away every increase in oil prices regardless of supply or demand.
This year, experts [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/gas-prices-raised-again-for-seemingly-no-good-reason/</link>
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		<title>Small Business a Big Priority for U.S. Economy</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The U.S. Treasury said on Friday that a White House proposal for a $30 billion loan fund would help to stop the credit drought for small businesses, as business owners said their inability to get financing is curbing expansion, and hurting viability in a slower economy.
The Obama administration has said plenty of the right words [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/small-business-a-big-priority-for-u-s-economy/</link>
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		<title>AIG Posts 4th Quarter Loss</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Perennial leader on most people’s list of incorrigible corporations, AIG, announced on Friday a fourth-quarter loss of $8.9 billion, or $65.51 per share, as the company sold off large stakes in its insurance businesses in an effort to whittle down the massive debt still owed to taxpayers.
The dip back into the loss side of the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/aig-posts-4th-quarter-loss/</link>
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		<title>IMF Not Putting all Currency in One Basket</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The International Monetary Fund has worked alongside the World Bank for the last several decades in order to lend money and aid to impoverished or developing nations around the world.
Many see this Fund as an institution which heaps an insurmountable debt on countries that keeps these debtor nations as desperate, if not more so than [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/imf-not-putting-all-currency-in-one-basket/</link>
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		<title>Hummer to Ride off into the Sunset?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There was a time just a few years ago during which the Hummer was a massively popular (and massively massive) vehicle in America.  Hummers were enormous, unruly, and could roll over any other vehicle if push came to shove. They were also not cheap to buy or maintain, and of course any vehicle that rich [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/hummer-to-ride-off-into-the-sunset/</link>
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		<title>Higher Education Faces Steep Cuts, Tuition Hikes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently the Federal government pumped billions into the private sector to avoid a horrible collapse of the financial sector. The thinking behind this move was that the companies at risk were too big too fail, meaning that if they were to close their doors, they are so vital to America that the country might just [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/higher-education-faces-steep-cuts-tuition-hikes/</link>
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		<title>Greece Derails Own Bailout by EU</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Greece has not fared well in these harsh economic times, but until recently it seemed as though it was likely that the country’s European Union cohorts were planning on coming to the rescue in the form of this year’s political curse word: bailout.
But if the U.S. was in dire straits, then there needs to be [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/greece-derails-own-bailout-by-eu/</link>
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		<title>Bernacke Changing the Role of the Fed?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Opinions of Ben Bernacke  like most public officials, tend to run the gamut between him being hailed both a financial genius and the fiduciary anti-christ depending on who you ask. Regardless of how you feel about the man himself, he has made some significant changes in the role the Federal Reserve plays in the American [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.georgesmayblog.com/bernacke-changing-the-role-of-the-fed/</link>
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