You need to enable Javascript to play media on Bloomberg.com Play Detroit Residents Stay In at Night as Lights Go Out Enlarge image Half of Detroit’s Lights Might Go Dark as City Shrinks Itself Illuminated street at night, Detroit. Illuminated street at night, Detroit. Photographer: Getty Images Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating nearly half its streetlights. As it is, 40 percent of the 88,000 streetlights are broken and the city, whose finances are to be overseen by an appointed board, can’t afford to fix them. Mayor Dave Bing’s plan would create an authority to borrow $160 million to upgrade and reduce the number of streetlights ... Continue reading →
Do you work a lot or a little? Type in your hours, and we'll tell you how you compare with the average employee in your own country, and the average across 34 developed nations. The figures come from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), sometimes referred to as the rich countries' club, which gathers them from its 34 members. A global comparison of working hours is impossible because of the lack of comparable data. As Wesley Stephenson of BBC radio's More or Less programme explains, developing countries often work longer hours, but working longer doesn't necessarily mean working better. Continue reading →
And now for some more bombshell news about the Facebook IPO... Earlier, we reported that the analysts at Facebook's IPO underwriters had cut their estimates for the company in the middle of the IPO roadshow, a highly unusual and negative event. What we didn't know was why. Now we know. The analysts cut their estimates because a Facebook executive told them to, a source tells us. The information about the estimate cut was then verbally conveyed to sophisticated institutional investors who were considering buying Facebook stock, but not to smaller investors. The estimate cut appears to have influenced the investment decisions of at least some institutional investors, dampening their appetite for Facebook stock, and, crucially, affecting the price at which they were willing to buy ... Continue reading →
Mitt Romney In 2002: “I'm Basically In The Investors Hall Of Fame” Romney has come under fire this week from Democrats for his role leading the private equity firm Bain Capital. Romney, though, is proud of his work, as he said while running for governor: “I wish I could bat 1000, I can't, but I'm basically in the investors hall of fame.” posted May 22, 2012 1:15pm EDT Continue reading →