The Starbucks Index

You can study common economic indicators like the GDP, CPI, inflation, deflation, housing markets, unemployment or bull and bear markets to determine if our economy is heading in the right direction, but I prefer to take a different tack. Perhaps you could call it the “Main Street” approach as opposed to the “Wall Street” approach to analyzing the hopeful economic rebound.

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Comfort for the World-Weary

The election is a mere week away and it seems to be bringing out the worst in people. Palin in a noose as part of a Halloween display? A plot to assassinate Obama? It’s terrifying, regardless of what side of the coin you’re on. How, exactly, did things go so awry? It seems the proverbial you-know-what has hit the you-know-what.
I’ve always been interested in the goings-on of the government, but I’ve never felt so deeply invested in what’s been happening in our country than I do right now. And the hits just keep on coming.
There’s the economy, of course. Though it pains

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A Room of Her own

“A woman must have money and a room of her own.” – VIRGINIA WOOLF
Now it’s time to get creative, economically speaking. When living inside a sliding economy, one where the media delivers more bad news with every passing day, it is impossible not to feel a responsibility to tighten up on spending.
So one day in the not-so-distant past, while I was driving home from work in my gas-guzzling SUV, I was challenged by an economic strategist on the radio. He explained that we care for our bodies through exercise, so why wouldn’t we do the same for our wallets. I decided

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The Aftershock

Though it seems more than a little callous to worry about how the earthquake in China’s Sichuan province will affect our marketplace, in an industry that heavily depends on Chinese manufacturing, it would be sheer folly not to.
However, various reporting outlets are stating that the disaster’s effect on the Chinese economy will be minimal, which hopefully by extension, means U.S. manufacturing will receive nary a jolt. Here are a few soundbites from various news sources that you might be interested in:
BusinessWeek: ”China Quake Won’t Shake Economy”
However, many economists expect the impact on the Chinese economy of the power outages, communications

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Rocky Road

Astronomical gas prices. Food shortages. Global warming. It’s feeling a little apocalyptic out here, no?
In case you happen to have missed the news, are evading the stock market or avoiding all human contact—there’s this economy thing going on right now and people are kind of freaking out.
The possible imminency of a recession is palpably affecting the retail sector, according to the Women’s Wear Daily Web site, WWD.com.
Obviously, the real question is how/if it will affect the wearables contingent of the ad specialties industry. I think we’re all fairly confident the T-shirt will remain a sound investment. However, does a slowdown

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The End of Castro?

The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession.
« MARK TWAIN (1835 – 1910)

Recent headlines have revolved heavily around the “official” stepping down of oft-controversial Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. During his near 50 years of rule, the impoverished people of the Caribbean nation have felt the strain of a closed economy. But, with just a week under their belts, the new regime, led by Castro’s brother Raúl, has already signed into law two international human-rights treaties (both of which were long opposed by the elder Castro).
While most of the United States remains skeptical of any real change

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