From the category archives:

Marketplace

SOPA & PIPA suspended after protests show public opposition

February 2, 2012 Marketplace
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By Nicholas Lee After facing an overwhelming amount of protests calling for recognition of the first amendment and privacy rights, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills were indefinitely suspended.  While the U.S. government is still determined to draft legislation that will effectively stop overseas piracy, the power play against [...]

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Internship experiences: First-hand accounts from Bentley students

December 8, 2011 Marketplace
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By Phillip St. Pierre It is that time of year again: Bentley students are posting up in the library, stressing out about the group presentations and final papers that professors are throwing at them. Or, if you are like me, you are probably freshening up on your procrastination tactics, choosing to go to the gym [...]

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Yield Curves: May be hard to explain, but important to understand

December 1, 2011 Marketplace

By James Pini Yield curves have been an extremely difficult economic phenomenon for economists to explain. But during 2011, there has been much talk of them and their importance for suggesting future economic conditions. The yield curve, when seen at one point in time, is a measure of interest rates on securities of different maturities. [...]

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Eurozone train wreck and Black Friday top market headlines this week

December 1, 2011 Marketplace
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By Jasper Huang Welcome to the weekly market wrap for the week of November 21 through November 25, with markets being closed this Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving. Markets fell sharply amid intensifying concerns about the Eurozone, with Friday marking the seventh consecutive negative close for the S&P, which fell a cumulative 7.8 percent. Crude [...]

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NBA season in jeopardy as players & owners continue to disagree

November 17, 2011 Marketplace
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By Phillip St. Pierre The National Basketball Players Association’s executive director Billy Hunter predicted it over a year ago, claiming he was “99 percent sure” that a NBA lockout would arise following the 2010 season. Many were aware that a lockout was a possibility, but I don’t think anybody, players or owners alike, expected the [...]

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European debt crisis shows improvement in the last week

November 17, 2011 Marketplace
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By Jasper Huang Welcome to the weekly market wrap for November 7 through November 11. The 45th trading week of the year closed on a strong note, despite wavering confidence in Europe, specifically Italy during the middle of the week. Crude oil futures experienced growth this week, closing at around $98.73/barrel on Friday afternoon. Gold [...]

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Eurozone debt crisis still affecting stock market growth in U.S.

November 10, 2011 Marketplace

By Jasper Huang Welcome to the weekly market wrap for October 31 through November 4. The month of October has shown the strongest monthly market rally since 1974. However, as the month ended and proceeded into early November, the markets winning streak came to an end. The S&P500, DOW and NASDAQ all fell this week, [...]

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Minsky’s economic theory, “The Finanical Instability Hypothesis”

November 10, 2011 Marketplace
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By James Pini Similar to the Austrian position laid out in my article last week, economist Hyman Minsky’s theory of economic crises has recently gone mainstream. Minsky (1919-1996), an American economist who did not receive much recognition during his life, developed a theory that explains economic crises based on a dynamic within the banking sector’s [...]

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The Austrian Business Cycle Theory: Unpopular and largely unknown

November 3, 2011 Marketplace
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By James Pini Few economists are ever inclined to notice Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT) because the school of thought arose from accepts an economic methodology that is incompatible with today’s common schools of thought. Nevertheless, the Austrian School of Economic Thought has recently gained more attention, from both supporters and opponents – due to [...]

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In America, hyper-consumerism doesn’t indicate product quality

November 3, 2011 Marketplace
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By Jasper Huang America, once the image of prosperity, success and international affluence, is becoming senile and decrepit. Blasphemy, you say – and you are more than welcome to disagree – but many parts of the world are now forging ahead in technology, innovation and standards of living. I am in no way anti-American, but [...]

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Post-Jobs Era leaves future & innovation of Apple in question

October 27, 2011 Marketplace
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By Phillip St. Pierre As you are most likely already aware of, Apple lost its president and chief product design guru Steve Jobs to pancreatic cancer on October 5, 2011. The face and voice of Apple, Jobs was a master innovator who affected and propelled not only his company, but the technology industry as a [...]

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One single monetary policy might not be right in Europe

October 20, 2011 Marketplace

By James Pini This past week’s Wall Street Journal’s Review and Outlook article was called “Europe and Its Money.” It put the European debt crisis in its historical context, and for me it was a good reminder. I’d like to give my understanding of the historical context and then conclude with what I believe is [...]

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