Evolution Media

The U.S. economy continued growing this summer but "with widespread signs of deceleration," according to the Federal Reserve's "beige book." The compilation of anecdotal information from companies in the 12 Fed districts offers a portrait of an uncertain economic moment in which growth has slowed in


Federal Reserve System - Beige Book - Economic - Social Sciences - US Federal Reserve

As we continue to assign blame for the nation's economic mess, perhaps it would do us well to look in the mirror.


Financial literacy - Education - Literacy - Organizations - Adult Literacy

Large deficits and a weakened financial system have made the United States less competitive in the global economy, the World Economic Forum said in its annual review of the competitiveness of countries.


World Economic Forum - Financial services - Business - Financial Planning - Business and Economy

Facing a rising jobless rate and the possibility of a GOP blowout in the November midterm elections, President Obama sought Wednesday to convince voters that he is charting a new path to revive the American economy.


Corporate tax - Tax - Barack Obama - United States - President

Washington's battle for regulatory reform wasn't supposed to have this kind of collateral damage.



Screen Savers - Desktop Customization - Freeware - United States - Business

Bethesda-based contracting giant Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that more than 600 executives have taken the company up on an early-exit program that provides financial incentives in exchange for leaving.


Shopping - Associations - Coins - Antiques and Collectibles - World Coins

WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.


Light - Business - Business and Economy - China - Incandescent light bulb

Elizabeth Warren slipped quietly into Washington on Tuesday to talk with President Obama about the possibility of leading the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, according to people familiar with the meeting.


White House - United States - Elizabeth Warren - Government - President

BP released a long-awaited report Wednesday on an internal investigation into the causes of its Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout, blaming multiple failures by BP and other firms but absolving its much-criticized well design.



Gulf of Mexico - Oil spill - BP - Blowout preventer - United States

Lisa Fickenscher - While many restaurants are still reporting anemic growth, a food manufacturer in Brooklyn plans to add some 30 jobs and expand its production to satisfy the growing needs of its customers.

TMI Food Group, an Asian noodles and dumplings manufacturer, is investing $2.5 million in its Bushwick facility, purchasing new equipment and hiring more employees over the next five years to operate the machines.

“One of our major customers has requested us to increase capacity,” said Terry Tang, owner and chief executive of TMI. He identified the customer only as a fast food restaurant chain.

Mr. Tang also said that his company has not been overly affected by the economic crisis because “we provide basic food, like noodles.”

The Empire State Development Corp. gave TMI Food Group a $100,000 grant as part of its Manufacturing Assistance Program to help offset the cost of its expansion. Four years ago, the manufacturer received $225,000 from ESD to assist with another expansion project.

TMI Food Group is comprised of four separate companies, including Twin Marquis, which runs one of the largest noodle factories on the East Coast. Twin Marquis was opened in Chinatown in 1989 by the Tang family.

The president will argue personally Wednesday against extending the Bush-era income tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest families even for a year or two, a message aimed at wavering Democrats who have been swayed by arguments that the economy is too weak to raise anyone's taxes.



Barack Obama - United States - President - Government - History

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 legislated a reduction of energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The law provides for phasing out today's general service incandescent light bulbs in favor of lower-wattage, energy saving bulbs. Lighting accounts for about 15 percent of the ele...


Light - Incandescent light bulb - Electrical - Shopping - Bulbs

When President Obama took office, he promised to undo eight years of what he called the weakest antitrust enforcement in half a century. A year and a half later, consumer advocates are still waiting for the crackdown.


Competition law - President - United States - Barack Obama - Google

With the nation's bridges and highways crumbling under the weight of age, attempts to pass a new six-year transportation bill have faltered mostly because Congress can't figure out how to pay for it.



Infrastructure - Barack Obama - President - United States - Elections

An executive's sex scandal. His ouster. A bombastic billionaire competitor who redeemed him. And now a possible court battle over high-tech secrets.


HewlettPackard - Mark Hurd - Oracle - Oracle Corporation - Larry Ellison

Somewhere between the rantings of the Republican right, which is peddling the nonsense that excessive government spending is to blame for high unemployment, and the Democratic left, which clings to the false hope that another helping of fiscal stimulus is all that is needed to get millions of Ame...


Unemployment - Work - United States - Employment - Religion and Spirituality

Shubh Hotels Pittsburgh, the owner of Pittsburgh's largest hotel, has filed for bankruptcy protection days after Hilton Hotels terminated its franchise license agreement.


United States - Bankruptcy - Law - Services - Lawyers and Law Firms

Personal injury lawyers carved a niche for themselves in ambulance-chasing, and class-action-plaintiff's attorneys cornered the market on asbestos suits. Unfortunately for boutique firm ITS Recovery Group, the Ponzi-scheme-victims market is not yet ripe for specialization.

The legal and tax consultancy, which specialized in helping victims of investment fraud maximize tax-loss deductions and recover funds, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on Friday. It listed assets of $2.9 million and liabilities of roughly the same amount.

The firm was trying to target the market of jilted investors created by the high-profile fraudsters indicted over the past two years. It focused on recent IRS rulings that allow investors to claim theft-loss deductions on their income tax returns and possibly recover back-taxes. It also claimed a specialty in helping professional athletes who'd been swindled by their financial advisers.

“If you were a victim in a Ponzi scheme or were defrauded by your broker, financial advisor or investment firm,” reads its website, “Please contact ITS Recovery Group…to determine whether or not you qualify for significant tax benefits under IRS Code 165(c)(2).”

It boasted of a team of tax professionals, certified fraud examiners, theft-loss specialists and legal experts, though bankruptcy court papers listed only Anthony Troy Flax, founder and sole officer of the firm. It was headquartered on Wall Street until July of this year, when it relocated to Jersey City, N.J.

The firm earned money—or didn't, as it turns out—on a contingency basis, taking a percentage of any financial recovery realized. It wouldn't get paid if its efforts failed.

At the time of the filing, ITS Recovery listed 11 clients with combined pending recoveries estimated at $2.5 million.

Phone calls to the numbers listed on the firm's website did not go through. The attorney who prepared the bankruptcy filing, Edward Neiger of Neiger LLP on Madison Avenue, declined to comment.