Service Jobs Are Next to Go

If you meet Baxter, the latest humanoid robot from Rethink Robotics – you should get comfortable with him, because you’ll likely be seeing more of him soon. Rethink Robotics released Baxter last fall and received an overwhelming response from the manufacturing industry, selling out of their production capacity through April. He’s cheap to buy ($22,000), […]

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Eurozone

Cyprus: Last-Minute Bailout Doesn’t Address Eurozone’s Underlying Systemic Issues

Patrick Pleul/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom A last-minute accord struck early Monday morning between Cypriot authorities and International Monetary Fund and European Union officials is being hailed in Brussels as a breakthrough. In reality, the agreement simply papers over serious structural fractures within the eurozone and is likely nothing more than a temporary solution to long-term problems. The deal […]

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Eurozone

Eurozone Crisis Creates Another Challenge for Merkel

Zick,Jochen/ZUMA Press/Newscom As opposition to the euro continues to build within the eurozone, Germany, the motor of the eurozone—frankly, the only thing holding it all together—is not immune. Recently, a new political organization has formed in Germany called Alternative for Germany. So far the group is only a collection of like-minded euro-skeptic German intellectuals with […]

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Obama Plans to Spend $150 Million for Green Energy Projects (Because It’s Worked So Well Before)

Rainer Jensen/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom Just what America needs: More taxpayer-funded green energy projects. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service released plans to re-allocate more than $150 million in remaining manufacturing tax credits for “green” energy projects originally authorized by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the stimulus bill), according to Recovery.gov. […]

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Japan’s Step Closer to TPP

Newscom Today, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Japan will officially join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This comes a day after Prime Minister Abe received the okay to join TPP by his Liberal Democratic Party, a month after visiting President Obama and discussing the partnership, and more than a year since Japan first formally expressed […]

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Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement One Year On: Solidifying a Partnership for the Future

March 15 marks the first anniversary of the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). Over the past 12 months, a growing number of businesses in both countries have taken action to capitalize on the expanded opportunities created by the free flow of products, services, and ideas through the KORUS FTA. Although it is still early […]

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The No-Surprise Senate Budget: Higher Spending, Higher Taxes, No Real “Balance”

After going nearly four years without producing a budget resolution, Senate Democrats today released a plan confirming their mantra about “balanced” approaches has nothing to do with actually balancing the budget. In their view, “balance” is a mix of higher taxes and higher spending, chronic deficits and debt, and a relentlessly growing federal government. Those […]

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