Business Financial News

Professor Vijay Govindarajan believes only businesses can solve the worlds most intractable social ills. His forthcoming book will show them how.

As a kid growing up in a small village in India, Vijay Govindarajan was close enough to extreme poverty to witness it destroy the promise of youth, yet removed enough to think about it critically. Govindarajan, the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business, didnt have to look farther than the light bulb in his house to know that great ideas could have profound effects on society. But just as Thomas Edison did, he also realized that innovation has two components in unequal measure: inspiration and perspiration.

Read Full Post…

Consumer confidence and consumer spending both help start a stalled economy. It will be interesting to see how retail sales report after the holiday season, given the current economic conditions. Initial unemployment claims have been down a tad the past four weeks, offering some economists hope, but a chunk of those may simply be accepting seasonal retail work in order to make ends meet, get employee discounts, or simply hoping to land full time work.

When it comes to Black Friday, there are a number of things to take into account. First, is safety. The allure of a perceived bargain can make otherwise rational people acct irrationally. Make a list of what you actually want or need rather than buying what you perceive as a bargain.

CARL DELMONT Perform due diligence.

Read Full Post…

NEW YORK (AP) — The Department of Justice said Tuesday that drugmaker Merck will pay $950 million to resolve investigations into its marketing of the painkiller Vioxx.

The agency said Merck will pay $321.6 million in criminal fines and $628.4 million as a civil settlement agreement. It will also plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge that it marketed Vioxx as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis before getting Food and Drug Administration approval.

The government will get $426.4 million from the settlement, and $202 million will be distributed to state Medicaid programs for 43 states and the District of Columbia.

Merck stopped selling Vioxx in September 2004 after evidence showed the drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke. I

Read Full Post…

An Australian financial products aggregator has purchased the domain name creditcard.net for $138,000 in one of the most expensive sales in recent history, as it attempts to boost business by moving into the American market.

The purchase comes weeks after a local building and construction company purchased the investmentproperty.com.au domain for more than $100,000 in a public auction following a bidding war with another business.

Pixel Capital founding director Roland Bleyer – who also runs SEO and web marketing firm Pixel Brands – told SmartCompany this morning the domain will be used to further the company’s push into America.

“I’ve always been interested in the US market. We’ve bee

Read Full Post…