12/23/2024

News

Apple, Google and Microsoft are hoarding $464 billion in cash

Apple, Google and Microsoft are sitting on a mountain of cash — and most of it is stashed far away from the taxman. Those three tech behemoths held a total of $464 billion in cash at the end of last year, according to a Moody’s report published Wednesday. Apple alone had a stunning quarter-trillion dollars of cash thanks to years of gigantic profits and few major acquisitions. That’s enough money to buy Netflix three times. It’s also more cash than what’s sitting on the balance sheet of every major industry except tech and health care. . . .But corporations’ reluctance to spend that money is holding the recovery back. Cash sitting on the balance sheet is money that isn’t being put to work on job-creating investments like new factories.

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Are public pensions a thing of the past for young workers?

Governor Tom Wolf signed a bill Monday, making it the ninth state to replace the pension with a “hybrid” retirement plan. It goes into effect in 2019.

The new plan combines elements of a traditional pension and a 401(k)-style account.

Overall, new workers will contribute more of their salary, work longer, and likely receive a smaller payout in retirement than under the current system, according to a report from the state’s Independent Fiscal Office.

But Pennsylvania’s pension system is currently one of the most underfunded in the country and is in need of reform. The bill had bipartisan support.

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Electric Cars Will “Suffer” from Cheap Oil, Elon Musk Says

“Even if the economics of oil favor gasoline, I think the Model 3 still does well,” he said. “It’s more cases where there is little to no differentiation between the gasoline version of something and the electric version. If they’re about the same, and the electric version doesn’t have a compelling economic proposition, then you’ve got a real issue in the market.”

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Move Over Hollywood! Louisiana is Top for Film Production

With films like G.I Joe, The Butler and Enders Game shot in the Bayou State, last year it topped Film L.A.’s Feature Film Production Study as the number 1 location for motion picture filming. From 2002 to 2012 (the last year data was available), the industry created more than 14,000 jobs — more than half of which were between 2010 and 2012, according to the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

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Wall Street Reform Law Only Half Done

According to law firm Davis Polk, 208 (52%) of the 398 total rulemaking requirements have been met so far. It’s an improvement from 2012, when just 31% of the Dodd-Frank rules were in force, but still lacking.

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