Americans filing taxes from desktop
The Internal Revenue Service reports that 90 million tax returns were filed electronically this year, a record. But, perhaps most notably, the number of people using their personal computers to file is way up.
For the first time, more than 30 million individual income tax returns were filed from home computers. By April 24, the IRS had accepted 31.2 million returns filed from home computers, up 19.3 percent from the same time last year.
The agency also reports that the average refund, $2,683, was up 13 percent this year.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Consumer Reports tests the ShamWow
Gee, thanks Consumer Reports. Can’t we delude ourselves about even one thing? What’s next? An examination of how Santa gets all those toys in his bag?
Three straight negative quarters in GDP growth
Economist Keith Hazelton at the Oklahoma Bankers Association accurately forecast today’s official first-quarter estimate that the U.S. Gross Domestic Product is on pace to decline 6.1 percent this year. That’s significantly worse than a consensus prediction from economists.
So this time it is different – a balance-sheet recession, a debt-deleveraging deflationary downturn really not witnessed since the 1930s. More bedrock of economic and investment dogma crushed into gravel and swept away by the raging torrents of cause and effect.
Cause: too much debt/leverage created during “The Great Moderation” allowing the world to pre-consume years’ worth of future goods and services. Effect: massive voluntary and involuntary unwinding of said debt/leverage resulting in a dearth of future years’ consumption as global supply and demand are re-set to lower levels, an equilibrium is reached and the process begins anew.
Did you catch that awesome alliteration? “Debt-deleveraging deflationary downtown…”
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Greatest resignation letter of all time
It just is. (Use the arrow keys)
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
NPR on the Chickasaw Nation
Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby and U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin cut the ribbon during ceremonies for the first building to be completed at the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum in Oklahoma City, Oct. 10, 2008. BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN
National Public Radio, as part of its series of reports on Indian tribes titled “We Shall Remain,” focuses this week on the Ada-based Chicksaw Nation. The tribe owns casinos, a bank and a chocolate company. The money produced by its business ventures allows the tribe to offer its members universal health care, extensive child care and other benefits. Gov. Bill Anaotubby is the main source for the story.
When I first came to work for the nation, there were 25 employees, maybe one or two more, and we had a budget of somewhere around $1 million or a little less, primarily federal funds. We’ve been able to increase our revenues from, at that point was basically nothing, to now we have available to us somewhere around $750 million a year. Today we have 10,500 employees.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
BBC report on stimulus effects in Oklahoma
BBC reporter Matthew Price, who is travelling across the United States to see how Americans are coping with the recession, finds that Oklahoma is weathering the economic storm better than most. Here he talks to Terry Wells of Haskell Lemon Construction Co. about how stimulus funding is helping the firm where he works.
Price notes, as have many, that Oklahoma’s economic strength was built on the hard lessons delivered by the oil and real estate collapse of the early 1980s.
Oklahoma learnt from its own personal credit crisis, and decided that “steady as she goes” might be a better way forward.
The city rebuilt its economy. It diversified. It funded public projects not through debt but through, for example, a one cent increase in sales tax. Its banks lent carefully. It did not get involved in some of the creative lending practices that were seen elsewhere.
Growth in this laid back, down to earth state was not exciting, but it was less susceptible to boom and bust.
He also refers to Oklahoma as a “sleepy” state.
More on the comparatively resilient Oklahoma economy at the BBC’s Web site.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Yahoo shutting down Geocities
This isn’t necessarily surprising news. But it does seem like a good time to recall how much Yahoo spent to buy Geocities in 1999.
It was $3.6 billion.
From the Jan. 28, 1999 CNN story:
Based on Yahoo!’s closing stock price of $335.875 on Wednesday, the transaction is valued at roughly $3.57 billion, a hefty premium over GeoCities’ market capitalization of $2.3 billion.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Baby shaker iPhone app yanked
An iPhone app that required the user to shake the device to quiet a crying baby has been pulled from the iTunes store after at least a couple of groups raised a stink about it.
The Associated Press reports:
The iTunes description included the line, “See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!” Once the iPhone owner finishes shaking the device, the on-screen baby is depicted with large red X’s over its eyes.
Apple has refused to sell other iPhone applications it has deemed objectionable, including one that allowed the user to manipulate a woman’s breasts and an application based on the show “South Park.” However, “fart buttons” are among the most popular items stocked at the iTunes store. Go figure.
Edit: Now that I’ve seen the video, this is offensive in addition to being pointless.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Remarkable commercial freezes time
I wonder what the budget for this two-minute production was. It’s an impressive work, but I’m not sure it makes me want to buy anything.
The first time I saw this, I knew it was an ad; I just didn’t know what the product was. Turns out it was produced by Philips to help sell a new line of HD televisions. If you’d like to see a higher resolution version (or see some “behind the scenes” takes), go to the company’s Web site.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Your email is more interesting than mine
My email runs to press releases, blurbs on Legislative bills and nags about how I’m progressing on my current assignment. And lots and lots of spam.
But at Google, the email is, well, read it yourself.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
