R&D expenditures - then and now.

Here's an interesting article comparing R&D expense in 2006 with now.

http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-04-29/amazon-and-facebook-are-big-spenders-on-r-d


Top R&D today:
Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Intel and Apple.

Top R&D in 2006:
Ford, Pfizer, GM, J&J, Microsoft, IBM, Intel.

Radiohead - it's all about taxes.

Radiohead the band has an incredibly complex corporate structure, comprising of numerous individual companies.  As a colleague of mine has been known to say: "I bet there's a tax story in there somewhere".

Read about it here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/29/radiohead-corporate-structure-firms

Yahoo's black hole

How can you be worth -$8 Billion?

Ask Yahoo.  http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-yahoo/

Should students use laptops in the classroom?

Step into any classroom and you'll see rows of students with laptops open tapping away at their keyboards.  Some of these students are taking notes, some are checking facebook or instagram.

Aside from distractions, I've wondered whether laptop usage is a good thing or not.  Turns out, the evidence is pretty clear.   We shouldn't use laptops for note taking.

Here are a few articles...

Scientific American reports that deeper understanding comes from handwritten notes:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/

See also:
http://lifehacker.com/the-benefits-of-writing-by-hand-versus-typing-1778758792

Laptops are a distraction to not just the owner, but also other students: http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2013/08/20/new-study-shows-computers-in-class-distract-both-users-and-non-users/

And one Prof even writes about being a Luddite:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/04/28/confessions-of-a-luddite-professor/

I think that we should seriously consider imposing laptop bans in classrooms, but also encourage online students to be low-tech and keep notes using pen and pencil.

John Oliver on Puerto Rico's debt woes

Turns out that there is more to their problems than meets the eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt-mpuR_QHQ

Gawker on Pension Fund Fees.

Gawker media on pension fund fees (and NC in particular).

http://gawker.com/retirees-are-handing-wall-street-billions-for-no-good-r-1767496764

Bogle on the Buffet Hedge Fund bet

Jack Bogle opines on why Buffet is winning the hedge fund vs index fund challenge.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-bogle--here-s-why-buffett-will-win-his--1-million-bet-against-a-hedge-fund-manager-200012224.html