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Can you buy cool?
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The world’s most bizarre taxes:
- Beard-token:
King Henry VIII of England set up a tax on beards in 1535, perhaps as a convenient way to raise funds (the bearded king was himself exempt from the fee). His daughter, Elizabeth I, reintroduced the tax, penalizing “every beard of more than two weeks’ growth.”
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Pannage: was, in medieval England, “a tax paid for the privilege of feeding swine in the woods.” It was apparently a common practice to release domestic pigs in the forest to let them feed on ” fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts.”
- Sheriff-tooth: In 13th century England, the sheriff-tooth was levied for “the service of providing entertainment for the sheriff at his county courts.”
Photo from: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
- Beard-token:
King Henry VIII of England set up a tax on beards in 1535, perhaps as a convenient way to raise funds (the bearded king was himself exempt from the fee). His daughter, Elizabeth I, reintroduced the tax, penalizing “every beard of more than two weeks’ growth.”
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A recent column entitled “America is raising a generation of interns” is generating a heated debate in the comments.
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We're hiring a business editor
TheWeek.com is looking for a Business Editor to take ownership of the business coverage for its fast-growing, award-winning site — the online counterpart to The Week, the acclaimed national news-and-opinion magazine. This individual should be a highly organized news junkie with proven chops in the business journalism realm — and someone who can work successfully in the fast-paced environment of a breaking news-and-opinion website. Versatility is important — the ideal candidate should be enthusiastic about writing business stories of their own, and assigning and editing business stories written by other writers. Creativity is key, too. The ideal candidate will be a sharp-thinking self-starter who can imagine new and better ways to cover all things business for TheWeek.com.
More details here
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Which one of these drinks is more processed?
The Coca-Cola Company spent $114 million in recent years expanding its juice bottling plant in Auburndale, Fla., and developing a high-tech process for homogenizing juice, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. The operation includes use of satellite imagery, a 1.2-mile juice pipeline, and a complex “Black Book” algorithm which helps juice-makers manage weather patterns, predict crop yields, and measure acidity and sweetness of the crop — all to achieve absolute consistency from batch to batch.
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Only in America: Two New Jersey men — whose lawyer measured subs from 17 Subway locations and found that not one of the fast-food chain’s supposed foot-longs measured 12 inches — are suing the company.
(Source: theweek.com)
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I am aware it is highly unusual for undergraduates from average universities like (BLOCKED) to intern at (BLOCKED), but nevertheless I was hoping you might make an exception. I am extremely interested in investment banking and would love nothing more than to learn under your tutelage. I have no qualms about fetching coffee, shining shoes or picking up laundry, and will work for next to nothing. In all honesty, I just want to be around professionals in the industry and gain as much knowledge as I can.
I won’t waste your time inflating my credentials, throwing around exaggerated job titles, or feeding you a line of crapp (sic) about how my past experiences and skill set align perfectly for an investment banking internship. The truth is I have no unbelievably special skills or genius eccentricities, but I do have a near perfect GPA and will work hard for you.
—A young finance major looking for an internship wins over hotshot investment bankers by admitting in his cover letter that there’s nothing special about him. -
Introducing the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the first new version of the sports car in eight years. “It’s finally here, folks, and it looks great.”
The look and the resurrection of the Stingray subtitle, which dates to 1963, “hint at the past of the Corvette,” while some other cues — the old round tail lights are gone, the hood is vented, and the improved interior is wrapped in leather and aluminum — point to the car’s future.
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$100, you say?
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It’s not quite clear who actually takes seriously the idea of minting a pair of $1 trillion platinum coins to sidestep the upcoming debt-ceiling battle, who just wants the option on the table as a warning to House Republicans, and who’s just having fun with the idea. But it’s pretty clear that the “oddball suggestion” is gaining traction. But somebody would have to grace the design with their trillion-dollar face. Here, 10 suggestions.
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![The fiscal-cliff fix: Winners and losers
WINNERS
Joe Biden — Biden certainly “emerges with enhanced stature from the budget mess,” says The Daily Beast’s Kurtz. He was “called off the bench” on Sunday, then “showed a deft hand — and the experience of growing up in [the Senate] — in quickly hammering out a deal with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.” If the 70-year-old vice president “decides to run for Obama’s job in 2016, such performances could more than offset his reputation for shooting from the lip.” Of course if Democrats end up hating the deal, this could actually “bite Biden down the line,” says Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post. But he clearly ranks among the winners for negotiating the deal and persuading Democrats to support it. The vice president is often underestimated by the political press, but “the ‘Biden as major White House asset’ storyline writes itself” now.
The rich and elderly — Obama’s decision to raise the threshold for higher taxes from $250,000 to $450,000 makes for “a big tax cut for all kinds of rich people, not just those with adjusted gross incomes between the two figures,” says Matthew Yglesias at Slate. Because our tax rates are marginal, meaning that only income above $450,000 is taxed at the higher rate, “if you make $600,000 or even $1 million a year you still have a very large share of your income that’s taxed at a lower rate thanks to this deal.” The deal also didn’t have any of the expected cuts to Social Security and other federal retirement security programs, so at least for now, “old people are the winners,” too.
LOSERS
John Boehner — “The fiscal cliff talks were cast as a moment for [John] Boehner to cement his legacy as speaker,” negotiating a grand bargain that would “set the country on the right financial course through the Republican-controlled House,” says Cillizza at The Washington Post. “The exact opposite happened.” The Ohio Republican dropped negotiations with Obama to pass his own “Plan B” — raising taxes on only people earning $1 million a year — but that plan failed to even get a vote, raising questions about “how much — if any — control he had over his fellow House Republicans.” That idea was reinforced when Boehner couldn’t get more than half of his caucus, or even his top lieutenants, to back the final compromise, says Daniel Newhauser at Roll Call. Boehner “now slumps into the 113th Congress with gavel firmly in hand but with scant ability to wield its power.”
Hurricane Sandy victims — After the messy fight over the fiscal cliff bill, House GOP leaders canceled a scheduled vote on a supplemental spending bill for areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, mostly in New York and New Jersey. The House Appropriations Committee had even teed up a $60 billion package, matching the Sandy relief bill that passed the Senate last week. “Absent a change of heart, the upshot now is that the Senate bill will die with this Congress on Thursday at noon,” says David Rogers at Politico. “I assume there is as tactical consideration here, that the Republican leadership didn’t want to be anywhere near a big spending bill after the fiasco of their handling the tax debate,”says Rep. Rob Andrews (D.N.J.). “I understand the tactics but there is a real human need here that is being ignored.”
More winners and losers](http://24.media.tumblr.com/13af98546fc88ed1ff7bf8b3322a592d/tumblr_mg0767JUuY1qdjbb7o1_1280.png)
The fiscal-cliff fix: Winners and losers
WINNERS
- Joe Biden — Biden certainly “emerges with enhanced stature from the budget mess,” says The Daily Beast’s Kurtz. He was “called off the bench” on Sunday, then “showed a deft hand — and the experience of growing up in [the Senate] — in quickly hammering out a deal with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.” If the 70-year-old vice president “decides to run for Obama’s job in 2016, such performances could more than offset his reputation for shooting from the lip.” Of course if Democrats end up hating the deal, this could actually “bite Biden down the line,” says Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post. But he clearly ranks among the winners for negotiating the deal and persuading Democrats to support it. The vice president is often underestimated by the political press, but “the ‘Biden as major White House asset’ storyline writes itself” now.
- The rich and elderly — Obama’s decision to raise the threshold for higher taxes from $250,000 to $450,000 makes for “a big tax cut for all kinds of rich people, not just those with adjusted gross incomes between the two figures,” says Matthew Yglesias at Slate. Because our tax rates are marginal, meaning that only income above $450,000 is taxed at the higher rate, “if you make $600,000 or even $1 million a year you still have a very large share of your income that’s taxed at a lower rate thanks to this deal.” The deal also didn’t have any of the expected cuts to Social Security and other federal retirement security programs, so at least for now, “old people are the winners,” too.
LOSERS
- John Boehner — “The fiscal cliff talks were cast as a moment for [John] Boehner to cement his legacy as speaker,” negotiating a grand bargain that would “set the country on the right financial course through the Republican-controlled House,” says Cillizza at The Washington Post. “The exact opposite happened.” The Ohio Republican dropped negotiations with Obama to pass his own “Plan B” — raising taxes on only people earning $1 million a year — but that plan failed to even get a vote, raising questions about “how much — if any — control he had over his fellow House Republicans.” That idea was reinforced when Boehner couldn’t get more than half of his caucus, or even his top lieutenants, to back the final compromise, says Daniel Newhauser at Roll Call. Boehner “now slumps into the 113th Congress with gavel firmly in hand but with scant ability to wield its power.”
- Hurricane Sandy victims — After the messy fight over the fiscal cliff bill, House GOP leaders canceled a scheduled vote on a supplemental spending bill for areas ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, mostly in New York and New Jersey. The House Appropriations Committee had even teed up a $60 billion package, matching the Sandy relief bill that passed the Senate last week. “Absent a change of heart, the upshot now is that the Senate bill will die with this Congress on Thursday at noon,” says David Rogers at Politico. “I assume there is as tactical consideration here, that the Republican leadership didn’t want to be anywhere near a big spending bill after the fiasco of their handling the tax debate,”says Rep. Rob Andrews (D.N.J.). “I understand the tactics but there is a real human need here that is being ignored.”
(Source: theweek.com)
- Joe Biden — Biden certainly “emerges with enhanced stature from the budget mess,” says The Daily Beast’s Kurtz. He was “called off the bench” on Sunday, then “showed a deft hand — and the experience of growing up in [the Senate] — in quickly hammering out a deal with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.” If the 70-year-old vice president “decides to run for Obama’s job in 2016, such performances could more than offset his reputation for shooting from the lip.” Of course if Democrats end up hating the deal, this could actually “bite Biden down the line,” says Chris Cillizza at The Washington Post. But he clearly ranks among the winners for negotiating the deal and persuading Democrats to support it. The vice president is often underestimated by the political press, but “the ‘Biden as major White House asset’ storyline writes itself” now.
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Hershey’s Reese’s Pieces saw a reported 65% jump in profits after being featured in the film E.T. as the candy Elliott uses to lure his new friend into his house.
Here, the stories behind 10 famous product placementsPHOTO: YouTube
(Source: theweek.com)
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The Powerball jackpot has reached a record $500 million, causing people in 42 states to flock to their nearest convenience stores to snatch up what could be the winning ticket. A numerical guide to the contest, by the numbers:
$2 — Price of a ticket
6 — Numbers that must be matched — five whites and one red — to win the jackpot. (Five what balls are drawn from a drum of 59, and one red is drawn from a drum of 35.)
1 in 176 million — Odds of winning the jackpot
1 in 5,000 — Odds of being struck by lightning
$327 million — Immediate lump-sum payout option, before taxes, if you win the jackpot
25 — Percent the federal government keeps in taxes
5 to 7 — Percent of the jackpot held by most states in taxes
29 — Years winners have to wait to receive the entire jackpot under an annual payment plan
$365 million — Previous largest Powerball jackpot, in 2006
(Source: theweek.com)
