Business US

Thumbprint Privacy

This entry was posted in Business US Capitalism Economics Information Privacy on by

I wonder how many customers have read the privacy policy of the tanning salons that require a thumb print before selling you a tan? Probably not many. Or perhaps folks that frequent tanning salons don’t care about privacy, potential identity theft, or their thumbprint potentially ending up in a Choicepoint, hacker, or doj database.
The evidence, sadly, points to the latter: if folks cared then these businesses would either be closed or would have already revised their POS systems.
Via Politech.

Boycott Ending?

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Maybe.
I’ve have successfully avoided any Clear Channel operated music venues for, well, since clear channel entered the concert promotion business and still enjoyed a lot of good music.
Now comes this possible good news:

Clear Channel Communications, the world’s largest radio broadcaster, will spin off its live-entertainment unit…

This, of course, wouldn’t have anything to do with:

Get ready to hear music to your ears: Concert ticket prices are about to come down.
Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Coldplay are set to go on tour — but the real news for music fans is an expected drop of as much as 30 percent on some tickets, concert experts said.
Clear Channel Entertainment, the world’s largest concert promoter, is leading the way, cutting the prices for its lawn seats.
The show-biz giant is considering running a big ad campaign with the tag line “Music Sounds Better on Grass,” sources said.
No-frills seats at Clear Channel venues that used to go for as much as $40 will now cost $20. On top of that, Clear Channel is ditching the $4 facility fee it used to charge, all in an effort to lure back sticker-shocked music lovers.

Or, this:

Clear Channel thought its combination of assets would create a powerful, across-the-board platform for advertising sales on its billboards, at concert and sports venues and on its 1,200 radio stations.
Instead, the combination irked music fans, record labels and artists, who complained that Clear Channel used its might to punish artists who didn’t play by its rules and contributed to the sharp rise in ticket prices at venues it controls.

Final decision on the boycott to come after the spin-off happens and I’ve evaluated the new ownership structure.
Via Eschaton.

The Basics of Jeans Marketing

This entry was posted in Business US Economics Marketing Taxation on by

What’s the key to that spendy pair of jeans:

“Right now you could have a pair of jeans that cost $1,000, and people would buy them,” Lawrence Scott, the owner of Pittsburgh Jeans Company, said last week. What, Mr. Scott was asked, is the indispensable element in the making of a perfect pair of luxury jeans?
“Same as always,” he said. “It’s going to come down to how your behind looks when you pour yourself into them. No matter how good the wash or the detail or the label, if it doesn’t look good on a behind, it won’t sell.”

Well, I don’t plan on pouring my butt into my jeans anytime soon so I’ll be perfectly happy to get my next pair, like my last pair, on sale at a nearby mervyn’s: maybe $30. I’ll find something a little more useful to do with the savings…

Amtrak Subsidies

This entry was posted in Business US Capitalism Economics Federal Government Government Libertarianism Transportation on by

The New York Times editorialized today about the need for the federal government to continue subsidizing Amtrak:

For some time, the Bush administration has pushed for Amtrak reforms, which almost everybody supports in principle. But the administration’s most recent proposal is more like a death sentence – a slow dismantling of Amtrak into regional services while costs currently paid by the federal government would be forced onto cash-starved states. The fatal flaw in the administration’s thinking is the idea that the railroad should be self-sufficient. That’s impractical and unnecessary, given the benefits it provides in taking cars off congested highways and offering an alternative to air service in the post-9/11 era.

Sorry, this is a bit hard to say but the bushies may be right on this one. There is no good reason for “cash-starved” states to pick up the tab for anything either. The various government entities do not need to be in the theme park business.
If Amtrak really does an effective job of getting cars off crowded highways and is a meaningful alternative to the airlines (which I doubt) then for those routes where this is true it should be able to be self sustaining.