| Chartered to protect the henhouse, has the FTC turned into a fox?
I rarely get e-mail from the USA Today's Byron Acohido (who from time to time interviews me for my opinions on tech). But today, Acohido drew my attention to a story that he has co-authored with Jon Swartz under the headline FTC under fire as credit bureaus sell consumers' data. The story draws attention to a complex Web of potentially conflicting interests involving Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, the law firm she used to work for, her husband who still works for it, how that law firm represents one of the big three credit reporting bureaus, and whether or not the FTC has morphed into an agent of the credit reporting bureaus' success from the consumer guardian that The People have entrusted it to be. While the targets of this follow-the-money like inquest deny any impropriety, I can certainly understand the position of Robert Kuttner, author of The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity who, who in response to the USA Today inquiry, said: Federal agencies that are supposed to be looking out for the consumer are really protecting the companies that do bad things the agencies were set up to prevent.
Update: Library Has 10 Copies of "Water for Elephants"
Debit or credit? You can swipe your card now. No, the other way. No, the other way. I'll just punch it in over here. Do you have another card? My computer screen is frozen, can you wait? I need to start over. What's your phone number? What's your ZIP code?" Then after you've run the gantlet of questions, they tell you how much money you've saved. Of course, they don't add back the time you've spent being debriefed or watching them fumble around because they weren't properly trained or their computers were outdated or upgraded. None of this is the fault of clerks. They're just doing their jobs. The fault lies with managers who've decided to do inventory and marketing on your time -- Gary Crooks/Smart Bombs. Full column here Question: What annoys you most about running your purchases through a checkout stand? .
Woolies makes top 25 global retailer list
THE nation's number one retailer, Woolworths, is the first Australian company to break into the top 25 global retailers list, according to a report. The Deloitte 2008 Global Powers of Retailing report, which identified the 250 largest retailers globally for 2006/07, noted Woolworths jumped from 29th place to 25th place in the year, while its competitor, Coles Group, slipped one spot to 31st place. Both Australian retail giants remained in third and fourth places, respectively, in the Asia-Pacific top 10, the report showed. Woolworths had compound annual sales rates for the past five years at 11.8 per cent while Coles Group, which has just been bought by Wesfarmers, was at 7.5 per cent. Deloitte Australia's consumer business leader Andrew Griffiths said both retailers were punching above their weight given the size of the Australian market.
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