News Story of the Day: Is the bubble gradually coming to an end? After all this talk of employment growth and economic expansion, there are so many companies that are closing shop. One these is Macy’s, which announced that it was shutting stores and cutting nearly 5,000 jobs after a weak Christmas season.
Macy’s, which is the biggest department store chain in the country and operates Bloomingdale’s, confirmed close to half of its job cuts will come from minimizing staffing levels at its store, consolidating regional store groups and getting rid of duplications in back office operations. The remaining sum of job cuts will come from store closings.
At the time of the announcement, Macy’s maintained a workforce of 163,000.
“In some cases, there will be short-term pain as we tighten our belt and realign our resources,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman and chief executive at Macy’s Inc., in a statement.” But our eye is on a long-term vision of Macy’s Inc. as a dynamic retailer that serves existing customers and acquires new ones through innovative approaches.”
Chart of the Day: The Gross Domestic Product measurement may not be the most effective kind of economic barometer, but it still provides some sort of glimpse into how an economy is doing. This GDP chart highlights the fastest shrinking economies in the world today.
Illustration of the Day: When people talk of equality, they often turn to the state to enforce some sort of equality. The likes of Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek understood the dangers of such a thing, and this illustration is of an astute Hayek quote that will summarize this position.
Quote of the Day: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Not necessarily. It’s more like a bureaucrat, as Milton Friedman eloquently put it:
“Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.”
Video of the Day: If you think political correctness has run amok today then you should watch the clip below from “Seinfeld.” Ostensibly, the creators already saw the PC police engulfing the United States. Native Americans don’t like the terms “scalpers,” “reservations” and “Indian givers.” But today so many other minorities, college crybabies and politicians don’t like other terms like “man up” or “history.”
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