Less than a week ago, Tennessee voted to require a personal finance class of all graduating high school students, starting with this year’s seventh graders. Unfortunately, less than 20% of states have similar requirements. We’ve made a fancy-schmancy graphic to show which states are teaching tomorrow’s citizens how to manage money, and which states are likely to be great places to set up payday loan shops. Inside, see the chart nice and big.
reports
By 12.18.07
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Maybe not you, but someone’s been doing a lot of shopping at Best Buy this year, because they just posted higher 3rd quarter earnings than they had predicted, based on “strong sales.” Sales were $238 million versus $150 million a year ago. [Reuters]
FDA Is So Underfunded It Can't Protect Consumers
By 12.3.07
Today, an advisory panel to the FDA will present its findings developed over the past year. The result is “a scathing review of the state of the FDA” that says it’s “so underfunded and understaffed that it’s putting U.S. consumers at risk in terms of food and drug safety.”
The Worst Times And Places To Fly: Stay The $%# Away From Orlando Airport At 10pm
By 10.4.07
Attention World: Stay the $%#@ away from Orlando International Airport at 10pm! According to the brand new numbers from the Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, flights scheduled to depart from 10pm-11pm at Orlando’s airport are on-time only 33.3% of the time. Yes, if you leave Orlando International Airport from 10-11pm, you have a 2 out 3 chance of being late. Don’t risk it.
TransUnion Will Let You Freeze Your Credit Report
By 9.25.07
Beginning October 15th, credit reporting company TransUnion will let consumers freeze their credit reports, which means imposters will not be able to use your credit to do things like open new phone accounts or sign up for credit cards. While this is great news, the other two major credit reporters, Experian and Equifax, are so far not offering a similar feature, although they say they’re considering it.
67% Of Consumers Satisfied With Their Health Insurance; Are 67% Of Consumers Drunk?
By 8.9.07
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10% had trouble getting an appointment to see a doctor
21% had to deal with billing errors
25% had problems with their primary care providers
36% had trouble getting help when they called a plan representative for assistance
FTC To Investigate Deceptive Youth-Oriented Advertising Practices, Like KFC's "21st Century Dinner Bell," Audible Only To Kids
By 5.22.07
A report damning the coercive and deceptive practices used by food marketers to reach kids has been submitted to the FTC. The Commission plans to investigate how the food industry markets to children and adolescents; information requests, Commission-speak for subpoenas, have been sent to 44 companies that manufacture, market, and distribute foods and beverages.
Shocking New Evidence Reveals Airlines Suck
By 4.6.06
Department of Proving What We Already Know: A study shows that airline quality and consumer satisfaction has plummeted to new lows.
What You Bought in January and How It Hurt Millions
By 3.1.06
Yo, lured out to the stores by the warmest January in more than a century, you blithely spent at a rapid clip that outpaced your income.
Coen Pone: Gawker’s Jessica Reports from Detroit’s Somerset Collection
By 12.28.05
Jessica says: I always get a guilty pang of pleasure when I return home for the holidays, if only because it means I can do my shopping in the luxury of a temperature-controlled mall and haul my purchases in an oh-so-convenient car (moving to New York has made my suburban roots seem like a charming novelty, rather than the root of 20-something years of muffled rage). So, like many a dutiful American, I spent the day after Baby Jesus’ birthday at the Rodeo Drive of metro Detroit, the Somerset Collection. The “Collection” is behemoth high-end mall that spans both sides of the street, connected by moving walkways to cart you from J.Crew to Tiffany to Burberry to the Gap. Obviously, the place is total hell on December 26.
