Category Archives: slimy marketing
Fructose
You could make a pretty good case that the current meltdown of the world economy could have been prevented if American regulators hadn’t been asleep at the wheel. The Fed, the SEC, and the Office of Thrift Supervision come to … Continue reading
Filed under food, radical right, slimy marketing
In my inbox
From a recent email I received…. “Greetings, I Donald and my sister Jenny may wish to know if we can entrust in you in helping us to receive the $35mUSD (Thirty Five Million United States Dollars) our parents had with … Continue reading
Filed under slimy marketing
Kicking off the Death Spiral
Beware the individual health insurance market (yes, that’s the market McCain wants to push millions of people into). Consider this situation: let’s say you do the right thing and buy an individual health insurance policy when you’re healthy, pay premiums … Continue reading
Filed under dignity, healthcare finance, slimy marketing, social insurance
Is that stent right for you?
Maggie Mahar reports that coronary stent manufacturer CypherUSA has launched a massive, glossy, direct-to-consumer advertising campaign encouraging consumers to take charge of their heart surgery by demanding the CypherUSA stent. She describes their latest commercial here, or you can watch … Continue reading
Filed under slimy marketing
Slimymarketing Alert
Have you purchased health insurance through a college or university recently? Be advised that those seemingly trustworthy institutions are selling some slimy merchandise: health insurance. BusinessWeek reports that many people with claims under those policies are finding themselves not-so-insured: More … Continue reading
Filed under junglenomics, slimy marketing
Faith in markets
Now that housing and credit market fiasco is clear to all observers it might be a good idea to ask how we got here. Answer: regulators asleep at the wheel. Or, more precisely, blind regulators. Blinded by ideology. It worth … Continue reading
Filed under economics, junglenomics, radical right, slimy marketing
Through a Glass Darkly
Economists tell us that capitalism works best when buyers and sellers are fully informed. Or, to use the buzz word, when markets are “transparent”. How transparent are US markets? Back in 2006 Treasury Secretary Paulson lauded the US capital markets … Continue reading
Filed under economics, slimy marketing
Uh-oh
Snake oil salesmen beware… from AP: “WASHINGTON – The FBI on Tuesday said it is investigating 14 companies for possible accounting fraud, insider trading or other violations in connection with home loans made to risky borrowers. Agency officials did not … Continue reading
Filed under slimy marketing
21st Century Snake Oil
Ever wonder how so many people ended up in subprime mortgages? It wasn’t just that people with bad credit got loans they probably shouldn’t have. As the Wall Street Journal reported last month “…as the number of subprime loans mushroomed, … Continue reading
Filed under economics, slimy marketing
Skimming
Michael Lewis at Portfolio.com: As a group, professional money managers control more than 90 percent of the U.S. stock market. By definition, the money they invest yields returns equal to those of the market as a whole, minus whatever fees … Continue reading
Filed under economics, slimy marketing
