ABCDE Business sunday, december 19, 2010 SLATE
The birds, the pigs, the rage The phenomenal success of Angry Birds, the simple and addictive smartphone game, has inspired its Finnish creator to try to build success beyond its mobile platform. G2
KIPLINGER’S 28% CAR PAGES
of Americans haggle always or often, according to a 2009 Consumer Reports poll. G3
A head-turner The 2011 Mercedes-Benz CL550 4Matic coupe is delightful, especially in frightful conditions. On the back page.
MARKETS
S&P 500 climbs to two-year high Strong data on retail sales and manufacturing boost investors’ confidence in recovery. G6
YTD: Dow NASDAQ OUTLOOKWho doesn’t love a big, fat bonus? MBA students say the practice fails to build trust or loyalty, and the promise of extra pay is a poor substitute for meaningful reviews. B5 S&P 500 10.2% +16.5% +11.6% Stay tuned EZRA KLEIN Economic &Domestic Policy
Massachusetts. U
nless someone candrop intoAnthonyKennedy’s dreamspace and,
“Inception”-style, either figure outwhathe thinks of the individualmandate or simply tell himwhat to think of the individualmandate, it’snotworth spendingmuchtime speculating ontheultimate legal fate of the provision. The casewill eventuallymake itsway to the SupremeCourt, andwhenitdoes, Kennedywilldecidewhichside has themajority, anduntil that happens, the various legal decisions are littledifferent from op-edcolumns. So rather thansit aroundand
wonder about aworldwithout an individualmandate, let’s talk about aworldthathas one.We don’thave to go into hypotheticals to get there.We just have to go toMassachusetts. In2006, then-governorMitt
Romney signedamajorhealth- care reformbill into law. “An achievement like this comes aroundonce ina generation,”he said. “Today,Massachusetts is leading thewaywithhealth insurance for everyone,without a government takeover and without raising taxes.” Romneywas right about all of
PHOTOS FROM GETTY/RUBBERBALL AND
BIGSTOCK.COM/WASHINGTON POST PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CECILIA KANG
cations Commission. In coming weeks, the FCC is expected to decide on
A
Internet access regulation and a proposed merger by Comcast and NBC Universal that could chart a new course for the future of TV. Those deliberations would create first-time rules
affecting how television series and movies reach consumers with Internet connections andhowmuch companies can charge for the service. It’s the govern- ment’s strongest effort yet to lay outsomeboundaries in the headlong rush for online video. The picture looks fuzzy for Internet users. As
drafted, the policies under deliberationmay slow the trend of consumers breaking free of their cable and satellite bundles to watch cheaper or free episodes of
merica’s beloved television is getting an extreme Internetmakeover, and questions over what shows viewers will see online and how much they pay for them could soon be resolved by the Federal Communi-
you pay for it
The personal finance Top 10 1 Unemployment.Hands
MICHELLESINGLETARY The Color of Money
R
ight about now, many people look back on the year that was and measure
the triumphs and tragedies. Some of the biggest news
stories in 2010 centered on pocketbook issues, with most of them involving great losses as many people across the country continued to struggle to find employment and hold on to their homes. As I reflect on the year, I thought I would give youmy list of the Top 10 personal finance stories.Here they are, from top to bottom:
high-stakes debate over what TV you see online and what
The
shows such as “Mad Men” and “Dancing With the Stars” online. The changes also may make it harder for new online start-ups to compete with television giants, some experts say. Sources at the FCC say draft rules could open the
door for Internet service providers to charge compa- nies such as AppleTVandYouTubefor faster delivery of videos, while potentially providing Internet videos of their own or from partners to subscribers for free. The agency is also blessing pay-as-you-go billing
plans, which could relieve Internet users who don’t do a lot online. But it couldmake viewers think twice about watching enough streamingNetflix movies to blow past their monthly data limits. Comcast’s merger with NBC raises additional
issues for the FCC — and fears among competitors and consumer groups. How those are resolved will also affect the future look of TV. With about 23 million cable subscribers and 16.7
million Internet subscribers, Comcast controls a vast fcc continued onG4
that.AndnationalDemocrats
tooknotice.Thehealth-reform billPresidentObama signedinto lawthis yearwas explicitly based ontheMassachusetts reforms. The theorywas this:Aplanthat a Republicangovernor couldsign into lawwouldbe aplanthat couldattractRepublicanvotes. The
theorywaswrong.An
klein continued onG4
Steps ahead Percentage of adults who are uninsured in Massachusetts compared with the nation as a whole
20% U.S.
12 16
0 4 8
14.8% 16.2 16.3
health reform look? Check
Howcould G EZ
Mass. 3%
2008
2.9 2009
2.4 2010
SOURCES: Gallup, Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy
THE WASHINGTON POST
down, this has been and still
is the wrench in the cog of the economic recovery. And it may continue to be the big story in years to come. Economic forecasters in a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia predicted that the national unemployment rate will continue to be high, staying above 9 percent next year, then dropping to 8.7 percent in 2012 and 7.9 percent in 2013.
2 The Great Recessionwas declared over. It took more
than a year, but theNational Bureau of Economic Research affirmed this year that the economic downturn that started in December 2007 officially ended in June 2009. It was the longest downturn sinceWorld
color continued onG5
AL MESSERSCHMIDT/ GETTY IMAGES
Star system In sports or business, should top performers be allowed to cut corners? Page G2
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