Smart Phone's Tracking

Recently To researchers have discovered an undercover application in the iPhone. This application records where the iPhone has been and when it was there by default. No one in Apple is willing to comment on this new discovery leaving many to question why it was installed in the first place. One question that came up to me personally was, "why the secrecy?" By asking this question it brings up the reputation of Apple. By putting the reputation up at stake with the majority of the population this could affect Apple sales in the mobile products. This could possibly decrease there demand creating a domino affect on there company. Creating another economic problem that this country needs less of. If one of the worlds largest companies (Apple) losses business it would affect the business cycle indeffenatly. However the business cycle would only affect Apple and other main computer companies as business would only switch from Apple to them. However the release of this information may not be major enough to put them in trouble but it will be important enough to make a statement to Apple that they can't keep secrets like this from the customers.

28 Million Dollar Debt Could Increase Sharper Image's Image

Sharper Image, a former electronics company, went bankrupt in 2008. It was sold to a group of investors and now goes by TSIC Inc. However, the "Sharper Image" brand is still being marketed. Sharper Image is now trying to get a bankruptcy court to allow them to spend $60,000 in marketing fees to find its former gift card holders. After a law suit by one of them, they want to reimburse the customers with up to $2,245. A lot of customers have probably given up on getting their money back, and this might be a nice surprise. It will probably give Sharper Image really good publicity, and any product that still uses the Sharper Image brand could possibly benefit. It could also give consumers more money to spend on other products.

Less Demand for gas?

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/110412-Gas-Price-Rise-Americans-Drive-Less/

Unexpectedly as gas prices go up people are driving less. This didn't occur before when the gas price rose people remained to drive the same and consume the same amount. But as the gas prices are rising ( currently the national average is $3.60) people are consuming less putting strain on he economy in many ways both directly and indirectly. Gas prices are predicted to rise to $5 in the summer of 2011. This is due to a political unrest in the middle east and africa because they supply much of the United States oil. They are expected to continue to rise. This will make people drive less and consume less gas slowing down the business cycle in almost every way. This is so because if people drive less they're work might not necessarily be affected but there spending of the money will. If people slow down how much they drive they are cutting of the money flow for the gas companies along with every other company because people wont be going to stores to spend money as much as they used to. This happens because a larger portion of the salary would be going towards the cost of gas then in previous years thus creating a slow in the business cycle along with demand for products, the supply of products( becaus epeople will buy less so they will produce less). This could also drasticly affect employment and unemployment as well because companies will have to fire people to keep there profit in place as demand goes down.

The BBC article which explains the meltdown of the nuclear power plant in Japan poses a question about nuclear power. This is the third major nuclear accident since nuclear power has been introduced. The Question becomes will an accident like this put a halt to nuclear energy. Nuclear Energy economically is the most efficient form of Energy (even over coal powered plants) but are very expensive to build. Aside from cost the only real risk is the harm it could cause to people in the region. If nuclear energy is stopped employees will get laid off, but most important the world will become more dependent on an energy source that is constantly becoming more and more scarce (meaning prices will always be rising)

Is Southwest Airlines' Reputation Deteriorating As Fast As Their Planes?

Southwest Airlines is currently experiencing a little trouble with their reputation. One of its 737-300 planes developed a hole in its roof... while in the air. Three more were found with cracks in them, and ultimately 79 out of 170 737s were grounded for inspection. This creates problems everywhere for the airline. First of all, they lose business because of the planes being inspected - that's 79 less planes to fly and hundreds less passengers. Second, people on the flight where the roof deteriorated could be contemplating taking legal action against Southwest, which with the current repairs/inspections, probably doesn't fit into their budget. Third, reputation is everything, especially when it concerns people's safety. Southwest's reputation isn't the best right now, and this will likely cause them to lose even more business. Also, like I said before, they probably didn't factor the costs of major repairs, inspections, and time lost to identify what is causing these problems (which they still haven't done) into their budget. The bottom line is: They are going to lose money.
However, this might hold a bit of a bright side for the consumer. For those that don't see the current situation as that big of a deal, they might get cheaper rates from desperate Southwest Airlines. With the recession, there might be more of those people than there would be in a thriving economy, and that will probably help the airline out a bit. I doubt Southwest will go under because of this, but this is going to be a big hit to its PR and its pocketbook.

McDonald's jobs

Around the country many Mcdonald's stores are moving to a 24-hour operational status. This will produce an increase in Mcdonald's profits because it will allow costumers to buy there product at all times of the day. It will also help boost the economy because with this switch over Mcdonald's will have to hire more employees. In fact they are hoping to hire around 50,000 employees in a single day to fill in the new and empty positions. For companies to create a vast amount of jobs in a short amount of time would boost the economy indefinitely. It would lower the unemployment rate while increasing the business cycle. This would be so because now 50,000 people that were previously unemployed will now have a job. This would intern put money in their pockets for them to spend on other business increasing the flow of the business cycle. This could be a boost for our economy, giving us the push that could help us rise faster and out of the recession.