Britain’s shops suffered a 3.5% fall in the value of sales over the last 12 months.
It’s the High Street’s worst slump since at least 1995. Tears will need to be shed; we must all sink deep into depression.
Or at least go shopping.
So say economists, whose mantra of growth for its own sake has us gripped.
You see, our economy has become almost completely dependent on mass consumption. Modern men and women have turned into consuming machines.
We indulge in ‘throwaway fashion’ buying new clothes every few weeks, guzzle down junk food by the ton, queue for hours for the latest mobile phones: we can’t get enough.
Stuff is everywhere. And most of it we don’t need.
The big problem is it’s destroying our environment. We OVER-consume. It takes energy and natural resources to produce, package, transport, and use these things.
Oh but there’s plenty of oil left, say the climate change sceptics. Right. Plenty
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Next month marks my 10th year at This is Money, with the last six spent as Editor. That decade spans a monumental time for money events, from the dotcom crash in 2000-02 through to the banking collapse and property crash of the late Noughties.
Our aim has been to explain these issues, to demystify the world of finance, and help This is Money readers protect and grow their wealth. We hope we’ve also made it entertaining along the way, peppering the personal finance advice and serious news coverage with sprinklings of quirky money yarns and celebrity money nuggets.
The team has made me very proud in how they’ve done this. So I’m delighted that their skills and efforts has led to something quite special for us (industry awards aside) … in Ma
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Coulee Bank of LaCrosse, Wis., has become the latest financial institution to slap geographic limits on its high-yield checking accounts.
Its 3.03% APY put it behind only Consumers Credit Union of Waukegan, Ill., for the top nationally available rewards checking account.
Coulee’s rate is now available only to new account holders in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
Coulee’s move follows Liberty National Bank of Lawton, Okla., and Liberty Bank of Alton, Ill., which recently put limits on where new rewards checking account customers can live.
Three other long-time front-runners, Evantage Bank, AmericaNet Bank and Redneck Bank, all of Oklahoma, pulled the plug on their high-yield checking deals in February.
With Coulee’s move, Consumers Credit Union is even further ahead of its competitors, with a rate of 4.09% APY on balances up to $10,000. Unlik
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Tags: Checking, Checking Deal
Get up to $150 in bank bonuses from M&I Bank. Offer not available to households who already have an M&I Bank checking account or that have had a checking account within the last 60 days. Your account will be reviewed 60 days after opening. The cash award will be paid within 2 weeks of that review if the requirements have been met: $50 for 5 qualifying check card purchases; $50 for 2 ACH direct deposits; $50 for 3 online bill payments. Offer applies to new M&I Cash Back Checking accounts only, no exceptions. One award per household every 12 months. Cannot be combined with other offers. If the account is closed within 6 months of account opening, the bank reserves the right to deduct any cash award from the account. For account fee information, ask an M&I Personal Banker or call 1-800-642-2657 for details. $50 minimum opening deposit.
Tags: Bonus, Checking Bonus
I don’t know why I react so violently to the word synergy – ask anyone, I’m a easy going person, but some buzz words just get to me. I know they get to you to so let’s kick off the work taking a few to on and why not turn it into a contest too.
you most dreaded or bizarre buzz word or phrase in the comments of this post by Thursday April, 7th and I’ll pick 3 winners to get a full enterprise edition of inDinero accounting software courtesy of Appsumo.
I really love inDinero and even interviewed CEO Jessica Mah on the Duct Tape Marketing podcast. I thought of this challenge because one of Indeniro’s marketing positions is that they help get rid of accounting speak and allow you to monitor the real time health of your business from a pretty straightforward dashboard.
So, get after it – what words and phases need to be wiped from the business vocabulary?
Tags: Synergy, Word Synergy