China cuts economic growth forecasts
China has lowered its economic growth forecast to 7.5 percent for 2012, after keeping targets at 8 percent for the past seven years. The cut suggests Beijing is willing to accept slightly slower growth in exchange for more sustainable development.
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Production of Volt halted temporarily
GM is shutting down production of the Chevrolet Volt for five weeks to clear existing inventory of the gas-electric plug-in vehicle, which hasn’t sold as well as expected. The Volt was recently investigated over battery fires by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has determined that it poses no greater fire risk than gasoline-powered cars do.
CNNMoney.com
A credit card for the 1 percent’s 1 percent
JPMorgan Chase’s Palladium credit card is for the 1 percent’s top 1 percent. Made of real palladium and 23-karat gold, the card itself is worth about $1,000. For a $595 annual fee, card members never have to pay late fees, foreign-exchange charges, or cash-advance fees, and get access to a raft of major perks, including concierge services and privileged access to private aviation.
Bloomberg.com
Wading through websites' privacy policies
Two researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have calculated that if every American were to actually read the privacy policies governing every website he or she visits in a year (best estimate: about 1,460 sites), it would take 76 full-time working days. The median privacy policy, they found, is 2,500 words long.
TheAtlantic.com
Fortune 500 company founders
More than 40 percent of current Fortune 500 companies were founded by an immigrant or a child of an immigrant.
Detroit Free Press
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Al fresco art: the UK's best sculpture parksThe Week Recommends Soak up the scenery with a stroll through these open-air galleries
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The bottom line
feature The cost of e-filing; Dipping into nest eggs early; What Americans are drinking; Planning for death; How tax refunds are spent
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The bottom line
feature Building bigger houses; And tuition at OSU is?; Christmas at McDonald's; Self-gifting at Christmas; Lloyd’s prepares for Hurricane Sandy claims; Google's billions
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The bottom line
feature Good results for the third quarter; Compensation at financial firms hits a high; Three cities with recovering economies; Good year for car sales; Broadway's best performance ever; Tax bite is less in 2010 than in 1980
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The bottom line
feature Airlines cut domestic flights; Income up in small cities and rural areas; Bond and Lincoln lift box office earnings; Don't be fooled by Black Friday; The high toll of identity theft
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The bottom line
feature The gender pay gap; U.S. economic growth; Parents who argue about money; Online subscriptions rise
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The bottom line
feature Can the U.S. keep up?; Airlines spend billions on runway taxiing; Americans exaggerate their working hours; The Dow Jones's 67.9 percent gain; Success and summer babies
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The bottom line
feature Consumer confidence jumps; Wall Street cuts jobs, raises pay; Goldman Sachs's muppet hunt; Desktop web searches decline; Pizza Hut scraps debate freebie