The recession and household income
U.S. household income has fallen more in the two years since the recession ended than it did during the recession itself, according to census figures. Between June 2009, the official end of the recession, and June 2011, median household income fell 6.7 percent, to $49,900. During the recession, from December 2007 to June 2009, it fell 3.2 percent.
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Chain restaurants lose their appeal
As the use of online restaurant-review sites has grown, the popularity of chain restaurants has declined, according to a new Harvard Business School study. The theory: Consumers are more likely to try out smaller, independent restaurants thanks to the reviews. The study also found that a one-star increase on review site Yelp improves a restaurant’s revenue by 5 to 9 percent.
The Washington Post
Record sales for iPhone 4S
First-day preorders for Apple’s new iPhone 4S topped 1 million, breaking the record set by last year’s iPhone 4, which sold 600,000 units on its first day. The new smartphone is being sold for the first time by three U.S. carriers—AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon.
Reuters.com
India's $35 tablet computer
India has unveiled the world’s cheapest tablet computer. The Aakash, which means “sky” in Hindi, costs about $50 to produce but will be sold to Indian students and schools at the government-subsidized price of $35. The touch-screen tablet can handle basic computing, such as e-mail and Web surfing.
Los Angeles Times
The stock market's worst decade
A $1 investment in the S&P 500 Index in 2000 was worth just 91 cents by 2010, following the “worst decade in stock market history,” says the Journal of Investing.
Harvard Business Review