Bad times for start-ups
The number of start-up companies with at least one employee fell by 100,000, or 2 percent, in the year ending March 31, the Labor Department said last week. That’s the second-worst 12-month period for start-ups in 18 years, trailing only the previous year’s 3.4 percent drop.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Tuition creeps up at public colleges
In the past 10 years, the average tuition at four-year public colleges rose 5.6 percent, compared with a 3.3 percent increase in the prior decade.
247WallSt.com
The Chevrolet Volt wins an award
The Chevrolet Volt, which goes on sale in December, has been named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 2011. The electric hybrid, says the magazine, contains some of the most advanced engineering ever seen in an American car, and its lower operating costs make it a good value, despite its $41,000 sticker price.
Motor Trend
The futures market in baseball
Some U.S. investors are playing a new futures market: young Dominican baseball prospects. Investors either finance Dominican trainers or start their own baseball academies. When a sponsored player signs with a U.S. team, the investors claim up to half the signing bonus.
The New York Times
The latest gadget: Steve Jobs action figure
Chinese gadget blog and retailer M.I.C Gadget has unveiled a Steve Jobs action figure. The figure, “taller than an iPhone, shorter than an iPad,” sports the Apple CEO’s trademark jeans and black turtleneck. A production run of 300 figures sold out quickly; it’s doubtful more will be ready by Christmas.
Gizmodo.com