Money
TSA agents may steal your belongings
Would you be surprised if I told you that some TSA agents have been caught stealing from passengers? The TSA is reporting that an agent at JFK may have stolen up to $5,000 in cash from passengers as their personal affects rolled down the screening conveyor belt. Another TSA employee, this time in Dallas, has been put on administrative leave because he may have stolen up to 8 iPads from passengers. MSNBC interviewed (Nico Melendez ) a TSA spokesperson who made some interesting recommendations for travellers:
Canada's WestJet to charge more service fees
Westjet is Canada’s second largest airline and it recently announced that it has found opportunities to double “ancillary revenue”. Ancillary revenue is income derived from non-ticket sources. One of the possible sources of new income “could be” checked baggage. The Westjet CEO said more specifically (according to Reuters) that they are carefully watching airline industry practice of charging passengers a fee as of the first checked bag (Air Canada charges $25 as of the first checked bag). This provides more motivation to be a onebag traveller.
Humans are very opinionated. We have opinions about politics, economics, sports and everything in between. Enter the wacky world of prediction markets. These are speculative markets where market participants bet on future uncertain events. Just like the stock market, you make money by buying low and selling high. The most popular of these markets isInTrade. "Intrade isn't just an entertaining website. It is the latest iteration of one of the most important economic developments of modern times." David Leonhardt, Economics Reporter, The New York Times
Research shows that Nice Guys DO Finish Last
If you have read any self-help books, you have undoubtedly read the adage “Nice guys finish last”. Now research from Notre Dame and Cornell Universities show how being too agreeable negatively impacts your earnings. More recent research from Stanford, Northwestern and Carnegie Mellon) continued on the same path showing that people who are overly caring, for overs, generally tend to make bad leaders. In particular, being overly nice generally means that you will likely fail in 2 important leadership domains: prestige and dominance.
Prize Linked Savings - encouraging people to save
We all know people love to play the lottery. For only a couple of dollars, they can dream big dreams for a week. The sad truth is that many people choose to play the lottery instead of building a nest egg. After all, putting a money aside is good but it doesn’t carry the chance of winning big. Or does it? There is an interesting invention (in some parts of the world) called a Prize Linked Savings account. It allows people to save money while giving them the thrill of the lottery (all without risking a penny).