A Knee-Jerk Reaction to a Loss in Retirement Savings
26 Nov 2008 12:02pm GMT If you think you're the only one losing money in your 401(k), think again. In its analysis of 2.7 million employees' plans, Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting company, found that the average 401(k) balance dropped 14 percent in 2008 to $68,000, down from $79,000 last year. In just two months, on average, employees have lost 18 percent of their assets, with some losing up to 30 percent. This is how American workers are responding: They're moving their 401(k) retirement...
Traces of Melamine Found in U.S.-Made Infant Formula
25 Nov 2008 10:30pm GMT Not sure how this jibes with the Food and Drug Administration's recent risk assessment which said it was "unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns" but you be the judge! From Bloomberg News Service : By Justin Blum Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The industrial chemical melamine has been found in infant formula made in the U.S. in low amounts that pose no health concern, according to the Food and Drug...
"Results May Vary"
24 Nov 2008 12:00pm GMT We've all seen that line, flashing across the screen in tiny print during some infomercial as a svelte young gal or guy explains they lost a gazillion pounds by trying the Flabinator or some other drug and/or exercise device. The Federal Trade Commission wants to know what you think about some changes the commission has proposed to its guidance on advertising endorsements and testimonials. Among the substantive changes the FTC wants is to make advertisers that use a testimonial of an...
The Mystery of the Missing Sentences
21 Nov 2008 9:21pm GMT So some eagle-eyed observers of recall releases noticed a change in the boilerplate about the Consumer Product Safety Commission that runs at the end of them. This is the old version: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than...
Sen. Boxer Says CPSC Got It Wrong on Phthalates
21 Nov 2008 8:05pm GMT Earlier this week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's General Counsel issued a legal opinion laying out how the agency plans to enforce the temporary ban on certain kinds of phthalates in teethers, pacifiers and other children's products. The ban was mandated by the new product safety law that was enacted in August. Phthalates are used to make soft plastic and have been linked to reproductive problems. The CPSC decided that the ban would apply to products made after Feb. 10 when the...