business

NY Congressman Surveys District Businesses

Allison Dunne — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:51:40 +0000

A New York Congressman has launched a survey to assess the needs of businesses in his district.

“An Evening with Barbara Corcoran” in Poughkeepsie, NY

Joe Donahue — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:10:00 +0000

The Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Women’s Leadership Alliance and KeyBank are proud to present “An Evening With Barbara Corcoran” on Monday, June 10 at 5:30 p.m. inside the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie.

Business Community Worried About Rising Healthcare Costs in Massachusetts

Lucas Willard — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:03:31 +0000

In an article recently published by the Wall Street Journal, Massachusetts is the state with the highest per-capita expenditure on healthcare, with the average individual paying more than $9,200 a year on health care costs. Expenses taken into account include emergency care, physician visits, nursing home care, prescription drugs, dental care, and other categories.

"Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients" by Ben Goldacre

Joe Donahue — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:35:00 +0000

We like to imagine that medicine is based on evidence and the results of fair testing and clinical trials. In reality, those tests and trials are often profoundly flawed. We like to imagine that doctors who write prescriptions for everything from antidepressants to cancer drugs to heart medication are familiar with the research literature about a drug, when in reality much of the research is hidden from them by drug companies.

With Ben Goldacre’s characteristic flair and a forensic attention to detail, Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients reveals a shockingly broken system and calls for regulation. This is the pharmaceutical industry as it has never been seen before.

"Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, and Baseball" by Joe Peta

Joe Donahue — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:35:00 +0000

After the fall of Lehman Brothers, Joe Peta needed a new employer. He found a new job in New York City but lost that, too, when an ambulance mowed him down as he crossed the street on foot.

In search of a way to cheer himself up while he recuperated in a wheelchair, Peta started watching baseball again, as he had growing up. That's when inspiration hit: Why not apply his outstanding risk-analysis skills to improve on sabermetrics, the method made famous by Moneyball--and beat the only market in town, the Vegas betting line? Why not treat MLB like the S&P 500?

In his book, Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, and Baseball (Not Necessarily in That Order), Peta shows how to subtract luck from a team's statistics to best predict how it will perform in the next game and over the whole season. His baseball "hedge fund" returned an astounding 41 percent in 2011-- with daily volatility similar to funds he used to trade for.

Business Leaders Convene in Albany to Support Fair Elections

Dave Lucas — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:41:26 +0000

Leading members of New York's business community gathered today at the Albany Institute of History and Art to call for state lawmakers to pass publicly-financed fair elections this legislative session.

"After The Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead" by Alan Blinder

Joe Donahue — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:35:00 +0000

Alan Blinder is an esteemed Princeton professor, Wall Street Journal columnist, and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. He has written a major new book on this nation’s most recent financial crisis.

After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead is a comprehensive and coherent narrative of how the worst economic crisis in postwar American history happened, what the government did to fight it, and what we can do from here—mired as we still are in its wreckage.

Rich Honen

Joe Donahue — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:35:00 +0000

Our tech attorney, Rich Honen pays us a visit with some thoughts on the so-called Fiscal Cliff, the players, their views and what is means for us all.

Dalton Company Expands with Purchase of Southern Maine Rival

Lucas Willard — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:00:00 +0000

A large employer in Berkshire County has recently announced they are expanding and planning to bring more jobs to the area, with an agreement to purchase a stationery company based in Southern Maine. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

Crane & Co., a manufacturer of stationery, announced Thursday that they had reached a deal with Hallmark Cards, Inc. to acquire subsidiary William Arthur, based in Kennebunk, ME. Crane which operates a manufacturing facility in North Adams, said that with the acquisition they are likely to add 100 jobs to the small city.

Massachusetts Legislative Session Seen As Business Friendly

Paul Tuthill — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:30:00 +0000

The Massachusetts Legislature during the course of its just concluded two year session passed some key measures affecting businesses. On the whole the session was seen as beneficial to the state’s business climate. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports