Smart Takes

Vermont's strict mortgage lending laws helped the state avoid a housing train wreck. However, Vermont missed out on any part of the boom. Is the trade off worth it? That's a question that...

August 19, 2009 2:00am | By Larry Dignan

The European Union said Tuesday that it will invest a fresh €18 million ($25 million) in next generation mobile broadband network research. These networks, dubbed 4G or Long Term Evolution...

August 18, 2009 7:43am | By Larry Dignan

Own a credit card? Has your APR risen lately? Just last week, I received a letter from American Express stating that my Blue Cash credit card would see a sizeable rate hike. But it's not my fault....

7 | August 17, 2009 1:37pm | By Andrew Nusca

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the nation's largest private buyer of new cars and seller of used ones, is in hot water today after the company chose to remove a standard safety feature -- side-curtain...

6 | August 17, 2009 12:09pm | By Andrew Nusca

If the airline business is so financially tight, ever wonder how budget, low-fare airlines manage to conduct a profitable business? Here's how.

August 17, 2009 11:43am | By Andrew Nusca

CNET News' Martin LaMonica gets a look at the electric Chevy Volt from GM's Frank Weber, one the car's designers at GM's famed testing track.

August 14, 2009 2:33am | By Larry Dignan

Too much microfinance may be a really bad idea. Microfinance has been a big social experiment. The general idea: You lend small amounts of money to residents of poor countries. They start up...

1 | August 13, 2009 9:54am | By Larry Dignan

Want your next business meeting to be productive? Schedule it earlier in the week -- but not for the reason you think. While the siren song of the weekend is certainly at play as the work week...

August 13, 2009 8:58am | By Andrew Nusca

If you're a man and you hate to shop, wouldn't it be easier to send someone out to do the job for you? That's the theory behind Trunk Club, a new online service that allows a regular guy to fire...

1 | August 12, 2009 11:22am | By Andrew Nusca

Traditionally, European firms fire employees by how big their salary is: that is, the most expensive are given pink slips first, with cuts working their way down the compensation tree. But the...

1 | August 12, 2009 9:14am | By Andrew Nusca

Is President Barack Obama a micromanager? The Wall Street Journal has an interesting take on Obama's management style and asks a question that vexes every manager and executive on the planet: How...

6 | August 12, 2009 8:44am | By Larry Dignan

A necessary step to keep companies afloat in difficult times, reducing workforce costs is often the last-ditch step. If it's not handled right, though, it can make an already difficult situation...

August 12, 2009 8:00am | By Andrew Nusca

Say goodbye to the utility man coming by your house and reading your meter to calculate your energy usage. Raj Vaswani, CTO of Silver Spring Networks and his team are developing new technologies...

August 12, 2009 7:54am | By Larry Dignan

I want electric cars to succeed. If fossil fuels are dirty and running out, and hydrogen power remains a pipe dream, electric is the way to go. But I'm not convinced that more cars solve the...

10 | August 11, 2009 9:56am | By Andrew Nusca

The electric Chevrolet Volt is expected to get at least 230 miles per gallon in city driving. That adds up to about $2.75 for electricity per 100 miles. General Motors outlined the miles per...

43 | August 11, 2009 6:16am | By Larry Dignan

EBay's grand experiment with General Motors Co. launches Tuesday and could be a novel answer to making the auto industry's dealership networks more efficient. GM and eBay said they will kick...

August 11, 2009 2:10am | By Larry Dignan

The retail banking industry is slowly transitioning to electronic methods, but the latest innovation might take the proverbial cake. Not content with iPhone apps that only display basic account...

1 | August 10, 2009 9:20am | By Andrew Nusca

Some folks insult a client via Twitter. Other folks friend their bosses and then complain about their jobs. Social networking is just the best isn't it? While these screwups should be relatively...

18 | August 10, 2009 9:03am | By Larry Dignan

Echelon on Monday announced a big smart grid win: Duke Energy will use its networked energy services (NES) system as it updates its electric delivery systems for 4 million customers over five...

August 10, 2009 8:50am | By Larry Dignan

At the AlwaysOn Summit at Stanford, business executives discuss the future of education publishing in the Digital Age. They talk about the challenges associated with changing the current system...

August 6, 2009 11:16am | By Larry Dignan