QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Right now, natural gas and wind power are more economic than nuclear power in the Midwestern electricity market. It’s a matter of economic competitiveness.”
Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center Article, 1D
Classes offered on business with state
The Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Small and Minority Business Division is offering classes to minority-owned businesses to teach them how to do business with state agencies and universities.
The classes are being offered in conjunction with the Office of State Procurement.
Topics to be covered include products and services Arkansas regularly purchases, Arkansas’ bidding process, how and where to find bid opportunities, how to submit a bid and how to certify a business.
Each Wednesday for the rest of March, the classes will be held from 8 a.m. to noon in the first-floor conference room of the Department of Finance & Administration building at 1509 W. Seventh St. in Little Rock.
Interested businesses can register by calling the Office of State Procurement at (501) 324-9322 or the Small and Minority Business Division at (501) 682-6105.
Report: 25% in U.S. dip into retirement
Nearly a quarter of U.S. workers are tapping into the $293 billion placed into their retirement savings each year to pay for mortgages, credit cards and other debts, according to a report from financial advisory firm HelloWallet.
Those in their 40s are the most frequent raiders, with about one-third using their 401(k)s to pay bills.
Other studies bear out those results. Vanguard, an investment management group, said Americans workers withdrawing money from 401(k)s or taking out loans against their accounts jumped 12 percent since 2008.
Draining funds that ensure security when workers retire has raised new worries about the shaky foundation for older Americans.
Many workers use loans that incur penalties to dip into retirement accounts. In addition to paying income taxes, many are hit with a 10 percent tax penalty.
Matt Fellowes, chief executive of HelloWallet, said there are few winners in that situation.
“What you have is 401(k) participants voting with their wallets saying they would much rather use their money for other purposes,” Fellowes told The Washington Post.
“I don’t think this can be ignored. Employers are dramatically overpaying for retirement, but it is not benefiting the employee.”
Bank groups: Dodd-Frank cut privilege
Lobby groups for the largest U.S. banks pushed back against claims that they remain too big to fail, rebutting assertions by lawmakers and regulators that they enjoy a “taxpayer subsidy” because of their size.
The Dodd-Frank Act, passed by Congress in response to the 2008 credit crisis, greatly diminished whatever advantage the biggest lenders held over smaller rivals, five industry groups wrote today in a brief on the issue. Sen.
Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, used outdated information when she raised the matter at a hearing last month, the groups said.
“There is substantial evidence that the market recognizes the impact Dodd-Frank has had on investor expectations,” Clearing House, Financial Services Forum, Financial Services Roundtable, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and American Bankers Association said in their brief. “Given the sizable costs associated with new regulations, together with the new orderly liquidation framework, any purported TBTF-related funding advantage has clearly been reduced or even eliminated.”
The financial-industry groups, representing lenders such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., are responding to complaints by lawmakers and regulators including Warren and Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher that Dodd-Frank didn’t do enough to rein in big lenders.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, is planning to reintroduce legislation that would cap bank size. Brown and Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, also are preparing a bill that would increase capital requirements above the international Basel III standards.
Warren questioned Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke over what she said was a taxpayer subsidy worth $83 billion, citing an International Monetary Fund working paper on the funding advantage big banks get because of the market perception that they are protected by the government against failure. In their brief, the industry groups said the paper cited by Warren used data on banks’ borrowing costs before Dodd-Frank was passed.
Baton Rouge airport seeks cargo planes
BATON ROUGE - Engineers are designing an $11 million landing system for Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, one that officials hope will improve safety and help lure cargo carriers to the airport.
Ralph Hennessy, the airport’s assistant director of aviation, told Baton Rouge newspaper The Advocate the new system will enable planes to descend farther before deciding whether to attempt to land.
With the current system, known in industry parlance as a Category I, pilots have to decide whether to abort a landing when the plane descends to about 200 feet, Hennessy said. When the new system - a Category II - is installed, planes will be able to descend to about 100 feet before making a decision, he said.
“This is for foggy, rainy weather,” Hennessy said.
“There are times when in the morning, we have thick fog and we take delays or canceled flights because planes can’t get in until later in the day.”
Few passenger jets are equipped with Category II equipment, Hennessy said.
But it’s especially important to cargo carriers such as FedEx and UPS, he said.
No major cargo carriers are using Baton Rouge’s airport, Hennessy said.
FedEx used the Baton Rouge airport from 2006 to 2009, when the U.S. Postal Service had a major mail sorting facility in Baton Rouge, he said.
Mike Mangeot, a spokesman for UPS, said in an e-mail message that a Category II system is important to protect the safety of crews and cargo.
“We do much of our flying at night, when darkness naturally impacts visibility. If you add in a storm, fog or low cloud ceiling, visibility can diminish even further,” he said.
FedEx and UPS already have major locations in New Orleans and Lafayette, Hennessy said. There had been discussions of consolidating a postal sorting facility in Baton Rouge, which may help bring a cargo carrier, he said.
Business, Pages 24 on 03/12/2013