India’s growing ecommerce market has recently been the target of large investments. On Tuesday, October 28, 2013, SoftBank, a Japanese telecommunications and Internet company, announced it was investing $800 million in India’s internet market, specifically in two internet start-ups.1 627 million dollars of this investment will be in Snapdeal.com, an Indian online ecommerce marketplace.2 Additionally,…
Month: November 2014
Alternate Methods of Paying for College Tuition and Dealing with Our Nation’s Debt
The college graduation class of 2014 graduated with the highest average debt of any college class in the history of our country.1 College student’s student loan debt now amounts to $1.2 trillion dollars, and economists and business leaders are beginning to worry that student loan debt, which amounts to 6% of the total national debt,…
A Market of Milliseconds: Unraveling the Tangled Future of High-Frequency Trading
In an increasingly digital society, innovative technology that yields speed and efficiency can serve to spark industry-wide trends and influence future practice for years, even decades, thereafter. When Steve Jobs introduced the first iPod in 2001, for example, Apple earned worldwide acclaim and provoked an incredible proliferation of similar devices.1 What, then, can be made…
Government Cheese: AIG and the Fed
“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world,” Shakespeare wrote.1 The United States government is now thinking twice about performing a good deed at a weary time. Former AIG CEO Maurice Greenberg and his firm Starr International2 filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of fellow…
Student Loan Discharges under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8)
One of the hallmarks of the United States Bankruptcy Code is that debtors can receive discharges of their unsecured debts, and the effects of the discharge are shouldered by the debtor’s unsecured creditors in pro rata fashion. However, not all debts are dischargeable; for example, taxes or customs duties cannot be discharged, nor can debts…
Pricing Algorithms: Are Real-Time Pricing Services Utilized by Online Retailers Anti-Competitive?
Online retailers are increasingly using pricing algorithms to set their online prices. The advanced algorithms are self-learning and automatically compare competitor prices and customer demand to determine prices.1 The service allows companies to set their own preferences, which customizes the algorithm to their needs.2 Because these algorithms are complex and expensive to produce, the service…
The Legality of the AIG Lawsuit
After seven years since the controversial $85 billion bailout of AIG, the debate over the legality of the bailout is again rearing its ugly head. This post will cover the history of the bailout, a short explanation of the recent suits related to the bailout, and a summary of the vast legal opinions surrounding these…
Playing the Sports Market
Fans of fantasy sports who want to turn their fandom into real life may now have the chance. Sort of. Fantex, an investment company and trading platform, now offers the opportunity to invest in the future earnings of athletes.1 Here’s how it works: an athlete registers with Fantex for an Initial Public Offering (I.P.O.), where…
From Greening to Greenback: How Walmart’s Sustainable Food Initiative Can Increase Profits
Walmart has launched a new green initiative “to create a more sustainable food system,” which it seeks to implement through “four key pillars”:1 Reduce “True Cost” of Food: Walmart not only pledges to “provid[e] everyday low costs for customers.”2 Furthermore, it aims to reduce the “environmental impact of agricultural practices” by working with and promoting…
An Introduction to Municipal Bankruptcy
On July 18, 2013, the city of Detroit, Michigan declared bankruptcy.1 The city’s debt stood at $18.5 billion, more than four times greater than any other municipal bankruptcy since the modern bankruptcy code was adopted by congress.2 Despite the magnitude of the economic and social impacts of municipal bankruptcy, the topic is not diffusively understood….