Jordan Weissmann, a writer at Slate, has an interesting article about Republican proposals to replace entitlements with private savings accounts. He says that these programs are big giveaways to money managers, who would collect hefty management fees. Weissmann says that the GOP is ‘trying to rewrite the social contract in such a way as to maximize the profits of …

  In selecting AIA Group Ltd.’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Tucker as its new chairman, HSBC Holdings Plc has gotten the right guy. Let’s hope the bank’s rather insular culture gets him. To understand why HSBC has gone outside its fold for the first time in its 152-year history, take a look at AIA’s profitability. The insurer’s stock has more …

  It’s never smart to keep hungry people waiting for their food. They turn ‘hangry.’ No one has mastered this idea better than Chinese takeout restaurants, which have put a premium on speed ever since they emerged in the 1800s. That’s when a wave of Chinese immigrants came to the US and opened up cheap and cheerful restaurants catering to …