By Oregon Society of Certified Professional Accountants News Alert 1/29/08 H&R Block is running a national advertising campaign designed to make consumers question the credibility and value of CPA services. On behalf of the profession, the AICPA is taking the lead in addressing the issue with the CEO of H&R […]

By Dr. Eric Fruits, Econinternational According to a report by consulting firm McKinsey & Co., the world can keep global warming in check if nations spend trillions of dollars on energy efficiency, clean power and forestry projects over the next 20+ years.  In addition to typical annual capital investments, the […]

By John Marshall Associated Oregon Industries Oregon’s largest business association Even though the 2009 Legislative Session convened less than two weeks ago, already two bills proposing to increase the $10 corporate minimum tax have been introduced.   HB 2119, introduced at Governor Kulongoski’s request, imposes the new minimum tax on C-corporations […]

Barran Liebman LLP Electronic Alerts Attorneys practice labor and employment law Electronic AlertSM, 1/27/09 A Reminder to Be Careful About Potential Retaliation Claims The United States Supreme Court held yesterday that an employee’s statement about sexual harassment made during a company’s internal investigation warrants protection against retaliation. Crawford v. Metropolitan […]

McDonald’s announced on Monday their net profit rose 80% in 2008 and daily average customers hit 56 million.  Link.

By Ken Niezgoda, BIZ Reporter Oregon’s plan to tax drivers based on road use contains the fundamental flaw it attempts to remove: Tax collection that is linked to gas consumption.   As more fuel efficient vehicles hit the road, Oregon’s ability to collect taxes to maintain its multi-billion dollar transportation infrastructure […]

The National Association of Home Builders reported in their confidence survey that new multi-family and single home construction fell 15.5% in December from November, and residential construction permits fell over 10%.

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting Non-residential construction has been a bright spot in the economy.  It dipped last summer, but recovered in the past few months.  The bad news, though, is that architectural activity suggests another round of declines for construction.  After all, the architect works before the contractor […]

By Oregon Health Science University, In response to these challenges, OHSU is reducing costs by $30 million to $35 million for the current financial year. OHSU President Joe Robertson, M.D., M.B.A. today provided an update on OHSU’s efforts to respond to the global economic downturn. The downturn has impacted the […]

By Dr. Eric Fruits, EconInternational, Oregon HB 2388 is an economists dream. It requires a city or county to obtain and review a “comprehensive economic impact study” before approving or disapproving an application to construct a retail facility larger than 75,000 square feet. It also requires that the store pay […]