Alana Semuels
I Delivered Packages for Amazon and It Was a Nightmare
Amazon Flex allows drivers to get paid to deliver packages from their own vehicles. But is it a good deal for workers?
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Amazon / vipman / Gemenacom / Shutterstock / ... How to Lose Tens of Thousands of Dollars on Amazon
A growing number of self-proclaimed experts promise they can teach anyone how to make a passive income selling cheap Chinese goods in the internet's largest store. Not everyone’s getting rich quick.
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Jack Taylor / Getty Images The Strange Phenomenon of L.O.L. Surprise Dolls
“Mystery” toys that kids peel open and cast aside speak volumes about consumer culture.
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Alex Wong / Getty / Will Mullery When Elon Musk Tunnels Under Your Home
The billionaire is drilling for futuristic transit under Los Angeles. He didn’t have to ask the neighbors first.
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Bebeto Matthews / AP Amazon’s HQ2 Will Only Worsen America’s ‘Great Divergence’
In today’s economy, well-off people live in big cities, while everyone else gets pushed out. Bringing new Amazon offices to Virginia and New York could hasten the process.
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Eric Risberg / AP The Homeless Can’t Escape San Francisco’s Smoke-Ridden Air
As wildfires burn out of control, they are impacting the state’s other crisis—the growing number of people living on the streets.
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Richard Vogel / AP Denver Says Not So Fast, Amazon
Despite reports that Amazon is locating its new headquarters in New York and Virginia, the company may still open offices somewhere else, taking advantage of big incentives.
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Eric Risberg / AP Tech Billionaires’ Obligation to the Cities Around Them
California voters are being asked to tax big corporations to solve local problems. But is that the companies’ responsibility?
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Quinn Rooney / Getty The Amazon Selling Machine
The e-commerce company has so much information about us that it’s become expert at shilling us things we didn’t even know we needed. No wonder its advertising business is booming.
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Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters The End of Cheap Shipping From China
The White House wants to put an end to low-cost shipping from overseas, a move widely supported among U.S. e-commerce sellers.
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Elaine Thompson / AP Paul Allen Shows It’s Hard to Give Away $10 Billion
The Microsoft co-founder was one of the most prolific philanthropists in the world—but he still died with $20 billion.
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Matt Rourke / AP What Happens When Gig-Economy Workers Become Employees
Drivers for cannabis companies in California now have to be classified as employees, rather than independent contractors. But has that been a good thing?
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B.K. Bangash / AP The Online Gig Economy’s ‘Race to the Bottom’
When the whole world is fighting for the same jobs, what happens to workers?
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Gene J. Puskar / AP ‘We Are All Accumulating Mountains of Things’
How online shopping and cheap prices are turning Americans into hoarders
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Matt Whittaker / Reuters Can Philanthropy Save a City?
The cash-strapped city of Stockton is hoping so, courting millions of dollars from private investors to solve a whole host of social problems.
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Mega Pixel / Stas Malyarevsky / Shutterstock / ... How Silicon Valley Has Disrupted Philanthropy
Local nonprofits are having trouble attracting money from tech donors. The solution? Talk like a start-up.
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Tsering Topgyal / AP The Authors Who Love Amazon
The e-commerce giant has finally made self-publishing lucrative. But does its dominance come at a cost?
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Jenny Kane / AP Despite the Glitches, Shoppers Can’t Quit Amazon
The company’s website continually crashed during its much-touted Prime Day event, but sales were still higher than ever.
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J. Scott Applewhite / AP Is This the End of Public-Sector Unions in America?
Despite a crippling decision by the Supreme Court, unions say they have a plan forward.
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Ross D. Franklin / AP Will a New Supreme Court Decision Change Online Shopping?
The Court just ruled that a state can collect taxes from a retailer that doesn’t have a physical presence in the state. Here’s what that means.
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Elaine Thompson / AP How Amazon Helped Kill a Seattle Tax on Business
A levy on big companies to fund affordable housing awakened the ire of corporations.
