‘Is’ joins ever-growing list of local venue closures (Daily Progress)
Another smaller music venue in Charlottesville has bitten the dust. Is Venue, the music spot on West Main Street, will close its doors this week, as will its neighbor, Si Tapas.
Whole Foods to Food Banks (Washington Post)
Awkward scenes are playing out frequently at food pantries and other charities across the region as they struggle to help the still upward-spiraling number of formerly middle-class people knocking on their doors. For the charities, the surge in demand has tested their resourcefulness — and sometimes their patience. Not only must they stock millions of pounds of additional food in bigger warehouses, but they also must adopt fresh tactics to help the newly needy, who can be more bewildered, more emotional and more selective than their traditional clients.
Talk to the Invisible Hand (Slate)
A great read about why health care isn’t really a free market. Advocates for consumer-driven health care often claim that patients should have “some skin in the game” by sharing decision-making power for their medical care. This depends on patients making informed decisions about their care based on quality and price—but as the case of Bill Clinton demonstrates, even the brightest, most educated people don’t always do that reliably. (Perhaps patients suffer from the Lake Wobegon effect: Though suspicious of the medical system, they think their own doctors and surgeons are better than average.)
Big Merger Deals Signal Restored Confidence (NY Times)
In a signal that confidence — and perhaps a bit of executive swagger — may be returning to the business world, two large mergers were announced on Monday, adding to a flurry of deals in the last month.
Even bad reviews boost sales (Fortune)
Think letting customers post cranky reviews of your products will scare away sales? Here’s the surprising truth.
$1B Twitter? What Do the Investors Know that No One Else Does? (BNET)
It may be that the VCs have been Told the Truth and see a phenomenal business model. But models are theory on paper. Reality is making them work. If you’ve been in business, you know that many preconceptions suddenly look far less promising when put to the test.
