By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Nothing too exciting is supposed to come out of the FOMC meeting today. The stock market opened a little higher after the downturn last week and yesterday. So, some news that has no direct effect on the economy. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
Well, it looks like our friends across the ocean are finally getting smart about the hazards of smoking. According to the Wall Street Journal, yesterday the European Union's highest court told manufacturers that "EU authorities did have a right to set limits on the levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. This would include cigarettes sold in the EU and those produced in the fifteen-nation bloc for export."
Warning labels have to be bigger and they can no longer use the terms "light" and "mild." They feel the latter misleads consumers - they're no less harmful then the others. But get this - on all cigarettes exported outside the EU, the terms "light" and "mild" can still be used. Some friends.
So you're a computer hacker and you're out of a job. You might want to contact Uncle Sam. The Bush Administration is fearful sensitive government and business information is vulnerable to those nosy terrorists. The only way to find out if there are security gaps in commercially-available software used by the government is to try to hack them. And whom else do you ask but the hackers, and these hackers will let the software developers know if and where there are any weaknesses. The Journal reports the software makers might not appreciate this tack, so some legal protection is being suggested for the hackers. Why not? It's a service to the country.
And if this isn't a sign of the times - Wall Street firms want to pay less in fines for misleading investors and probably will pay less. Later today, it will be officially announced that the new SEC chairman will be 71-year old William Donaldson, co-founder of the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. There are no judgments yet for Mr. Donaldson, but I do fear everyone would like to brush under the rug the scandals and misdeeds of the past year. A new mentality is emerging: white-collar crimes are not so bad. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.