Business News Online

South Africa’s Competition Commission has recommended that retail group Wal-Mart’s proposed acquisition of 51 percent of equity in Massmart be approved without conditions, the two companies said in a statement on Saturday.

“The next step in the approval process is the Competition Tribunal hearing, followed by its ruling on the transaction,” the firms said.

“We are delighted that the Commission has recognised the inherent benefits in this proposed transaction for South African consumers, suppliers, associates/employees and all other stakeholders,” said Walmart International CEO Doug McMillon.

Competition authorities are the last hurdle for the world’s biggest retailer to take a controlling stake in the South African firm after shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favour of the deal in January.

‘Mother of all boycotts’
Massmart CEO Grant Pattison said it was difficult to predict an exact timing for the tribunal hearing.

Last month the Congress of South African Trade Unions threatened the “mother of all boycotts” in opposition to the deal.

The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu), a Cosatu affiliate, has formed an “Anti-Walmart Coalition” against the deal. Read more…

South Bend Regional Airport officials don’t want you to stay home, but they do want you to find a means of travel that’s close to home.

For five straight months the airport has reported an increase in travelers. Part of that may be an improving economy, but the other part may be more competitive prices.

“Because South Bend Regional is trying to get more lift out of South Bend, and to bring more passengers out of South Bend,” said Sandra Dobrucki of TCU travel, “so they are trying to be more competitive on pricing”.

Dobrucki says she started to notice better prices in the fall.

One key factor may be low-cost carrier Allegiant Air, a relatively new presence in South Bend. Allegiant now offers direct flights to Las Vegas, Orlando, the Tampa Bay area and Arizona. In 2006 Allegiant flew 74,000 customers in and out of South Bend. Dur Read more…

By Oregon Tax News,

After spending almost one trillion dollars investing in “shovel-ready” jobs, Americans have seen very little infrastructural improvement.

Almost two years after Congress approved the federal stimulus projects, some of the largest U.S. cities still have not even spent half of their federal stimulus funds for job creation. Experts worry that the slow payout may be part of the restraint on economic recovery. Although some cities purposely deferred spending, bureaucratic conflicts combined with the complexity of the work and shortages of federal and local staffers to disburse the money are to blame for most of the delays. At the end of 2010, Philadelphia only spent 16% of its stimulus and Los Angeles was not far behind at 29%.

In 2009, Congress announced more than $32 billion in stimulus spending. During pre-budget deliberations, the Finance Committee emphasized the importance of evaluating ‘shovel-ready’ spending to increase job creation. Accordi

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South Africa faces rising risks to its inflation outlook due to commodity prices, and inflation may move to the upper end of the 3% to 6% target range sooner than expected, Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus said.

In a speech posted on the Bank’s website, Marcus said rising global and domestic prices were likely to pose a challenge to monetary policy in the coming months. She reiterated that the likelihood of further loosening was limited.

“While inflation appears to be under control, there are increasing risks to the outlook posed by rising global commodity prices, particularly food and oil prices,” Marcus said.

“Should food and oil prices impact on domestic inflation by more than is currently expected, we may see inflation moving towards the upper end of the target range sooner than expected.”

The Reserve Bank left its key repo rate unchanged at 5,5% in January and signalled the possible end of a 650 basis point easing cycle that began in December 2008. Read more…

By Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association,

Eugene City Council soundly rejected a proposed five percent restaurant tax after hearing opposition from five local restaurant owners and an ORLA representative. Additionally, a few private citizens who recognized the unfairness and hardships that such a measure would impose on both local customers and struggling operators also provided testimony at the January 11, 2011 meeting.

After the public comment period, all seven out of eight Eugene City Council members present stated their rejection of the tax idea.

The prepared food tax proposal, along with city income tax proposals were promoted by a local organization of parents and educators called Stand for Children, which was formed to address a multimillion dollar budget shortfall projected for two school districts in Eugene.

In the end, the Council decided to form a committee to discuss non-restaurant tax proposals to ultimately have on the May ballot.

Read more…

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sarah Hershberger considers herself a casual football fan with a growing interest — in one particular game.

Like everyone else in Indianapolis, she’s hoping that NFL team owners and the players’ union are able to strike a labor deal that allows the season to go on and next year’s Super Bowl to kick off as scheduled on Feb. 5.

This isn’t about hoping the Colts have a great 2011 and wind up as the first team to play in America’s most popular sporting event at their home stadium. No, Hershberger just wants to know how to plan for Super Bowl week at the Staybridge Suites hotel, where she is the assistant manager.

“I know they’re working on negotiations or something, and I know that there could be some danger of the game not being played,” Hershberger said, shaking her head.

It’s too much to contemplate, so Hershberger is banking on the game being played.

Still, while danger may be small, it is real. Pla

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