In the Public Interest

By engaging in massive premium gouging, arbitrary cancellations and reduced coverage, the liability insurance industry is trying to enlist legions of panicking small businesses, city governments and professional firms in its drive to pressure legislators to restrict the rights of injured people to sue for damages. Obviously manufacturers in the auto, drug, chemical and other…

This article is first in a series of three articles on the insurance situation Last year the liability insurance companies increased their premiums by another $25 billion — the equivalent of $100 for every man, women and child in the country. On the New York Stock Exchange, the shares of these property casualty companies rose…

Nineteen years ago, a young teenager, Ralf Hotchkiss, had a bad spill when his narrow motorcycle tire caught in a road crevice. He was permanently disabled and shortly thereafter became permanently dedicated to helping invent new technology to assist other disabled people. The first deficiency he noticed was the conventional wheelchair that he rode (Hotchkiss…

They had come from Cincinnati, Ohio to support a rally of savings and loans depositors at the Maryland state capitol in Annapolis earlier this month. The depositors were victims of corrupt practices by the millionaires in charge of these failed banks. The crowd demanded their money back while the indecisive state government was still trying…

The bad cultural rap against garlic, a worthy flavoring food steeped in history, pungent odor and medicinal qualities, is beginning to diminish. It is about time! When you think about garlic, you think about bad breath — at least most people do. Anthony Burgess, a garlic fan, writes that “it is essentially a flavoring suitable…

This year Reagan’s “privatization” dogmas will be in the news. For a long time Reagan has wanted to sell off much of the federal lands out west; he would like to see prisons owned and run by private corporations. Last month the Reaganites proposed to sell the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to private business. None…

General Electric will get much bigger next year, riot by selling more and better products and services, but by buying profitable RCA — which includes the Television network NBC — for $6.28 billion. Anonymous RCA executives were reported by the Wall Street Journal to be “shocked and disappointed by the agreement, negotiated with seemingly astonishing…

Every year about 120,000 children experience toy-related injuries severe enough for hospital treatment. And every December, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in Washington is accused of turning its back on dangerous toys that maim children. The principal accusers are the Americans for Democratic Action and Edward M. Swartz, a Boston trial lawyer and child…

Less than an hour’s drive south of Nashville, Tenn., around the town of Columbia and the hamlet of Spring Hill, the euphoria that greeted GM’s Saturn plant announcement this summer is giving way to the reality of Saturn’s demands on these communities. GM, as usual, is playing hardball. The giant auto company is determined to…

Nashville, Tennessee — Less than an hour’s drive south, around the town of Columbia and the hamlet of Spring Hill, the euphoria which greeted GM’s Saturn plant announcement this summer is giving way to the reality of Saturn’s demands on these communities. GM, as usual, is playing hardball. The giant auto company is determined to…