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[JURIST] The German government said Saturday that it is considering taking legal action against Goldman, Sachs & Co. for defrauding investors, according to a report by the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. The announcement comes just a day after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit on alleging securities fraud against the bank. German government spokesperson Ulrich Wilheim said that the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) will request information from the SEC to decide whether to file a suit. Britain has indicated that it may also pursue legal action after it found out the scope of the allegations contained in the SEC lawsuit.
The SEC complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Goldman made misleading statements and omissions to investors in early 2007 in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Goldman’s alleged conduct in marketing collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) to investors lies at the core of the controversy. Goldman responded to the allegations by denying all wrongdoing. The SEC is seeking “injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, prejudgment interest, civil penalties and other appropriate and necessary equitable relief from both defendants,” remedies considered appropriate in securities fraud cases.

Guest blogger Rhone Resch is President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

As Americans, we make decisions by finding a balance between personal values and pragmatism — is it the right thing to do and is an effective solution or improvement? This balance persuades us to order a salad instead of fries or to buy a hybrid car instead of a Hummer. Or, in my family’s case, installing a solar photovoltaic system on my roof instead of relying on electricity from the nearest coal plant.

For us, national energy policy works the same way.  Environmental conservation and the free market shape our decisions for better or for worse. This week’s release of the 2009 US Solar Industry Year in Review report shows, thankfully, that Americans are beginning to make the right choice. Statistics show that despite a harsh recession, the solar industry added new solar electric installations totaling 441 megawatts, pulled in $1.4 billion in new venture capital investments, created 17,000 new jobs and grew by 36 percent in annual revenue.

While coal and oil companies laid off workers or stayed static, the photovoltaic solar sector grew by 37% percent, three new concentrated solar plants came online and public awareness and support grew. Despite an unprecedented lobbying effort by the coal and oil industries, solar saw increased support from the White House, Congress and state governments. We saw unprecedented renewable energy provisions in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, watched the establishment of a new Treasury Grant Program and the lifting of the $2,000 cap on the residential investment tax credit for solar thermal installations. The growth in the solar industry is proving that these policy investments are paying off.

Solar now boasts a total supply chain that supports 46,000 jobs in the United States, a number that is likely to surpass 60,000 by the end of 2010. With Earth Day fast approaching, diversifying our energy portfolio with clean sources that will combat global warming while making us more energy secure is becoming a pivotal political issue as well. Solar creates jobs across a wide array of occupations without polluting our air or water like fossil fuels, and doesn’t enrich questionable foreign entities.

For these reasons, solar fits into our culture of economic freedom and national independence. Recognizing this, I and 2,000 other Americans have signed the Solar Bill of Rights, a grassroots movement for leveling the playing field for solar – an energy source that 92 percent of Americans say they want more of, now. SBOR signers believe America can do better in supporting innovations that spur domestic growth and entrepreneurship without sacrificing security, health and economic comfort.

With spring being the time for renewed energy, we should all redouble our efforts to bring solar further into the mainstream energy market. Let’s fight for policies that will open up markets, form stronger industry coalitions, spread public and political awareness and create jobs.

Environmental conservation and energy development are two of my strongest personal values. That’s why I chose solar for my home and for my profession. It works, and creates work when people need it.

– Rhone Resch

JR:  You can sign the Solar Bill of Rights here:

1. Americans have the right to put solar on their homes and businesses…more

2. Americans have the right to connect their solar energy system to the grid with uniform national standards…more

3. Americans have the right to net meter and be compensated at the very least with full retail electricity rates…more

4. The solar industry has the right to a fair competitive environment…more

5. The solar industry has the right to produce clean energy on public lands…more

6. The solar industry has the right to sell its power across a new, 21st century transmission grid…more

7. Americans have the right to buy solar electricity from their utility…more

8. Americans have the right to – and should expect – the highest ethical treatment from the solar industry…more

As this video demonstrates GM is going to great lengths to pimp out its upcoming new compact, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. The Cruze, according to Vehicle Line Director Chuck Russell, was designed to over perform in all areas and incorporate performance, reliability and quality into a great compact package. Since the Cruze was designed not only for domestic, but for global markets as well, GM insists that handling and ride quality were enhanced and that the Cruze will set new standards for today’s compact car.

You can see that GM is targeting the Honda Civic head on with the Cruze, as it compares both cars while running a closed coursed slalom. The new Cruze exhibits less body roll than the Civic and does handle the course impressively. The key now is to see if the reliability of the Cruze is as impressive as the handling. GM seems to think so, but only time will tell.

Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Europe, BMW

The pilsner-swilling Bavarians in charge of BMW‘s classics sure have been keeping busy lately. With Oktoberfest half a year away, they’ve launched a new vintage racing division and opened up their restoration garage to private owners. Now they’re offering tours around Munich, chauffeured in some very rare classic Bimmers from the company’s private collection.

The tours begin and end at the BMW Museum, and visit BMW Tower, BMW Welt, and the 3 Series assembly plant as well as various historic sites around the city. The roster of cars used for the tours includes 326 and 335 Cabriolets from the 1930s, the 50s-era 502 “Baroque Angel” Cabriolet, and a one-of-a-kind 3200 CS Cabriolet. The tour will cost a not-insubstantial 90 euros per person (about $120 USD), but if you’re planning a trip to Germany between now and October, it looks well worth checking out. Details in the press release after the jump.

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading BMW offering chauffered tours of Munich in classic cabrios

BMW offering chauffered tours of Munich in classic cabrios originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I wish everyone on Earth– including Oprah, and Jenny McCarthy, everyone — would take 19 minutes of their lives and watch Michael Specter talk about why science is so important:

Of course, Jenny McCarthy won’t listen. But if the people who listened to her did, then they’d stop listening to her. And what a wonderful world that would be.

A man walking around at night with an iPad lanyard around his neck, displaying semi-nude artwork, could be seen as a meandering perv. Or, as was the case in Bogota, the man is Claudio Arango, and he’s an artist. More »

[JURIST] The Kyrgyzstan interim government announced Sunday that it will place ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev on trial for killings that took place during the recent uprising earlier this month and for abuse of power while in office. The interim government is also planning to try members of Bakiyev’s family and administration on charges that include corruption and human rights violations. Despite the pledge to bring Bakiyev and his allies to justice, so far only Baktybek Kaliyev, Bakiyev’s defense minister, has been arrested. It is believed that Bakiyev is currently in Kazakhstan, and interim officials have said they will seek extradition to bring him before their courts.
Last week, Kyrgyzstan interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said that Bakiyev should stand trial for the recent violence. The protests, prompted in part by a drastic increase in utility costs, led to at least 84 deaths and many more injuries. Earlier this month, Otunbayeva launched the interim government after the violence forced Bakiyev to flee the capital. The protests came just one week after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Kyrgyzstan to protect all forms of human rights, including “free speech and freedom of the media.”

Photo: Morio

Jenson Button earned his second victory of the year, and the F1 points lead, in a rain soaked Chinese Grand Prix. Button, known for his conservative driving style, was able to preserve his intermediate rain tires long enough to hold off a challenge from his McLaren Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Nico Rosberg, driving for Mercedes, rounded out the podium spots.

There was plenty of wheel to wheel drama, despite the weather. Hamilton and Red Bull driver Mark Webber earned reprimands for their aggressive driving through pit lane. Hamilton and Webber had been dicing at pit entry, and Hamilton used the insinde lane to pass Weber going into the pits. Released by his McLaren Mercedes crew as Weber was alongside, Hamilton tried to beat Webber exiting the pits. Webber, driving for Red Bull Renault, was having none of it and tried to hold Hamilton to the inside lane. Sanity prevailed and Hamilton lifted to allow Webber by.

Michael Schumacher had a good race despite his tenth place finish. The Mercedes driver showed flashes of brilliance in his wet-track battles with Felipe Massa (Ferrari) , Lewis Hamilton and Vitaly Petrov (Renault).

As I discussed yesterday, it looks like streetcars are making a comeback. Curious about which cities are on the move? The Community Streetcar Coalition held a summit earlier this year in Alexandria, Virginia where it brought together people working to get new streetcars running in 22 cities across the nation.

Cities that may be constructing streetcar lines within a year or two are below, as well as a few insights on and expectations for those most likely to be built.

(more…)

The (Perth) Sunday Times has an article on recent talk of peak oil – Demand for oil to outstrip supply within two years .

RISING oil prices pose a grave threat to global economic recovery, according to some experts. The fear has been expressed by the US military and by the automobile industry.

This week in Perth, Volvo’s head of product planning, Lex Kerssemakers, said “we all know that oil is running out”. “We need to find alternative solutions and though we are aware of the alternatives – LPG, CNG, ethanol, electric and so on – we have to introduce these to the market,” he said. “If we don’t do it now, we won’t be ready in five years when oil may be prohibitively expensive.”

Mr Kerssemakers said Volvo would have an eelctric car on the world market in 2012 that would use less than 1.5 litres/100km of fuel – about one-tenth of that used by a current V8-engined sedan.

Volvo is not alone in the race to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles – all car companies are either developing alternative engined or fuelled vehicles by themselves or in partnership with other car companies that, in many cases, were once their fierce rivals.

The US military this week warned the world faces a “severe energy crunch” and looming oil shortages. According to a Joint Operating Environment report from the US Joint Forces Command, “a severe energy crunch is inevitable without a massive expansion of production and refining capacity”.

The report says the central problem for the coming decade “will not be a lack of petroleum reserves, but rather a shortage of drilling platforms, engineers and refining capacity”. And it warns: “Even were a concerted effort begun today to repair that shortage, it would be 10 years before production could catch up with expected demand.”

More ominously, the military predicts a “Peak Oil” scenario – where demand outstrips the world’s supply capacity – as soon as 2012.

Click here to see the week’s charts as a show →

Or choose individually:

• Why The Coming Wall Street Movie Really Does Portend Another Crash
• American Consumers Return To Their Historical Pattern Of Going Nuts
• Actually, Wealthy Americans Pay A Larger Share of Federal Taxes Than Ever Before
• The Companies That Have Analysts Frantically Upping Their Earnings Estimates
• Goldman’s $12 Billion Bloodbath

Why The Coming Wall Street Movie Really Does Portend Another Crash

Some have wondered whether the forthcoming release of Wall Street II movie by Oliver Stone portends a market crash, considering that the last Wall Street was released right before the crash of 1987.

Actually, this line of reasoning understates the case.

There was actually another movie called Wall Street that came out in 1929. Of course, the market collapsed that year, too.

The release of the movie got pushed back to September, so we got a reprieve. But if history is any guide, we’re heading for trouble later this year.

American Consumers Return To Their Historical Pattern Of Going Nuts

Remember when it looked as though consumers might enter into some new age of thrift and austerity?

Well, it’s true that there was in fact a brief, unprecedented dip, but the key word is: brief.

As you can see, the steady march higher continues apace.

Actually, Wealthy Americans Pay A Larger Share of Federal Taxes Than Ever Before

David Leonhardt has a rather lengthy article in the New York Times right now, trying to discredit the significance of the fact that 47% of Americans might not pay any federal income taxes this year.

Leonhardt writes it off as a sign of generous U.S. stimulus, and then bemoans the fact that tax rates for wealthy Americans aren’t as high as they used to be in the past. He also critcizes the 47% figure for only looking at federal income taxes, not all taxes.

But there’s one tiny detail not in there… based on the latest available data from the Congressional Budget Office, wealthy Americans are paying a larger share of Total Federal Tax Liabilities (Yes, total, not income tax only) than ever in at least the last 30 years. The 47% figure the New York Times attacks just scratches surface of what is an enormous disconnect between who and who doesn’t pay for all the Federal programs everybody feels entitled to argue about. And come on, this is simply what you’d want to know — at the end of the day, who is paying the bills? Ie. what percentage they are paying, ie. what is their tax burden.

Hence… In 2006 (the latest data available), the 40% highest earning American Households paid 86% of Total Federal Tax Liabilities. The 60% lowest earning households paid just 14%. The 40% highest earners have never paid such a large share of total federal tax liabilities as far back as we found tax burden data (back to 1979). You can see that there has been a steady erosion in the bottom 60%’s contribution to total federal taxes. We don’t show it in the chart below, but in case you’re wondering, the picture is even worse for the top 10% of Americans. The top 10% of Americans paid 55.4% of total federal taxes, which was a higher share than at any time in the data period going back to 1979. In 1979 they paid 40.7% of total federal taxes, so the top 10% highest earners have taken on a substantially larger share of total taxes, ie. funding of the federal government, over time.

Given the massive stimulus benefits given out during the crisis we wouldn’t be surprised if the trend shown in the chart here has expanded even further recently. Make whatever moral judgment you will about whether or not this is fair or unfair. But it’s a fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office. We encourage you to check our numbers, you can find them here.

The Companies That Have Analysts Frantically Upping Their Earnings Estimates

Analyst expectations have been rising higher and higher for tons of U.S. companies. Here are the major names where analyst sentiment has swung the most, ie. earnings revisions have been ramped higher the most number of times, based on data from Fact Set and Waverly Advisors.

As seen here, Cisco (CSCO) takes the cake with 30 upward revisions to its Q1 earnings so far. Other notables include Texas Instruments (TXN) with 24 upward revisions, Apple (AAPL) with 20, Amazon (AMZN) with 18, Whole Foods (WFMI) with 16, Starbucks (SBUX) with 16, and Home Depot (HD) with 16. We set the cut-off for our screen at 16 revisions.

While analysts may raise their estimates for good reason, at the same time they set the expectations bar ever higher each time. Should these analyst favorites miss their ramped numbers, look out below.

Now see why analysts expect companies to wildly blow away their numbers this quarter >

Goldman’s $12 Billion Bloodbath

This chart isn’t rocket science. On Friday, the SEC announced civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs (GS), and its shareholders proceeded to lose $12 billion.

See the pitchbook at the center of the scandal here >

Join the conversation about this story »

Whoa, where did the time go? it’s been a week since my last post?

Where did we leave off? oh yes, that’s right…food! where else?

Still haven’t had any animal flesh and have no real desire to, either. I’ve been enjoying tons of healthy food, and I feel really great physically.  And I’ve been LOVING my Vitamix.

We’ve been making sorbet’s, soups, etc.

Last Sunday, we went on a fun walk on the Pinellas Trail.

love.

The last week was mostly just spent working. yawn. Although I like my job and what I’m doing on most days, there are times when I dream about winning a large chunk of change, moving, and enrolling in the Natural Gourmet Institute. Maybe someday? They do have part-time programs. I could even work and go to school. I honestly think I would love this.

I guess I should continue playing the lottery?

$52 million…I didn’t win. shocking.
—

More later on my CSA and our delicious dinner. Let’s just say the best MOST AMAZING banana split was consumed. Folks, you do not want to miss this!!!
Also, I have some VERY EXCITING news about my trip to DC!

When it comes to mobile applications, user experience is key to their success. As an investor, I get to see several new apps a week and I can’t tell you how many of their UIs are cluttered and fail to make clear the crux of their value fast enough.

Meanwhile, as an end user, I’ve started spending more time on my mobile device than on my laptop. Whether it’s for checking email, doing a web search, getting directions, reading blogs, looking at photos, listening to music or something else, my mobile device has become my preferred computing device. The reason? The mobile apps I use take me to their most valuable features faster than their respective desktop applications do. And to get there, I don’t even need two fingers — just my thumb. Some examples include:

• Flixster: The first menu item is “Movies I Want to See.” Instant gratification.
• Google Reader: Takes me to a directory where I can see all my unread posts or view them by category. Great.
• Pandora: Resumes the channel that I was playing when I exited the app the last time. Perfect.
• INRIX Traffic! (full disclosure: Venrock is an investor) Zooms in to where I am and displays traffic flow and information about any surrounding incidents. Excellent.
• Gowalla: Locates places nearby and lets me check in to the one at which I’ve just arrived. Done.
• Echofon: Shows the latest stream of tweets in reverse chronological order and sets my screen at the oldest unread one. Perfect.

Conversely, while I like these mobile apps, I wish they did a better job:

• LinkedIn: While the latest release of the LinkedIn iPhone app is a huge step up from its previous version, what you get now is a laundry list of functionality to pick from, including “Status,” “Connections,” “Favorites,” “Invitations,” “Themes” and more. Why not pick one of these items as the first screen to drop users into?
• Tripit: I love this app, but why not drop me into my current trip immediately instead of showing me a menu listing all of them?

I think that in a way, the wired web has spoiled developers: It’s given them too much real estate to play with and, as a result, they’ve crammed too much into it. An example is Flixster — unlike the mobile app, which immediately takes me to “Movies I Want to See” I have to list all the movies I’ve rated and then sort them by category, which takes too long and is very frustrating. Since for me that list is Flixster’s primary value, on the desktop the service effectively puts a giant barrier between my in-the-moment need and its gratification.

From an investor perspective, I believe you should clearly integrate your mobile app’s business model with your key service or feature. An example would be for Gowalla to have local deals at the point of check-in, perhaps as part of the initial search experience itself. For Pandora, its ads are baked into its key use case — music channels — either as overlay display ads or as audio ads. None of this disrupts the core user experience and in many cases, even enhances the experience.

The moral of the story: If you’re building a mobile app, make sure its users are taken to its most compelling feature at launch. Don’t make them search for it — or else they may simply search for a different app.

Dev Khare is a VP at Venrock.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

The App Developer’s Guide to Choosing a Mobile Platform

It’s been at least two days since Toyota was in the news, so here’s the latest: the automaker is recalling some 600,000 Sienna minivans manufactured between 1998 and 2010. In areas where road salt is used in winter, the cables that retain the spare tire under the rear of the vehicle can become corroded and break, creating a road hazard for vehicles following behind. Although Toyota doesn’t have a long term fix for the issue as of now, they will inspect Siennas in high risk states and replace corroded cables as required.

Toyota will mail notification to Sienna owners in effected states, and plans a follow-up mailing when a permanent solution has been developed.

Source: Toyota recalls 600,000 1998-2010 Sienna minivans

T-Mobile continues to have problems satisfying demand for the HTC HD2, with the device once again going out of stock on the US carrier.

We know this problem is pretty wide spread, with one of our editors recently having to turn to e-bay to get his.

Are any of our readers still hunting for this device? Let us know below.

Thanks Venkat Sunkara for the tip.

Fox News has learned more test flights relating to ash cloud safety fears have been completed Sunday.

Dutch air carrier KLM tells Fox News it hopes to resume flights “as soon as possible.”

KLM spokesperson Ellen van Ginkel tells us there were “no irregularities” observed connected to the ash cloud following a test flight it ran Saturday at normal altitudes over Holland.

Van Ginkel reveals to Fox News that some of the 9 test flights it is running today from  Duesseldorf Germany to Amsterdam have been completed and will later today detail the results.

KLM tells us they are waiting on permission from EuroControl the EU body regulating air travel in Europe for “permission to fly.”

An official from Eurocontrol tells Fox News they are still examining engine data from yesterday’s KLM flight before they make a pronouncement.

Fox News has been told by an aviation source that German carrier Lufthansa continues to aggressively test flight safety over Europe as well.   It has been reported Lufthansa ran successful low altitude flights yesterday.

Much of the airspace over Europe remains closed due to safety fears relating to the volcanic ash cloud from Icelland Travel curtailment however is costing airlines hundreds of millions of dollars.  In addition to disruption to travel there are new concerns that airlines might need government bail outs if the restrictions continue.

Additionally there are some questions Sunday whether safety concerns relating to the ash cloud are overblown. UK travel expert Simon Calder asked a BBC questioner today whether the ash cloud worries might turn into the “Swine Flu” of aviation.  (Health dangers regarding the recent Swine Flu outbreak did not reach levels feared).

For anyone and everyone who has knows a middle-grader with braces (or about the get braces), this is the book of choice to share. “I’ve been telling people about what happened to my teeth ever since I knocked them out in sixth grade,” writes veteran comics-maker Raina Telgemeier in her ending “Author’s Note.” “The story had plenty of strange twists and turns, and I found myself saying, ‘Wait, it gets worse!’ a lot. Eventually, I realized I needed to get it all down on paper.”

So here’s the resulting colorful tale. Sixth-grade braces are bad enough – “You’re gonna be a metal-mouth!!” – Raina’s younger sister screams from the back of the  family car. But indeed, it gets worse … far worse.

Racing a friend to her front door, Raina falls and loses her two front teeth – actually, one falls out and the other one gets so far jammed into her gumline as to all but disappear. Not to give you TOO much information … but thus begins Raina’s quest from middle school to high to finally regain her smile …

Could that dental odyssey marked by surgeries, root canals, headgear, and tiny rubber bands have happened at a worse time than smack in the midst of adolescence with changing bodies, fickle friends, first crushes, makeovers, basketball tryouts, not to mention a major earthquake smack in the middle? Raina certainly has more to deal with than your average teenager, but all that angst certainly gave her plenty of good material for a poignantly entertaining coming-of-age story – in full color even!

Readers: Middle Grade

Published: 2010

Filed under: ..Middle Grade Readers, .Graphic Novels/Memoir/Manga/Manwha, .Memoir, .Nonfiction, Nonethnic-specific Tagged: Coming-of-age, Family, Friendship, Girl power, Health

There are many tools that let you resize or watermark your images but very few that let you do both. PicGhost is an online tool that lets you edit images, resize them and add watermark to them in bulk. The images can either be uploaded from your computer or from the web.

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Rating: 4/5

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While the Pope made only what might have been a veiled reference to the sex abuse crisis in speaking to reporters on the plane on his way to Malta, talking about the Catholic Church being “wounded by our sins,” he did meet privately with a small group of victims after Sunday Mass.

Ten men claim to have been abused by three priests at a Catholic orphanage in Malta, and eight of them met with the Pope.

A Vatican statement said Benedict prayed with the victims and assured them the Catholic Church is doing all in its power to “bring to justice those responsible for abuse.”

The Pope, who has come under increasing fire in recent weeks as clerical sex abuse cases come to light across Europe –- including several in his native Germany – had already met with victims on trips to both the United States and Australia.

He said in his letter to Irish Catholics in March that he would meet with more victims in the future, and it could become a regular part of his travel schedule. In addition to Malta, four more short trips are planned for the 83-year-old Benedict this year.

While Benedict did not address the abuse question directly on his short visit, the Archbishop of Malta, Paul Cremona, said at the start of Sunday mass with Benedict that the Catholic Church had to be “humble enough to recognize the failures and sins of its members,” and that it should not seek privileges.

Ireland has been the country hardest hit by clerical sex abuse in Europe, and critics claim much of the problem has stemmed from the privileged position the Catholic Church once held there, enabling it many cases to help cover up crimes committed by priests.

Introduction and Summary:

The Kid’s Guide to Money: Earning It, Saving It, Spending it, Growing it, Sharing it, by Steve Otfinoski, provides kids with information on several different areas regarding money.  This book tells kids that to get money you will have to earn it.  It reviews several chores you may do in order to get an allowance.  It also provides information on jobs that kids may be interested in when they grow up.  This text has a chapter about spending money and focuses on the responsibilties of spending and the importance of making a budget.  It goes through detailed steps of how to make a budget.  Further information is provided on how to be a smart consumer.  This text further talks about the rewards for young children to put their money in a bank and how adults put their money in other areas, like the stock market and bonds.

Curriculum Connections:

This text would be useful in helping children understand that in order for studens to get the things they want, they have to work to earn them. (VA SOL K.7 b).   In addition, this reference contains very helpful information regarding saving money, informing students “if you want something you can’t afford right away, the best way to get it is to save for it.”   This text provides four reasons why it is helpful to put your money in a bank and talks about the usefulness of a savings account (VA SOL 1.9).  This book contains appendices which provide books for further reading, a glossary, and an index.

Additional Resources:

Money, Money Honey, Bunny is a lesson plan that utilizes this book and provides information on the difference between spending and saving and goods and services.  This lesson also provides a matching game to review content from the story and practice of rhyming words.  This lesson is for ages 6-8.

The Pickle Patch Bathtub is a lesson plan that focuses on opportunity costs and savings.  This lesson is for ages 8-10.

Introducing the Classroom Economy: This website provides a lesson to set up a classroom economy, providing classroom jobs to students and assigning daily or weekly salaries to these positions.  This lesson has a component involving credit and debit that could be left out for elementary students.

General Information:

Book:     The Kid’s Guide to Money
Author:  Steve Otfinoski
Illustrator: Kelly Kennedy
Publisher:  Scholastic Inc
Publication Date:  1996
Pages:  1-128
Grade Range: k-6
ISBN: 0-590-53853-5