Linda McMahon, head of the Small Business Administration, discusses her appointment to the role and her journey rising through the ranks of the business world. McMahon was made head of the S.B.A. by President Trump.
McMahon says in her first year as head of the S.B.A, she was surprised by how little people knew about it. McMahon explains the S.B.A is much more than just loans, as they've offered assistance to areas hit by natural disasters. The agency made more then 96,000 loans to businesses in the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico.
McMahon is encouraged by the loans her agency has given to female business owners, totaling over $8 billion for fiscal year 2017. McMahon says those loans are already a $500 million increase over the previous year.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
