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Next Google Chief Knows Company; Jobs’ Latest Leave at Apple

March 17th, 2011 at 08:56am Under Economy Report

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Correction attached

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Changes are taking place in Silicon Valley in California. Larry Page will replace Eric Schmidt as chief executive at Google. And Apple’s chief, Steve Jobs, is taking another medical leave.

Two years ago Mr. Jobs received a new liver. In two thousand four he had pancreatic cancer. This month’s announcement did not say how long he might be away or give a reason.

Apple reported record-high earnings for the final three months of last year. But the health of Steve Jobs always brings questions about the future of the company.

He helped start Apple Computer in nineteen seventy-six. Today the company that played a big part in the personal computing revolution just calls itself Apple. Its products include the iPod and iPhone and its latest success, the iPad tablet computer.

Steve Jobs has long been Apple’s public face. But some might forget that he left in nineteen eighty-five to form a computer company called NeXT.

Manuel Perez-Quinones is a computer science professor at Virginia Tech. He says Apple has led the development of some technologies, but that explains only part of its success.

MANUEL PEREZ-QUINONES: “Apple has been a driver in some things and they have been a faithful adopter of good ideas in others.”

For example, he says many development tools associated today with Apple came from NeXT.

MANUEL PEREZ-QUINONES: “The development environment, the programming languages, some of the libraries that are used were things that Steve Jobs was very tightly connected to from the very beginning. But it was not necessarily at Apple. It came from NeXT Computer.”

Apple bought NeXT in nineteen ninety-six. Mr. Jobs rejoined Apple and became the permanent CEO in two thousand.

Last May, Apple passed Microsoft in market value and became the most valuable technology company in the world.

Mr. Jobs says he will remain chief executive officer and stay involved in major decisions during his medical leave. But he put Tim Cook, his chief operating officer, in control of daily operations.

As Steve Jobs steps back at Apple, Eric Schmidt is stepping down at Google. Mr. Schmidt plans to leave his CEO job in April after almost ten years. He will remain on Google’s board of directors.

Larry Page was Google’s founding CEO when he launched the company with Sergey Brin in nineteen ninety-eight. But Mr. Schmidt has been the public face of Google while Mr. Page has mainly worked on new products.

Today Google is the world leader in Internet search and has products like the Android operating system for mobile devices. But Google is seen as trying to recapture the creative energy and speed of its early days.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.

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Correction: An earlier version of this page incorrectly said Apple expects to sell 6 million iPads this year. It sold more than that just in the last three months of 2010.

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President Obama Agrees to Extend Tax Cuts for 2 years

February 10th, 2011 at 06:35am Under Economy Report

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

President Obama announced an agreement with Congressional Republicans Monday. It  would extend for two years the tax cuts put in place by former president George W. Bush.  The tax cuts were to end in January. The compromise extends current income tax rates for all Americans for two years.  That includes rates for the richest Americans.

The agreement also cuts workers’ Social Security taxes by two percentage points.  Social Security is retirement insurance paid by almost all American workers and employers.

The so-called payroll tax holiday would save a family earning fifty thousand dollars about one thousand dollars a year.

For the president, the most important part of the compromise was the extension of aid payments to unemployed Americans for thirteen months.  Last month, the jobless rate increased by two-tenths of a percent to nine point eight percent.

Economists say payments to unemployed people directly help the economy because they spend the money immediately.  This has led some experts to call the agreement a stimulus measure meant to improve the economy.

President Obama said he accepted the compromise because he wanted to help unemployed Americans.

BARACK OBAMA: “Because of this agreement, two million Americans who lost their jobs and are looking for work will be able to pay their rent and put food on their table.”

But the president faces strong opposition from his own party.  Democrats object to keeping tax cuts for the rich at a time when the government is struggling with deep budget deficits.

The extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans is expected to cost about eighty billion dollars over two years.  The deal also includes tax cuts aimed at middle income Americans and businesses.

The House of Representatives and Senate will have to approve the proposal.  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republicans support the deal.

MITCH MCCONNELL: “I think the vast majority of the Republican caucus in the Senate feel that this is a step in the right direction, an important step to take for the American people.”

Before the agreement, Senate Republicans had threatened to block other measures unless the tax cuts for the richest Americans were extended.

Some Democrats were disappointed that President Obama agreed to the compromise.  In two thousand eight, he campaigned on the promise that he would continue tax cuts for the middle class.  But he proposed to raise income taxes on families reporting two hundred fifty thousand dollars or more in taxable income.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Our programs are online with transcripts and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can find us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube at VOA Learning English.  I’m Steve Ember.

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