Starbucks to hike prices on ‘labor intensive’ drinks

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Starbucks drinks, long considered symbols of Americans’ penchant to overspend, are about to get even pricier.

The coffee giant said late Wednesday that it will raise the price of “labor-intensive and larger-sized” beverages because of soaring prices of green arabica coffee beans.

Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) said green coffee prices are close to a 13-year high, and costs for its other raw ingredients, including dairy, sugar and cocoa, have been volatile.

As CNNMoney reported earlier this month, coffee futures have climbed more than 40% since June.

“[This has] completely altered the economic and financial picture of many players in the coffee industry,” Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz said in a written statement. “We have thus far chosen to absorb the price increases ourselves and not pass them on to our customers. But the extreme nature of the cost increases has made it untenable for us to continue to do so.”

Continue Reading: http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/22/news/companies/starbucks_prices/?section=money_latest

Public money ‘being misspent’ says global BBC poll

A BBC survey in 22 countries says that people believe that governments misspend more than half of the money they receive in taxes.

But many people also want their government to play a more active role in the economy, the survey suggests.

This survey of more than 22,000 people in rich and developing countries has a bleak message for governments.

The figures vary from nation to nation, but the general picture is that people do not feel their taxes are well spent.

In Colombia and Pakistan, the average estimate of the amount of tax not spent in the public interest was more than two-thirds.

In no country was it less than one-third. Spain, at 34%, was the only one that came close to that.

Continue Reading: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11417470