Visitors to the Trader Joe’s in Hollywood are being instructed to download a parking app to their phones. They include the insurers that abandon patients in their time of need, the banks that leave customers to the mercy of con artists, the tech outfits that say they’re in the business of changing the world but are more interested in stripping you of what little privacy remains.īusiness Column: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park at this Trader Joe’s These include the hospitals and drug companies that charge ridiculous amounts for healthcare. Longtime readers know the industries that cropped up most frequently in my columns. I believe that it’s perfectly fine to make a profit as long as that profit is earned equitably and honestly, and by treating customers with the respect they deserve.īut when businesses cross the line - when they make their money with practices that are unfair, unethical or abusive - that’s when they need to be called to order.Īnd for 25 years now (and counting), I’ve been privileged to be someone people could seek out to right wrongs, fix problems and perhaps restore a little decency to the corporate world. But the markups for most frames and lenses remain exorbitant. Online eyewear sites are pushing prices for glasses down. What I am is pro-accountability.īusiness Column: Glasses are still too damn expensive I’m a believer in capitalism and have great respect for businesspeople who meet so many of society’s needs. The criticism I’ve heard most frequently is that I’m anti-business. I’ve been writing this column - first for the Chronicle, now The Times - for nearly a quarter-century. It’s customary, I suppose, to indulge in a little summing-up when one makes a significant career move.
I pray things get better - both for my hardworking colleagues and for the millions of Americans who rely on a free press to speak truth to power and safeguard democracy. This industry is now very different from the one I fell in love with in college. There’s no need for me to point out the precarious state of the newspaper business.
I’ve worked for newspapers since I was a student at UC Berkeley, including stints at the San Francisco Examiner, the Bangkok Post, the Japan Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and now the biggest newsroom west of the Mississippi. While the prospect of a new chapter in my journalism career is very exciting - I’ll continue fighting the good fight on behalf of consumers - this marks the close of my tenure as a newspaperman. Beginning next week, I’ll be moving into television full-time. This is my final column for the Los Angeles Times. Two months later, getting nowhere, he turned to me for help. “The bank told us not to worry about it,” Laguna said.