Do You Like Girl Scout Cookies?

Those cute little girls selling cookies outside your local market are exercising their entrepreneurial rights. In various girl scout troops all over the U.S., specifically the eastern Massachusetts troops have decided to increase their cookie box sales from $4 to $5, the first raise in eight years. The increase is not very drastic or uncommon; two California girl scout troops in San Gorgonio and Central Coast also charge $5 a box. According to President of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, Patricia Parcellin, sales are going to hike up each per unit profit to $0.90 versus the previous $0.62 profit in past years. She also states that they do not expect a drop in sales with the increase in prices because people still want to support and believe in the girl scout values and skills that they are learning. They have consulted with other troops in California and Hawaii, who also raised their prices, and they reported no adverse results. Their reason to increase prices are due to a higher cost of ingredients, transportation, and storage. So when you’re going to take a trip to the grocery store and see those smiling faces, make sure you have a little more money than you usually would.

Iran in New York

Over the past decade, Iran has isolated themself from the rest of the world. Now they are in the rebuilding stages, but need at least $150 billion in annual investments to move them along in the process, which brings Hamid Biglari to New York. Biglari is a 57 year old Iranian-American and a graduate of Cornell University, who also is an ex-Citigroup banker under the wings of Robert Rubin and Sandy Weill. He is not an official representative, actually he has no official role, but is definitely President Hassan Rouhani’s “go-to-man” when it comes to financials. Biglari puts his efforts into brining investments back to his home country by bringing together Iranian power brokers through conferences and private meetings. He had left in 1979, prior to the revolution, and did not return a single time until three decades later under the reformation of Rouhani. As a successful story, he is offered many opportunities such addressing the Iranian central bank. However, Biglari knows that he is facing an uphill battle, he comments, ““Iran missed the golden era of globalization from the late nineties to 2008, where a rising tide lifted all boats…Iran can’t afford to miss the next wave.”