Despite the current troubles of Iraqi citizens, many are richer than they were under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Will the upcoming elections do anything to further boost the country's business climate? Borzou Daragahi takes a look.

Despite all the talk of rising mortgage rates last year, for the most part rates held steady. What's going on? Host Tess Vigeland gets an explanation from Marketplace's money expert Chris Farrell.

The average American kid sees or hears about 5,000 food and restaurant commercials each year, which worries many parental and community activists, but food makers disagree, pointing to what they believe is a history of success at self-regulation. In fact, several food makers are now working together to protect advertising junk food to kids from federal regulation.

Just when it seemed the traditional company pension was on its way out, one telecommunications giant is bringing it back. For years, companies have been dropping their defined benefit plans in favor of less expensive employee-funded plans. But this week SBC Communications changed course, saying it wanted to reward long-time managers. As Marketplace's Amy Scott reports, there may be other reasons as well.