Besides food scandals, there are lots of issues for Marketplace's Shanghai Bureau Chief Scott Tong to take on. Kai Ryssdal talks to him about reporting on China's complex economy and how the nation is dealing with the global economic crisis.
While there's been good news in the credit market, stocks are another story and that story is late-day volatility. To talk about both, Kai Ryssdal calls on Diana Henriques of the New York Times and trader Andy Brooks.
Whoever is elected president will not have an enviable job. The economy is in crisis and the defict is sky high. But commentator Thomas Frank says deficits can be good depending on how the money is spent.
The conflict of music versus art rages on, but some artists are happy to work a day job so they can keep playing. Joshua McNichols talks to musicians in Seattle to find out what else they do to pay the bills.
Heads up, couch potatoes. Netflix and TiVo are joining forces to have movies and TV episodes instantly streamed from Netflix to the television sets of TiVo subscribers. Stacey Vanek-Smith has more.
Iceland and Hungary have turned to the International Monetary Fund for financial aid. Kai Ryssdal talks with Rhagu Rajan, an economics professor and former IMF chief economist, about the Fund's new, more public role.
Holiday shopping may look grim towards the end of the year, but Halloween-related spending is actually up. Julie Rose looks into how the holiday is allowing consumers to dress down their economic woes.
A drop in exports is hurting Chinese toy manufacturers, who rely on U.S. demand. Next week, China will help out by subsidizing exporters. Scott Tong looks into the health of the toy industry in China.
An important point to keep in mind, says commentator David Frum, is that the government's new role in banking, insurance and other industries is for emergency purposes. Ultimately, that role needs to go away.
Now that the Fed's cut the interest rate to 1%, can it cut it any further? Will it? How low can the interest rate go? Kai Ryssdal turns to Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff for his perspective.
