Week of September 6th, 2010

Question: Hi, I read your answer about saving for retirement for foreigners. I do get a W2 but I am not eligible for a 401 or 403b plan. I have…

How do you manage your family finances?online survey How do you and your spouse manage your finances? Do you pool your resources, do you s…

Posted by Chau Tu…

Posted by Chau Tu…

TIAA-CREF CEO Roger Ferguson (left) with Alan Greenspan, during Ferguson's tenure as vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reser…

Tess Vigeland talks to John Kestner, a grad student at the MIT Media Lab, about his "proverbial wallets" concept, which attempts to take the abstract, digitized way many people spend money into

Tess Vigeland went around the Marketplace office to see how the married staffers and their better halves deal with the household finances.

It's harder than ever to get a job now, even if you've got all kinds of degrees and experience. But the challenge increases when all of that experience was in another country.

In Memphis, Marketplace's Jeremy Hobson found that for struggling homeowners, the difference is as simple as black and white.

Host Tess Vigeland and Kathy Kristof, personal finance columnist for CBS Moneywatch takes on listener's money questions. In the show this week, and economist has trouble figuring out the answer to a home refinance riddle, a 14-year-old girl learns the basics of savings and an amateur wine maker wonders if there's a cheap way to start a new vineyard.

Tess Vigeland and Marketplace Money's Senior Producer Deb Clark go through your letters to stories you heard on Marketplace Money.

Tess Vigeland talks to Assistant Professor Elizabeth Dunn who believes you can buy happiness, to a certain degree, if you spend your money right.

The Beatles should've given us a leg up and told us what money can buy: Happiness — to a certain degree. A study shows that folks who earn around $75,000 think they have a pretty good life, compared to those who earn less.

Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam talk to Marketplace staffers vanity sizing for men, the NYT publisher's stunning idea that newspapers may eventually not be printed on paper and the everlasting Happy Meal.

A down economy can be a boon for upbeat music. Jeremy Hobson checks in with musicians in Nashville to see what they're singing about.

Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal talks to financial journalist Heidi Moore and CNBC's John Carney about the week on Wall St., Washington, and beyond.

Fashion's Night Out started in New York City in the recession, as a way to get customers into stores. This year's FNO kicks off tonight, but will customers buy?

Kai Ryssdal talks to Stanford Professor Keith Hennessey about the role of the Council of Economic Advisors and how they help the president make economic policy decisions.

Yesterday we told you about YouTube Time Machine. Today is another doohickeyization of The Tube. It's not an official YouTube/Google product but…

This is an under-the-radar story that seems to matter quite a bit. Hugo Barra, director of products for mobile at Google says that the Android…

Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology* have created a robot capable of deception. They set up two bots in a game of hide and seek. Robot…

Easy Answer: No….

… He's Obama's new top economic adviser…

Posted by Daryl Paranada…

President Obama held a conference in the White House to discuss the economy, what to do to get people buying again, and how to get people back to work. Reporter Scott Tong talks the details with Steve Chiotakis.

President Obama is going to hold his eighth White House news conference — where the economy is sure to be a big topic. Jill Schlesinger, editor-at-large at CBS MoneyWatch, talks with Steve Chiotakis about whether his plan is going to actually create jobs.

Jews around the world are celebrating the final day of Rosh Hashanah. And it's customary for those observing the holiday to eat apple slices dipped in honey, to wish for a sweet new year. But recently, con artists have been trying to take advantage of the market. Daniel Estrin reports.

Oil cartel OPEC is celebrating its 50th anniversary. On September 10, 1960, a conference kicked off in Baghdad which led to its formation. Europe correspondent Stephen Beard talks with Steve Chiotakis about whether OPEC has been a success.

The whole week's business news in just one Marketplace Minute. This week: Mark Hurd's move to Oracle sparks a rift, BP spreads oil spill blame, President Obama defends his stimulus moves, and bye-bye to Nokia's CEO.

After the memorial service commemorating 9/11 in New York, rallies are set to kick off a few blocks north of Ground Zero — in front of the now-famous site of a planned Islamic center and mosque. Ashley Milne-Tyte asked some business owners in the neighborhood whether the center might help or hurt their bottom line.

In many cities around the U.S., there are people who live near major airports. But most flights usually take off and land during the day. In one Tennessee airport, though, the real action happens at night. And residents don't seem to mind. Jeremy Hobson reports.

Austan Goolsbee is expected to be named today top economic adviser to President Obama. Reporter Scott Tong talks with Bill Radke about Goolsbee will bring to the job.

A few years ago California passed a law to reduce emissions of gases linked to global warming. Now there's a proposition on the November ballot to put the measure on hold — until the state economy improves. Eve Troeh reports.

Boeing and Lockheed Martin both announced major cost-cutting moves this week. Why? These giants of the defense industry believe the Pentagon when it says it's going to cut spending significantly. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

Marketplace Morning Report for Friday, September 10, 2010

Marketplace for Friday, September 10, 2010

Marketplace Money for Friday, September 10, 2010

Marketplace Tech Report for September 10, 2010

Bioengineering has made huge advances in translating brain waves into words. Mind-reading, anyone?

Kai Ryssdal talks to author Jonathan Franzen about his new book "Freedom: A Novel."

Again with the compelling headlines. I think it draws attention more than "New clickjacking scam on Facebook". This link has been going around…

I figured that was a better headline that "Apple chairman calls for a higher standard for app approval". Same thing. …

Here's a site where you can pick a year and see videos from that year. Earliest is 1860 and they're pretty sporadic for a while but then it picks…

Question: I am a government employee. Unfortunately, I came in at the time when Civil service benefits were not offered, so the majority of my…

This final note today, more evidence — if you need it — that Donald Trump will do just about anything for publicity. Trump waded into the flap…

Posted by Millicent Jefferson…

Corporate bonds are en mode in terms of investments, but investors desperate for any sort of return are sinking their cash into any sort of bonds, including ones with junk ratings.

With Somali pirate attacks on the rise, more shipping companies are opting to get piracy insurance and hire maritime security firms to deal with hostage situations.

Apple announced today that it'll relax is its app-development guidelines and published the apps store review guidelines. This was done in response to developers who criticized the limited technology allowed for app-development and the opacity of Apple's store review process.

First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell 27,000 from last week to 451,000 — a two-month low. Is this a sign that the economy is recovering?

Marketplace's Jeremy Hobson reports on another recession — the one hitting African Americans. The recession hit African Americans more acutely, because of factors such as less savings and higher incarceration rates, which deters many from looking for jobs.

President Obama proposed a new set of programs and plans to stimulate the economy — but there aren't enough federal employees to oversee the money and programs from the previous stimulus. Marketplace's John Dimsdale takes a look at the hold up.

An American company is trying to get the German government to make good on bonds that were issued over 80 years ago from the Weimar Republic — that's a whole lot of interest. But the German government is not budging.

Josh Moore lives in the very small town of Fort Gay, WV. He signed up to play on the Xbox Live network and entered his hometown as part of his…

Google says that if you use the new Instant feature, you'll save 2 to 5 seconds per search. We want to know what you'll do with that time (we're…

We've all heard about Terry Jones in Florida planning to burn the Koran. Now he's offline. The ironically named website doveworld.org is not…

A size 36 is a size 36, right? Esquire's Abram Sauer discovered that men's pants are subject to vanity sizing too. He measured several pants all…

Posted by Daryl Paranada…

…but not much more – here's why…

The trade deficit for July fell from the month before — by nearly $7 billion. That comes on the heels on some of the best export numbers in two years. Reporter Scott Tong talks with Steve Chiotakis about whether the good news in trade could bring us out of the downturn.

When Ireland's Anglo-Irish bank failed, it nearly bankrupted the nation. Now the Irish government says it has a plan to split the bank up.

The NFL season is kicking off at the massive Superdome as the New Orleans Saints host the Minnesota Vikings. Some NFL stadiums, though, still have bonds to pay. Steven Malanga, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, talks the details with Steve Chiotakis.

A new government study says — at least initially — the health care overhaul won't cost much more than we're spending now. That's the conclusion of the first federal health care spending report since reform was passed. Nancy Marshall Genzer has more.

A new study from the World Economic Forum ranks the world's countries based on living standards and business growth. The U.S. comes in fourth, falling two places from its 2009 ranking. Reporter Scott Tong talks about why the U.S. got passed up in the competitiveness report with Bill Radke.

Some economists say that a bubble is growing in the bond market. Economics editor Chris Farrell talks with Jeremy Hobson about whether we should be worried over a bond bubble.

U.S. Steelworkers plan to file a complaint with the Obama administration, demanding investigation into China's clean tech policies. The union blames China of illegally subsidizing its own domestic wind energy and solar panel companies that, in turn, they say, creates an unfair playing field. Rob Schmitz reports.

A study out this week says nonprofits apparently hired more workers during the downturn than even the commercial world did. Janet Babin reports.

Goldman Sachs has been fined following fraud allegations — again. This time, it happened in the U.K. The British financial regulator has slapped a $31 million fine on the investment bank. London bureau chief Stephen Beard talks with Bill Radke about why it's being fined.

The housing market got us into this mess. And as more and more Americans have been laid off, office buildings have emptied out. All that hits hard for one profession in particular: architects. Jeremy Hobson reports.

Marketplace Morning Report for Thursday, September 9, 2010

Marketplace Tech Report for September 09, 2010

Marketplace for Thursday, September 9, 2010

Marketplace Morning Report for Thursday, September 9, 2010

A federal appeals court in Pennsylvania has rules that judges may demand a warrant instead of a subpoena from investigators who try to obtain location information from cell phones.

How is the recession impacting lives of ordinary Americans? Reporter Jeremy Hobson traveled to the bellweather state of Tennessee in search of signs of the recovery. Plus, share photos of scenes of a recovery in your neighborhood.

A Bloomberg BusinessWeek story profiles the man who started the Chinese manufacturing company Foxconn, which was thrust into the spotlight after a string of suicides at one of its plants. Bloomberg BusinessWeek editor Josh Tyrangiel visited the facility and talks about what he found.

Because clicking something is a real pain. You'll never get that 1/5th of a second back. You could have been using that time to volunteer in your…

Posted by Chau Tu…

This final note today, in which a little bit of technology might just be too much. Y'know the OnStar system from GM?…

Beauty is pain — and sometimes harsh chemicals. But more beauty products in the market are coming out with "green" and "eco-friendly" formulas — although how green they are depends how the company defines those words.

Kai Ryssdal talks to Clifford Nass, author of "The Man Who Lied to His Laptop," about people's surprisingly human interactions with technology.

Social media more often seems to be a way to get kicked out of a job — unseemly photos, an off-color post — but some job-seekers are using it to land their dream jobs.

The Obama Administration and Republicans are dueling over whether to end Bush-era income-tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, those households earning over $250,000 a year. Marketplace's senior business correspondent Bob Moon explains the numbers showing that the richest Americans have recently gotten much richer

Kai Ryssdal talks to Marketplace's Eve Troeh about the internal report BP released after its own investigation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Go read this.

Well, possibly. Regardless, Penn State professor Alexander Hristov experimented for six years with different substances to feed to cows to get them…

Yesterday, the Google.com page was all these crazy bouncing balls. Today it's white lettering that fills in color letter by letter when you type…

The fine folks at the Taiwanese animation company NextMedia Animation brought their special touch to the New York Times v. Wall Street Journal…

There are hundreds of chemicals in beauty products–some of which are bad for you and bad for the environment….

President Obama does not want tax cuts for the rich to be extended….

Posted by Daryl Paranada…

Question: So, I'm 20 and just got my first grown-up job as an administrative assistant and designer. I'm being offered a 401K, and after I…

We've heard about stress tests for the nation's big banks. What about for the nation's biggest metropolitan areas?…

President Obama is sticking to his position on tax cuts for the wealthy: he doesn't want them extended. Reporter Scott Tong talks with Jeremy Hobson about whether the president is trying to pit the middle class against the rich.

In the midst of all the government efforts to stimulate home buying, here's a surprise: The cost of mortgage insurance backed by the Federal Housing Administration is set to increase this fall. John Dimsdale explains.

Seems like just about everyday there's another story about how the Internet has reshaped business or how some iPhone app has put some poor mom-and-pop out of their jobs. Porter Bibb at Mediatech Capital Partners spent a lot of his career in old media, and talks with Jeremy Hobson about the impact the Internet has had.

Consumers in Mozambique are celebrating after their government said it would cancel a scheduled price increase for rolls of bread. That initial announcement led to riots. Reporter Gretchen Wilson talks with Steve Chiotakis about why this is a big deal for the southern African nation and whether the demonstrations could start again.

By some estimates, nearly 1 in 10 homes will have e-readers by the end of the year. But as the e-reader market heats up, what's better for the environment: good old regular books or electronic readers? Adriene Hill reports.