Week of October 18th, 2010

Posted by Daryl Paranada…

In reality, there may not be many of us who actually know someone who is rich. Instead, we get all our perceptions of wealth from popular culture — TV, movies, books, the Internet. Tess Vigeland takes a look back at the trends of wealth throughout entertainment's past.

Posted by Daryl Paranada…

With money comes a lot of responsibility, and that's what many have learned the hard way. Depending on how you got rich also seems to play a role in how you handle it. Mitchell Hartman reports.

The number of $250,000 a year is being thrown around by politicians these days as being "wealthy" and "rich." But is it really? Tess Vigeland talks to financial psychologist Ted Klontz and the Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank about wealth in America.

The American Dream — the belief that anyone can work their way up the ladder to prosperity — is deeply intertwined into U.S. culture. But it's also deeply affecting our thoughts about income taxes, says commentator Felix Salmon, and we need to become more realistic.

Commander Douglas Wheelock became the first person to use a location-based service in space. Wheelock checked in on Foursquare, from the…

With the fall of the stock market and the Great Recession, everyone from the very wealthy to the not-wealthy felt losses. How much were people really affected? Ted Klontz and Robert Frank discuss with Tess Vigeland.

In a second question posed to financial psychologist Ted Klontz and the Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank, Tess Vigeland asks what it is that makes people feel wealthy. It turns out, the fact that many don't believe they're rich may be the problem.

Currency values were the hot topic at the G-20 meeting in South Korea. The U.S. wants China to raise the value of its currency, but has been unable to persuade China to make the change. So Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is trying a different strategy. John Dimsdale reports.

One business that earned big profits during most of the recession is for-profit colleges. Over the next few weeks, we'll get an idea of how hard they'll be hit by bad publicity from Congressional hearings and possible restrictions on federal financial aid. Amy Scott reports.

Longtime NPR news analyst Juan Williams was fired for violating NPR's ethics policies. For public radio stations, the timing and the backlash is less than ideal. Janet Babin reports.

Foreclosures, corporate and bank profits reign as some of the biggest stories of the week. The Big Money's Heidi Moore and the Wall Street Journal's Sudeep Reddy talk with Kai Ryssdal about whether the foreclosure issue is improving and how banks are doing right now.

This is the first election cycle since Citizens United, the Supreme Court's ruling that unions and companies can spend as much as they want on almost anything they want. Dave Levinthal of the Center for Responsive Politics talks with Kai Ryssdal about where the external money in politics is coming from.

Marketplace's Brendan Newnam and Rico Gagliano talk with fellow staffers Ethan Lindsey, Dalasie Michaelis and Stacey Vanek-Smith about under-the-radar business stories. This week: Guinness beer, Netflix, and popular costumes for Halloween

McDonald's has survived the recession better than most other restaurants. Better than most other companies, in fact. The burger chain announced this week it's seen sales rise for 30 consecutive quarters. McDonald's is doing so well some managers are even re-thinking the competition. Tony Arnold explains.

If you amp up for your workday with a Starbucks latte, how about swinging by on the way home to unwind with a glass of merlot? This week, the company started testing out alcohol on the menu at one store in Seattle. Ann Dornfeld reports on whether this could be the company's next big foray into mind-altering substances.

How we each individually live our lives often depends on how we see our peers live their lives. For people making $250,000 a year, or the top 2 percent income in the country, that means probably surrounding themselves with even richer people. And that's why there's a debate over taxes, says the New Yorker's James Surowiecki.

The cost of living changes, of course, depending on where you live. And if you happen to want to live in Manhattan, that cost of living is very, very high. Sally Herships visits with a Manhattanite to see how far a $250,000 salary can get you in New York City.

Apple's new iMovie11 software won't allow users spoof Universal Studios. An Apple user tried to recreate Universal Studio's opening icon using t…

When we did our show on Google TV, our guest John Falcone of CNET said this might be an issue. Google said if you get Google TV, you can watch…

Chris, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has asked the G-20 members to limit their trade surpluses and trade deficits to a percentage of their economic output. Chris Low reports.

We contacted Facebook for our story, Facebook outs gays to advertisers. While they didn't get back to us in time for our deadline, we did hear back…

Today we heard a lot from Asia. The G-20 financial ministers and central bank governors gathered in Seoul, South Korea. Headlining their agenda is…

Countries have been trying to manipulate their currency to boost exports, and that's pitting nations against one another.

Question: My husband and I have been living in our current home since 1999. It's 2 bedrooms and roughly 840 sq. feet. We have a 5 year old daughter…

Posted by Katharine Crnko…

The Asian Life Insurance arm of AIG went public bringing in almost $18 billion to pay back the federal bailout of the insurance giant during the financial crisis two years ago.

Toyota has announced it'll start producing the Prius in Thailand next month. This is the first time the hybrid will be produced outside of Japan.

G-20 nations are meeting in South Korea, at the top of their agenda is the question of how to head off a global currency war.

Taylor Swift sure knows how to promote her music. The country singer/songwriter has a new album coming out, and she's already released one single, which you'd know if you were one of her four and a half million Twitter followers.

AIG will sell off its valuable Asian insurance business, a move that will jump start its plan to pay back more than a $100 billion in taxpayer bailout money. Mitchell Hartman reports.

G-20 nations are meeting in South Korea to discuss the question of how to head off a global currency war. Stephen Beard reports.

Workers at Jimmy John's are voting whether to unionize, and become the first U.S. fast food workers to do so. Eve Troeh reports.

State and local officials are worried that they might not be able to pay the bill for sky-rocketing pension and health care costs. Bob Moon explains.

Candidates this year are spending unprecedented amounts of money to get voters to the polls, using sophisticated databases to find only those people most likely to vote their way. John Dimsdale reports.

Marketplace Tech Report for October 22, 2010

It's another day and another privacy problem at Facebook. This time the social network appears to be outing gay and lesbian users to advertisers.

Marketplace for Friday, October 22, 2010

Marketplace Money for October 22, 2010

Marketplace Morning Report for Friday, October 22, 2010

State Line. (David Brancaccio, 2010)…

Posted by Emilie Mutert…

Toyota announced another recall today for 1.5 million of its vehicles. It's just the latest in a long list of recalls that have occurred this past year. So many, in fact, that we wonder if car owners are still paying attention to all the details. Alisa Roth reports.

The latest foreclosure mess is bringing everyone to battle. Kai Ryssdal speaks to Peter Swire, a former White House advisor on housing and foreclosures, about why he thinks someone needs to sign on the dotted line of blame.

An Australian student named Ashley Towns is claiming to have created the world's first iPhone virus. The bug alters the wallpaper of infected…

This final note today. Bloomberg News reported this morning Google has saved more than $3 billion in three years, thanks to the help of a tax hav…

In another trial by fire approach by retailers to try to attract more customers, Macy's has announced that it will collaborate with designers to offer limited-edition sales. Will it bring in the buyers? Janet Babin reports.

France has become enraged by proposals to raise the retirement age, causing riots all over that have nearly brought the country to a halt. The U.S. should watch closely, says commentator Susan Lee — if we don't cut pensions, we could go down the same road.

Fast food restaurants come under scrutiny for a number of issues, like nutrition and animal rights. What they usually avoid is religion, until now. One fast food chain in France is experimenting with going all-halal — offering food that practicing Muslims can eat — and customers are on both sides of the fence.

Smart Twitter posts your tweets on Facebook while allowing you to screen out # hashtags, @blahblah and other elements of twitter-speak. The app…

Question: We recently bought a home and got our "Obama Money." That's what we call the $8,000.00 tax credit we received. My question is; should I…

3D TV sales are far below the industry's aspirations. Why? Could it be that people who buy these TVs have to either sit at a particular angle and…

Corporate earnings are up, what does this mean for unemployment? Jeremy Hobson speaks to Jeff Saut to find out.

But a vast majority don't. Out of more than 8 millions German households photographed by Google only 240,000 have said they would like their homes…

Toyota is in the news again with another recall, this time mechanical problems with 1.5 million vechicles. And keeping on track with transportation…

The credit markets are reacting to news of big budget cuts in the U.K., but not everyone is happy about this. Jonathan Freedland, an editorial columnist for the Guardian Newspaper reports.

Posted by Daryl Paranada…

France's proposed hike in retirement age has caused a lot of workers to take to the streets, including riots in Paris and a blockade of France's largest oil port in Marseille.

Britain's deficit-cutting plan has been given the green light from the credit rating agency Fitch, saving its triple-A credit rating. Stephen Beard has the latest from London.

Marketplace Tech Report for October 21, 2010

Akamai, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, tracks Internet speeds across the globe. And although this country may have created the web it's pretty shocking how slow U.S. mobile and broadband connections are compared to the rest of the world.

One of the Obama administration's signature initiatives, high speed rail, may also be rerouted, come November. Andrea Bernstein reports.

Just in time for Halloween, CareerCast.com has unveiled its list of the 10 scariest jobs of 2010. See a slideshow of those scary jobs.

Europe is preparing to tackle huge budget deficits. Sound familiar, America? It does to Marketplace's economics correspondent Chris Farrell.

Toyota has found potential mechanical problems with 1.5 million cars, more than half of them in the U.S. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman has the details.

Air quality regulators in California's San Joaquin Valley will vote on a new way to pay off federal fines for pollution: charge car owners. It could be a first for putting pollution fines on consumers along with companies. Sarah Gardner reports from the Marketplace Sustainability Desk.

A new study shows two old coal plants in Chicago are polluting the air and making people sick. Tony Arnold reports.

Just in time for Halloween, CareerCast.com has unveiled its list of the 10 scariest jobs of 2010. See our slideshow of the scariest jobs….

Marketplace for October 21, 2010

Marketplace Marking Report for Thursday, October 21, 2010

In the latest in The Art of Money series, Kai Ryssdal chats with Corin Tucker, formerly of Sleater-Kinney and now fronting her own namesake band, about the musician's life in Portland — a city facing high unemployment rates.

He once said "I don't do quagmires," but he does do Twitter. Beginning this morning you too can follow the former defense secretary …

Posted by Emilie Mutert…

The airline industry looks to be back in the high skies, with Delta, US Airways and American Airlines all reporting profits from the summer season. Everyone's remaining optimistic. Bob Moon reports on how the airlines have fared so well.

This final note today, in which I once again bow down to the greater wisdom of Twitter. I know, I know; I've said it before, but this time it co…

More and more, companies are using credit reports to check up on employees and job applicants. Should this become an accepted practice? John Dimsdale reports on what the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is planning to do about it.

Microsoft's Office software comes pre-packaged with different programs with different tasks, and that means some of the programs never even get used — but you have to pay for them anyway. There was an announcement today, however, that changes are ahead.

Question: I opened a Coverdell savings account 2 years ago for my nephew (owned by his mom). On a recent Marketplace Money segment with Tess and…

U.K. Finance Chief George Osborne announced a program of devastating cuts to the country's budget today, taking away hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs and billions of dollars from welfare. The government says the cuts are necessary, but analysts say it could be a risk too.

The ruling that allows companies and unions to keep their political donations was supposed to be good for business, but it may cause more trouble than you think, says commentator Robert Reich.

Some have been saying that the faulty paperwork involved in the foreclosure crisis is criminal, but while that's being worked out, one sheriff is taking the situation into his own hands. Kai Ryssdal talks to Sheriff Thomas Dart of Cook County, Ill., about what he's doing.

A college campus and a retirement center seem like opposite ends of the spectrum, but college camaraderie goes a long way. Retirees are moving back in near their alma maters, in specialized communities that are taking over the retirement business. Nancy Farghalli reports.

It's another day in Apple's iUniverse. And Steve Jobs just unveiled the Mac Book Air. It's lighter, longer-lasting and more fun at parties….

News Corporation and Cablevision are still in a contract fight, and around 3 million cable subscribers in the New York area still can't watch the…

In this show we find out the reason behind China's central bank raising interest rates for the first time in nearly three years. India takes a…

9 hours ago, a Google engineer tweeted: "After more privacy bad news, I wrote a Chrome extension to stop Facebook from following you around the web…

Posted by Daryl Paranada…

The FBI is looking into whether criminal laws were broken by banks that may not have complied with documentation requirements when ownership of mortgages was transferred.

Prenuptial agreements may be common in the U.S. and most European countries. But in the U.K., the law has practically ignored them up — until today. Britain's Supreme Court has validated the pre-nup for the first time.

Britain is preparing to make budget cuts worth more than $130 billion to public spending. Stephen Beard reports from London.

In recent years, India has made headlines by making manufactured items smaller and cheaper. There's the $2,500 car and the $35 computer. The country is also home to a novel approach to low-cost solar power. Raymond Thibodeaux reports.

China's central bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly three years. The official explanation was combating inflation and to "soak up excessive market liquidity." That's just another way to say, "We need to slow this economy down." Rob Schmitz reports.

China's central bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly three years. Neil MacKinnon, a senior currency strategist at VTB Capital, talks with Jeremy Hobson about why China made the move and whether this will cool off a currency war.

The NFL plans to send a memo to teams about changes in disciplinary action. This comes after the NFL fined three players for dangerous hits in last Sunday's games. The fines range from $50- to $75,000. The league is getting tougher about tackles, particularly involving the head. Jeff Tyler reports.

The rough economy is hurting lots of people's credit histories. And worse, a black mark on a credit report can keep them from being hired. In Washington, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission considers the fallout from the growing use of pre-employment credit screening. John Dimsdale reports.

Marketplace Tech Report for October 20, 2010

By now you may have heard that your Facebook data may have been taken by third party application developers and moved over to ad companies. The Wall Street Journal reported that of the top 10 apps on Facebook, all 10 were engaged in this practice. Some of them were even capturing info about your friends and then selling it. So what happens now?