Municipal bonds are usually quite popular because they are tax-free. But now that such bonds are coming from risky borrowers like California — who is billions of dollars in debt — local governments are beginning to pull the bonds because they're isn't much demand.
The TSA's new security system of full-body scans and pat-downs has enraged a number of airline passengers. Authorities are scrambling to find other options.
Holidays usually don't provide for the most environmentally-friendly options. But Marketplace's Adriene Hill is offering her tips on how to have a green Thanksgiving without having to compromise your holiday fun.
It can become expensive for a company to provide health insurance for unhealthy workers. So in efforts to keep employees healthy — and cheap — some are providing some extra incentives.
Confusion about health care is nothing new, but now there is a growing industry trying to ease that confusion. Reporter Joel Rose has a profile of one such person.
Being pregnant provides for a whole other spectrum in the health care world: is there such a thing as overtreatment, or is being preventive more important? Even as an informed patient — as health reporter Kerry Grens was — the line can be difficult to draw.
Thanks to the Internet, many more people can become informed about medical conditions and treatments. So where does that leave the doctor? Dr. Dennis Novack teaches first-year residents in Philadelphia, and we checked in at a class to find out how they're preparing for the informed patient.
With all the talk and debate over health care, it can become difficult to think about it simply. So here's a try: think about its beginning, all the way back. Gregory Warner takes us back to 1700s, and to a young, hard-working fellow named Philip Syng Physick.
The annual physical examination is often the reason why many of us see a doctor on a regular basis. It's something that we do half as a check-up and half as a comfort ritual. But how did this habit begin? Gregory Warner checks in to find out.
Ben Franklin, to put it simply, did it all: he was a founding father, inventor, diplomat, scientist, satirist, author, statesman, and so on. So is it any surprise that he had a stake in the history of health care? Gregory Warner explains.
A Nicaraguan general looks on Google Maps, sees that some nearby land is marked as belonging to his country but is currently flying a Costa Rican flag. So he marches in, has the flag taken down, and claims the land. If it was a movie, he'd be played by Steve Carrell. But the reality of the situation is more complex and thought-provoking.
Companies may buyback their own stocks to increase the price of the remaining shares in the market. But that may not be the best plan for the company in the long-term.
Ever since the Federal Reserve announced its plans to stimulate the U.S. economy with a $600 billion bond-buying spree, chairmen Ben Bernanke has come under fire from critics. Today in a speech in Germany, he fired back. Jennifer Collins reports.
Kai Ryssdal talks to Heidi Moore of the Dealbook at the New York Times and John Carney from CNBC about Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's defense of the Fed's decision to devalue the dollar.
Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim doesn't find it surprising that athletes and their families demand and take money from alums or universities. He thinks they're simply acting rationally, from an economic point of view.
With the holidays coming up, it's about to get even busier at the nation's airports. That means long security lines with controversial pat-downs and full body screens. The vast majority of airport screeners are government Transportation Security Administration employees.
President Obama landed in Portugal today. He's there for a scheduled NATO meeting on military matters, but the economy will top the agenda. Investors say Portugal isn't far behind Ireland when it comes to debt problems.
We talk to David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Funds about Chairman Ben Bernanke's attempts to convince the world that pumping an additional $600 billion into the economy was the right thing to do.
We talk to Jill Schlesinger, editor at large for CBS/Moneywatch about how — and when — we will know that the Fed's plan to boost the economy really worked.
In California, a federal judge will consider a motion by Toyota this morning to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits filed against the company regarding the recent recalls. Stacey Vanek-Smith has more.
Speaking in Germany, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke defends the Fed's measures to boost the economy here in the U.S. Foreign leaders are worried about how their countries will be impacted by the decision to pump another $600 billion into the system. Stephen Beard has more.
Peter Coy with Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine has been digging into the details of the deficit cutting proposals. We have the Simpson-Bowles report, and we have the Bipartisan Policy Center report, but will any of them work, and what are Americans willing to sacrifice?
Fed Chairmen Ben Bernanke is in Europe, defending his decision to boost the U.S. economy by investing $600 billion more into government bonds. This decision has received criticism from Europe. Stephen Beard has more.
The GOP is getting set to take over House committees after winning majority in the elections. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports how the future chairmen's ties to industries may play a role in legislature.
The new GM enters the stock exchange today, but it's just one of many new IPOs coming from formerly private companies. As Mitchell Hartman reports, this may not be helping entrepreneurship or job creation.
Retirement has become a hot topic all over the world recently, the cause of many a protest and strike. So who has been enjoying retirement the longest? Stephan Richter quizzes Steve Chiotakis.
The deficit-cutting plans being proposed right now are all supposed to help with the nation's debt. Who else is it helping? The baby boomers, according to Marketplace's Chris Farrell. He talks to Jeremy Hobson about why and how.
Over the last decade, the emphasis of the decision-making in retirement plans has shifted from employers and 401(k)s to individuals. Could — or should — the same happen for health care?
With the health care reform in the U.S., the topic of how much we should pay for health insurance has become a big debate. Tess Vigeland sits down with health economist Mark Pauly to go through the numbers of health care and what it all means.
It's become just another annoying fact of life: the long amount of time spent in the doctor's waiting room. But why? Tess Vigeland pulls up a chair to find out.
Kai Ryssdal talks to photographer Jonathan Blaustein about his "Value of a dollar" project, where he photographs a dollar's worth of various types of food.
Marketplace's Brendan Francis Newnam and Rico Gagliano talk with fellow staffers Dalasie Michaelis, George Judson and Nancy Farghalli about under-the-radar business stories. This week: ski masks with beards, smart vending machines and taxis of the future.
Mark Reed and Dante Walkup have been together for 10 years and decided to get married. But they live in Dallas where same-sex marriage is not legal. After doing a little research, they found that the District of Columbia, where same-sex marriages are recognized, does not have clear laws forbidding what are called proxy weddings. So they got married via Skype.
The new class of Congress members are getting ready to build their teams and offices this week. About a third of them are also small business owners, which, as Nancy Marshall Genzer reports, gives them a leg up in choosing the right personnel.
Despite earlier denying any outside help for the country's financial problems, officials from Ireland today admitted that a loan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund may be on its way. Not many are happy. Stephen Beard reports.
Today was the new GM's first day back in the public market. Taxpayers now only own about a third of the company. President Obama said he sees this as a good step forward. Critics are still weary. David Gura reports.
GM opened shares on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for the first time since GM filed for bankruptcy in June of last year. But will the taxpayers make back the money from the bailout? Stacey Vanek-Smith has more.
In China prices on consumer goods are rising so fast that even McDonald's says it's going to charge more for its food there. How will this affect toy and clothing cost for the holidays?
Quantas says as many as 40 Rolls Royce engines in planes around the world may have to be replaced. This could mean years of damages to the company. Stephen Beard explains.
After the bell rings on Wall Street this morning, shares of GM will trade for the first time since the carmaker went bankrupt more than a year ago. Stacey Vanek-Smith has more.
The independent Bipartisan Policy Commission, made of former members of Congress and prominent budget experts, announced today its proposal to reduce the federal budget deficit. John Dimsdale spoke to its co-chairs in an exclusive interview.
Almost five years ago, Boeing won the chance to build a virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. It's known as SBInet, and it should have been finished by now. The Department of Homeland Security now says it's reevaluating the program. David Gura reports.
Happiness — being subjective and all — isn't the easiest thing to measure. But Britain is about to try. The nation announced it will execute a happiness index, asking citizens about their well-being, to be released alongside other economic indices. Economy 4.0's David Brancaccio talks about the details.
Short answer? We don't know. Slightly longer answer: It's kind of strange that we don't know. The incident occurred last April and was recently reported by the security firm McAfee. The Chinese government says the sudden traffic reroute was an accident but little is known about what happened to the data when it was there.
Another bipartisan commission released its plan for cutting the national deficit today, and it got down to specifics about cutting spending. But New York Times columnist David Leonhardt tells Kai Ryssdal that we also need to cultivate economic growth.
State attorneys general who have been investigating the foreclosure mess are said to be close to a deal with some of the big mortgage lenders. One part of the package is a foreclosure fund, probably funded by banks to compensate homeowners who were wrongfully foreclosed on. Would it work?
From fashion to phones to restaurants to movies, suddenly it seems the big tech companies like Apple, Amazon and Google are trying to do it all. But as Steve Henn reports, it's actually less about trying something new and more about survival.
Ironically, it seems that leading an environmentally friendly lifestyle is equated with getting rid of all your old stuff and starting fresh. Marketplace's Eve Troeh reports on how to be really green when it comes to your new home.
Lenders are in negotiations with states to set up a fund similar to the one for victims of the BP oil spill. This one would be for people who can prove they lost their home in a foreclosure that shouldn't have happened. Richard DeKaser explains.
