Marketplace Money's personal finance experts Kathy Kristof, David Lazarus, and Liz Pulliam Weston review the most important events from the year past that affected your wallet and what to expect from the year ahead.
Commentator and author Jonah Lehrer takes a look at how we decide to give to others. He finds it has a lot to do with emotional response, and what our brains can handle.
More and more people are using plastic, which makes it hard to donate to the Salvation Army folks with the red kettles. So the Salvation Army — along with other nonprofits — are using social media to collect donations.
Tess Vigeland talks to Rachael Chong, CEO of the nonprofit Catchafire, which matches professionals with charities and nonprofit organizations who can use their skills.
Marketplace's Alisa Roth visits a new kind of payday lender that is part of an FDIC pilot program. The program gives payday loans — but it gives borrowers get personalized financial advice and more time to repay the loans.
Hotels around the country are urging their customers to "make a green choice" and opt out of daily housekeeping for their rooms. But cutting back on water and electricity might also be cutting back on something else: jobs. Sean Cole reports.
In the wake of the Great Recession, the American consumer has learned to be more price-conscious and selective about purchases. Co-author John Gerzema explains his theory of a "spend shift."
The horrible wait music, the obnoxiously cheerful voice assuring you that a representative will be with you in a moment — when you've already waited for half an hour? You may be able to skip that by tweeting. Some companies are opting to respond to customer complaints via Twitter.
This is the biggest charity-giving time of the year, and you can probably tell by the amount of mail you've been receiving from non-profits recently. But does this sort of junk mailing work? Jeff Tyler reports.
Gift registries for weddings are the norm, but what about registries for children? It's not always easy to know what to get a two-year-old. But is a registry necessary? Or maybe even rude? Sally Herships hits the birthday parties to find out.
Bob Moon talks to Leigh Gallagher from Fortune Magazine and Sudeep Reddy from the Wall Street Journal about whether the economic recovery started in 2010.
Residents of Kiribati, a small island in the Pacific Ocean, were some of the first people to ring in 2011. But as many countries face a New Year of tough financial decisions and government cuts, how much are cities spending on their celebrations?
At midnight here in the U.S. it'll be 65 years since the first baby boomer was born. That means it'll be time for the boomers to start getting Medicare benefits. David Gura reports.
In Northeastern Australia military aircraft dropped supplies to towns cut off by floods. 200,000 people have been affected by waters covering an area larger than Texas and Montana combined.
When the clock strikes midnight in Estonia, the country will become the 17th government to join the euro zone — leaving their old currency, kroons, for the euro. But is this the right time to make the switch? Christopher Werth explains.
A whole lot of things happened in the world of technology in 2010. But when people look back on 2010 years from now, what are they going to point to? What really changed the world this year? To answer that, we talk to Clay Shirky, one of the smartest people we know about how people and technology shape each other.
Retail spending was up this holiday season, a good sign after an otherwise dismal spending year. But 2011 might be a year of growth, reports Eve Troeh.
House Republicans are about to consider a proposal that will set money aside for highway maintenance, but that's just one of the government programs seeking funding right now. David Gura reports.
Here's a new way to enjoy your beer: a beer bath. Caitlan Carroll travels to the German town of Neuzelle to dip in, and see how it's helping the local economy.
Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam showcase the most amusing pieces of news shared to them by Marketplace staffers on their Dinner Party Download segment.
Interest rates on home loans are reaching seven-month highs, and prices are continuing to fall. So why did The Atlantic's Megan McArdle still decide to buy a home right now?
In light of a criminal investigation into the Vatican Bank for accusations of money laundering and tax evasion, the Pope announced today that he is setting up a new watchdog to try and prevent further wrongdoings. Will the secretive Vatican Bank clean up its act? Stephen Beard reports.
Things are looking pretty good for the auto industry right now, especially compared to 2009, which was a disaster. Reporter Alisa Roth talks with Bob Moon about what the industry did to turn things around, how the Big 3 are doing, and whether the bailouts worked.
As the huge eastern snowstorm stranded travelers everywhere, many businesses and restaurants in New York City strove to continue working in light of a smaller workforce. Marketplace's Gregory Warner reports on how some weathered the storm.
The eastern German town of Bitterfeld is no longer one of the worst polluted areas of Europe. The town has cleaned up a lot in the 20 years since reunification, but its long-term economic future is still uncertain. Kyle James reports on what's happened in the past two decades.
Bikes are environmentally friendly — given they're powered by your own energy — but it's tough for traditionally auto-based cities to transition into a more bike-based one. Andrea Bernstein reports on the current bike lane debate going on in New York City.
Pope Benedict signed a document to make the Vatican's financial operations more transparent. And to make sure they comply with international regulations. The Vatican's bank is currently under investigation for money laundering.
New figures out from the the Controller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision show just how much trouble the housing market still faces. Mitchell Hartman explains.
Until now, the unemployment reports did not include those who had been unemployed for more than two years. Now the jobs bureau will be keeping track of all of the long-term unemployed, and it could reveal the true depth of the economic downtown.
It wasn't that long ago that when you said "apps," people thought you were talking about, like, shrimp puffs or jalapeno poppers: appetizers. But now applications for mobile phones are just part of life for a lot of people who use them. Susan Orlean of The New Yorker magazine joins us to talk about the apps she loved most in 2010.
PepsiCo is about to launch a new snack that consists of pureed fruit. It's part of a new food movement to blend beverages and food as a type of convenience and to promote better nutrition. Beverage industry consultant Tom Pirko talks to Bob Moon about why this is happening.
Soon, Chinese buyers of small vehicles will lose a big government tax incentive. On top of that, Beijing's city hall is cutting the number of license plates issued to reduce congestion. What does this mean for American automakers angling for a piece of the action in China? Alisa Roth reports.
Bob Moon talks to Marketplace's European correspondent Stephen Beard about the euro's precipitous slide down in 2010 and what the biggest threat to the 11-year-old currency might be.
It's hard to think you can do business without e-mail or hedge funds, but Economy 4.0's David Brancaccio found a businessman who is doing just that — and his business is growing.
Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has found that the ever popular rewards credit cards like cards that give you cash back or airline miles cause people to spend more and go into more debt.
India has become the latest country to tighten trade sanctions with Iran. The U.S. has been pushing India to do that for years in the hopes that it will put pressure on Iran's nuclear program.
A new survey shows oil companies plan to increase spending more than 11 percent next year. And despite the Gulf oil spill, companies plan to spend even more on deepwater drilling. Stephen Beard has more.
Just a few weeks after rejecting a $6 billion buyout offer from Google, Groupon may raise almost $1 billion from private investors to fuel its growth. Mitchell Hartman has more.
Christopher Ahlberg thinks he has a pretty good shot at predicting the future using information that is online today. Next terrorist attack? Next major economic shift? Next fashion trend? Might all be spelled out already. The CIA and Google both think Ahlberg is on to something. They've invested in his company, Recorded Future.
Snowy weather has been creating a mess at airports all over the country, but it seems the people stranded inside the airport are the lucky ones. Matthew Bishop of The Economist magazine was stranded on the runway for 7.5 hours, and tells Bob Moon about the ordeal.
Popular tech companies like Facebook and Twitter have billion-dollar estimated values, which are all based on what investors are willing to pay on the private secondary market. But that sort of trading may be getting too popular for its own good.
Congress recently passed a budget to keep spending levels the same as in 2010, but that won't account for the two new reform bills. The SEC and the Dodd-Frank Act are already feeling the results. David Gura reports.
