Week of January 9th, 2012

Voters in Taiwan re-elected President Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday. Ma pursues a conciliatory policy toward China, which has welcomed his victory.

Commentator Alejandra Bautista-Landin reflects on the decision that changed her life and where she's come since.

Just when things were starting to look up in Europe, Standard & Poors announced credit ratings downgrades for several European countries, including France and Austria (from AAA to AA+). Even more troubling was news that Greek officials ended negotiations on a debt swap with private creditors without reaching an agreement. Mark Blyth from Brown University says Greece has four ways out of its crisis: devalue, deflate, inflate or default. The Daily Pulse is down today on news that JP Morgan Chase announced a 23-percent drop in fourth-quarter profits compared to the same period in 2010. But don’t fret, they still made record profits in 2011.

Delta Airlines is rumored to be eyeing a merger with American. Kai Ryssdal checks back in with trucker Don Holzschuh on what 2012 feels like behind the wheel. In the latest in our Future of TV series, commentator Rob Long talks about why the future of television belongs to upstarts and disruptors. And ‘silent discos’ are spreading in Paris.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a new chief. His job is to help protect you from bad financial products. But he also wants you to protect yourself. Richard Cordray discusses his top priorities for the CFPB. Plus, Suze Orman’s got a new TV show and a controversial new prepaid debit card. She explains why she launched the card and what legacy she hopes to leave before she retires. We take a look at the truth behind 2011’s retail numbers. And what if the economy just got one big do-over? A proposal for stemming the tide of red ink.

Apple tries to launch its latest iPhone 4S in mainland China to disastrous results. As cash-strapped local and state governments look to raise more money, many are moving toward privatizing things that used to be public — but is that a good thing? And the University of Connecticut said this week that one of its scientists falsified data in a new study about red wine that claimed the drink slows the aging process.

The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, is a proposed law that would basically block access to websites that feature or distribute copyrighted content without permission. Hollywood loves the rule. The Internet community hates it. Reddit.com says it’ll black-out its site on Jan. 18th to protest the legislation. Wikipedia is considering doing the same. If other major sites follow, it could make an impact.

America’s biggest bank announces a 23 percent drop in fourth quarter profits but still has its best year ever.

In many ways, the former Penn State students who attend town hall meetings regarding the sex abuse scandal that erupted there resemble unhappy shareholders.

In Italy, the government was easily able to borrow $4 billion to pay for spending over the next three years. And the head of the European Central Bank says it is evidence that the new European bailout is paying off.

We talked to trucker Don Holzschuh last August about he felt about the way things were going economically. Now, a check-in.

Reviewing the week’s headlines on Wall Street and beyond. This week: The Europe downgrade, JPMorgan's earnings and are we really in a recovery?

Here's something you can do if you want to do it.

For a phone? Really?

Consumers are hit with new fees at the same time banks reach out to attract new customers.

Boise State University President Bob Kustra discusses why he's against a proposal that would offer $2,000 stipends to student athletes, and why it's time to take a closer look at Division I football and men's basketball.

Live longer and prosper more

The unmasking of fraud by a leading researcher on the health benefits of wine has called into question the entire body of knowledge about the fermented grape.

Going over listeners' responses to past broadcasts. This week: The future of TV advertising, Yum! Brands' worldwide dominance and what a Marketplace job interview is like.

France and Austria get credit ratings downgrades, and Greece weighs its dwindling options.

Stores in Beijing and Shanghai were supposed to release the Apple iPhone 4S today, but crowds swelled to unmanageable levels.

J.P. Morgan Chase reported its earnings were down 23 percent today. What does this mean for the rest of the big banks?

Maybe Pilates would help.

Mitt Romney has received criticism for his time at Bain Capital. What does Bain, and similar private equity firms, really do?

A possible merger of Delta and American could bring higher ticket prices, a tough fight for competitors and more convenience for business travelers.

Later this morning President Obama is expected to outline a new plan to shrink government. He's going to ask Congress to give him the authority to merge some departments and agencies.

Comedian Tim Bedore likes the concept of debt forgiveness. And he has some ideas about how to make us swallow it.

Reddit.com will black-out its website on Jan. 18th to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act. Wikipedia is considering doing the same.

One word to describe the future of television: more. More everything. And that' s going to change the lives of those in the business of TV.

As cash-strapped local and state governments look to raise more money, many are moving toward privatizing things that used to be public. Is it a good decision?

Many young Parisians want to listen to loud music, but don’t want to annoy their neighbors — so they’re using headphones at their parties.

The numbers are in and — economic downturn or not — 2011 was the best retail sales year ever! So what's behind that surprising data?

The Washington Post looks at the facts presented in a video made by a super PAC supporting Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich.

My mortgage is down to $27,000, which I can pay off after topping off my cash reserve (1 year of expenses). Is there any reason not to do this? My interest rate is 4 3/8 percent. I'm getting about 1 percent in my money market account. I have no other debt, and my 401(k) and IRA are maxed out. Ken, Portland, OR

China watchers are hoping for a soft landing for its overheated economy.

Heat coming to Googs

This morning, President Obama will announce that he plans to cut back on government spending by merging a number of government agencies. Will Congress agree to fork over the power?

PIPA = PROTECT IP Act

Does the chaos surrounding today's release mean that Apple is underestimating its popularity in China?

Apple gets cozy with Target

Zeros and ones packed into a handful of atoms.

Have you heard about the Twitters and Facebookies?

After all the talk of booming holiday retail sales, the actual numbers were up by just a tenth of a point, much lower than expected. Maybe everyone really did give cars for Christmas as the holiday ads suggest, because autos and gas were the main drivers of December retail sales. We spoke to Brian Gendreau, a market strategist at Cetera Financial Group, and he told us it seems odd, “that people would buy less in the way of electronics during the Christmas season than they would in November, Black Friday sales or no Black Friday sales.” Gendreau says many forecasters, even the really bullish ones, are expecting “fairly slow growth.” And the Daily Pulse is down today on concerns about spiraling student loan debts. Today Mark Greene, the CEO of the credit score agency FICO, told Yahoo Finance that two-thirds of bank risk professionals recently surveyed think delinquencies on student loans will rise in 2012. That debt is nearing the trillion-dollar mark. Gulp.

This week’s CES is a showcase of products, but there’s one company out there who wants you to make your own. Makerbot is the latest in 3D printing, a technology that is still quite expensive but also beginning to become more mainstream. Also at CES, there’s the major effort and investment being put in to keep you amused — screens are becoming more ubiquitous in modern life, and companies are trying to find ways to keep up with it.

Top fashion designers launch a campaign today to help raise money for President Obama’s re-election, but when fashion gets political, there can be some complications. Marketplace’s Economy 4.0 correspondent David Brancaccio explains the Fed’s beige book. And a look at the Haiti earthquake, which took place two years ago today, shows where all that donation money went.

The latest Attitude Check explores what bugs Americans the most about the economy and how we feel about our standard of living. Private equity is the talk of the town, but how much do you know about these funds? Retail sales surprisingly hit record highs in 2011. The new wave of charitable giving is just one click away. British artist Damien Hirst is opening multiple exhibitions at Gagosian galleries around the world. Youth radio reporter Rayana Godfrey looks at the changing habits of TV viewers. And advertiser Janice Suter discusses what firms are doing to attract younger viewers.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels discusses his state’s new agreement for regulating and working with Amazon over sales taxes. The online retailer has been in dispute with a few states over collecting sales taxes.

It has been a rough year for oranges — first in Florida, and now in Brazil. The lack of the fruit is now causing orange juice prices to rise.

Despite concerns over a still-fragile economy, consumers pushed retail sales to a new record in 2011.

How do Americans feel about their standard of living today compared to this time in 2008?

The heat is on

As the cost of an education rises and students borrow to cover the costs, lenders worry about recouping funds.

Though billions of dollars of aid was promised after the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti two years ago, much reconstruction work remains to be done.

Today we found out President Obama and the Democrats raised $68 million in the last quarter of 2011, as the president seeks re-election. But this money is a bit… different.

By supporting the Democratic president, designers risk alienating customers.

What's the best way to clean spinach?

My husband and I are late-in-life parents (he is 59 and I am 49) and we have a 1-year-old — the absolute JOY of our lives. She is the only child for both of us and I am wondering about what you would suggest as the most cost-effective way to save for her future? Kathleen, Fergus Falls, MN

Professor Joshua Rauh at Northwestern University explains what private equity is, and what impact it has on the job market.

After all the talk of booming holiday retail sales, December's numbers were up by just a tenth of a point.

As tech gurus gather at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we're looking at the future of television. And where better to glimpse future viewing habits than inside a teenager's bedroom?

Republican candidates, thus far, are way behind President Obama in terms of campaign financing. But they are also turning to independent super PACS for funds.

Jobless claims had been on the decline over the past month or so, and with the unemployment rate going down, we have seen an uptick of Latino immigrant workers in this country, who are sending money back home.

This year's holiday season was slightly bigger by volume, but the week after the holidays saw a bit of a slide.

According to a recent article in the Vail Daily News, some Colorado area resorts are seeing a bounce in the number of reservations this week because of last weekend's Denver Broncos football game.

The minutes of Alan Greenspan's last meeting as chairman of the Federal Reserve were released today. It reveals some praising words from then-president of the New York Federal Reserve, Timothy Geithner.

In the future, you'll have a machine to make stuff and you'll watch movies everywhere.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book is a review of economic trends in the country. The Fed's method of gathering data on the economy is pretty simple, though: Just calling around and asking.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has opened its application process for new top level domain names.

The Obama re-election campaign said this morning the campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised $68 million in the last three months of 2011. Could he be on his way to topping the $1 billion mark by election day?

An Apple event next week. Commence mouth foaming, nerds.

You rang?

The website Reddit.com will blackout for 8 hours on January 18th to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Our "Future of TV" series continues with a look at how advertisers target youth through ever-changing mediums.

Our Attitude Check this week looks what Americans are concerned about within the economy and also how they feel about the future of their standard of living.

A just-released study says texting donations for crises like the Haiti earthquake could become the new norm.

Digital shakedown

Planning for retirement isn't easy. The Society of Actuaries has a retirement series that tries to give you a framework for thinking through the key decisions.

The markets fell before the open and struggled most of the day on word the mighty German economy contracted in the last three months of 2011. Doug Cote, the chief market strategist at ING Investment Management, offered some reassurance. While you can’t ignore Europe, Cote says today’s headlines were merely background noise. His attention is on China, where signs are pointing to the end of a housing bubble. And the Daily Pulse is down today on the “unhealthy correlation” between building skyscrapers and financial disasters. Seems they go hand in hand.

The morning after the New Hampshire primary, the decisions made by independent Super PACS could have the biggest impact on the race going forward. We take a look at how the Glock changed gun culture in America. And John Moe helps untangle what’s been going on at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Super PACs are changing the way political campaigns are run. Freakonomics Radio’s Stephen Dubner explains how important (or unimportant) money is during primary season. Commentator Robert Reich says you can’t take the decrease in unemployment numbers at face value. A new study says that the wealth gap is becoming a major issue in people’s minds. Sprint has announced that all its phones will go through an environmental certification process. And Kai Ryssdal talks to the president CBS Interactive about the future of television, and to the CEO of Yum Brands about the global expansion of the company.

Cars didn’t used to have much in the way of electronics. There were gears, sure. There were carburetors and pistons and belts. But there weren’t a lot of computers until the last several years. The cars of tomorrow, however, will likely make the computerized  cars of today look like Model Ts by comparison.

Tech Vegas-style

It's the best offense

I have a wonderful little 4-year old niece for whom I have been setting aside money. Currently, it is just going into a savings account as I have perhaps been letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. It seems like the 529 plans out there vary in performance and fees quite a bit. I'm having trouble finding any good resources to compare them. I want something that is not going to be overly vulnerable to the whims of the stock market while also not hitting me with high fees. Any suggestions? Jason, Grand Forks, ND

A Pew survey says Americans now think the conflict between rich and poor is more important than between whites and blacks or immigrants and the native-born.

They're called People's Choice Awards for a reason. Anyone can vote – as often as they like That's why many critics don't take the awards seriously.

After a 2010 Supreme Court decision, independent organizations are gaining increasing power in national elections.

Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary last night. But why did his victory speech sound so familiar?

U.S. diplomat Chris Hill discusses the economic conditions of Iraq and North Korea as they make important transitions, and how they might change in the future.