Week of February 20th, 2012

Investors eagerly wait to read the annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders by its CEO and stockpicker-in-chief, Warren Buffett. As always, it’s an illuminating, insightful read into business, the economy and investing.

Michael Jordan plays defense against a Chinese sportswear company. Romney’s doing his best to sway voters to pick him in next week’s primary, playing up his Michigan roots and pushing hard for a law that would get rid of mandatory-union-membership in union shops. And host Jeremy Hobson wraps up a week in Michigan by taking a closer look at two places in Detroit with the same name, but very different stories.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about privacy protection on the web. The White House announced what it called a Privacy Bill of Rights, and then a group of web companies, including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL, announced broad implementation of a Do Not Track system. Now, this all sounds very nice, right? But don’t get any fancy ideas that privacy worries will all be magically lifted away. Also, advice on how to make your tweets stand out.

The number of Americans with a college education is on the rise, but how do we compare to the rest of the world? Bloomingdale’s introduces a loyalty card for its shoppers. We look at the future for minority workers in the postal service as it continues to downsize. The state of Louisiana continues to attract multi-million-dollar film productions thanks to tax credit incentives. And Kai Ryssdal talks to digital marketing executive Ian Shafer about Generation C — hyper-connected Americans.

The Occupy Wall Street movement called attention to the widening wealth gap. And one of the big questions is whether that mythical American rags to riches story is becoming obsolete. We’ll try to define what it means to be rich and poor in this country. And we all need to take some responsibility for our own lack of savings, but these days, the government isn’t making it any easier. Plus, we have a plea for bringing back the savings bond. And putting money away for retirement is a lot like exercising.

Leading up to the Michigan state primary on Tuesday, we check in with host Jeremy Hobson about how people in Michigan are feeling about the economy.

Reporter Mitchell Hartman discusses the need for Marketplace's new Wealth & Poverty desk.

Today, Greece launched its bond bailout offer. Easy Street explains it.

Neighborhoods in Atlanta have been devastated as home prices have fallen. How are residents coping with moving from high on the hog to the other side of the tracks?

But not the Mountain Dew. Sorry.

Working at the post office has long been a way for African-Americans and others to rise up to the middle class. But at least 35,000 USPS jobs will soon be lost.

I have been out of college for just over a year now and am waiting to be hired by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an air traffic controller (a 2 to 3 year process, on average). I was lucky with scholarships and waivers and have about $20,000 in student loans (all federally subsidized) and am currently on a standard payment plan for a 10-year repayment period. I have enough saved up in CDs, money market accounts, savings and mutual funds that could pay off all of the loans but only leave me with about $5,000 left over to deal with any "unplanned" expenses (I have no credit card debt and a full-time job with a major airline). Is it smart to get rid of all of my debt immediately but be left with little to fall back on? Should I pay off half of the loan and repay the rest over time? Michael, Minneapolis, MN

The Dutch airline KLM has launched a new seating program. And no — this isn't another story about paying for your aisle seat. KLM is going to let flyers choose who to sit next to based on their online profiles.

Marketplace economics editor Chris Farrell says it's all very well telling us to save, but where are we supposed to put our money?

Unmoved by Google, et al

Reviewing the week's headlines on Wall Street. This week: Doubts over the Greek bailout plan, the Dow hitting 13,000 and the American recovery.

Marketplace's economics editor Chris Farrell says government needs to push sound saving, rather than sound borrowing.

Gen X. Gen Y. The Millennials. Nielsen has coined the latest term to describe folks who are between 18 and 34 years old. How useful is the new coinage for marketers?

Like most states, Louisiana wants to capture some of Hollywood's production business. An Oscar-nominated film from Shreveport may provide the ticket.

In Rome this week, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said the current system of delivering food aid to starving people is “outdated and inefficient.”

As Jeremy Hobson wraps up his week in Michigan, we hear from a few last Michiganders on their forecasts for the U.S. economy.

Two, actually. And he drives a Mustang and a Dodge pickup.

It might not have been just the name that got the video game app known as Joustin’ Beaver in trouble. It might be the fact that the titular character, the beaver in question, bears an uncanny resemblance to Canadian pop star Justin Bieber. The fact that Biebs rarely jousts and is not a beaver was […]

Wrapping up a week in Michigan leading up to that state's primary, host Jeremy Hobson ventured to two very different neighborhoods in Detroit to figure out how people there are feeling about the election.

Taking its cue from grocery stores and drug stores, Bloomingdale's will offer a loyalty card that is not tied to a store credit card. The cards go to shoppers, but the department store chain may reap the biggest rewards.

The U.S. has reached a major education milestone. For the fist time ever, more than 30 percent of U.S. adults have a college degree. In 1998, less than a quarter of the population had graduated.

Washington bureau chief John Dimsdale discusses how rising gas prices are hurting consumers, enough to get the president's attention.

Michigan is a state known for its unions. But Mitt Romney says employees should be able to opt out of mandatory union dues.

There's been a lot of talk recently about privacy protection on the web. The White House and tech companies say they want to protect you, but can they?

Hey neat: "Apple", "Chomp"? Oh never mind.

New report assigns a new letter.

Going over listeners' responses to past broadcasts. This week: Whether head-in parking is a sign of better office morale, more on the Family and Medical Leave Act and fans of Greek yogurt.

Not out of the woods yet

If you want to. Maybe you don't. I don't know.

This is a Marketplace.org Reader

But would it win many matches?

For the first time, more than 30 percent of American's have at least a bachelor's, according to the Census Bureau. But there is a growing racial gap between the haves and have nots.

Basketball star Michael Jordan is suing a Chinese company that makes sportswear. He says Qiodan is using his name without permission, and has filed suit in a Chinese court.

Last night’s GOP debate on CNN included a lot of talk on the American auto bailout. In Michigan, employment has started to rebound in part thanks to manufacturing jobs associated with the auto industry. Elsewhere in the state, Jeremy Hobson sat down with the CEO of Domino’s Pizza to see how the company is faring in these tough economic times, and to see what kind of effect Bain Capital had on the business. And speaking of the auto bailout, how do Americans in general feel about it?

If you own a phone, a television, a radio or a tablet computer, you really need to understand spectrum. Companies like AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon want to get access to as much of the spectrum as they possibly can in order to build networks, get customers and make money. That effort to acquire spectrum was at the heart of the failed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. And it’s at the heart of a proposed deal between Verizon and a consortium of cable companies. Also, IKEA releases a series of web videos, complete with sing-alongs.

Do Americans value a presidential candidate’s moral values over his or her ability to fix the economy? BP goes on trial next week over the Gulf oil spill. The SEC considers slapping “speeding” tickets on high-frequency traders. Fatemeh Khatibloo of Forrester Research discusses how much online data is worth to advertisers. And reporter David Gura visits the Nebraska city and high school where the 1999 film “Election” was shot.

More than a cultural touchstone, for Nebraskans, the movie "Election" foreshadowed a path many took.

High-speed computers dominate stock trading. But they cancel so many transactions that the SEC wants to fine them for “speeding.”

Domino's Pizza, which has its headquarters in Michigan, is one company that's felt the ups and downs of the American — and global — economy.

Gallup asked Americans whether they value a candidate's moral values over his or her ability to fix the economy.

Personally, I blame Maverick. He kept flying into the Danger Zone. Right into the Danger Zone. All the way to the Danger Zone.

X5 is a giant in digital classical music. And it got there by scouring the Internet to find out what you're looking for, then building it.

Plus, a new do not track option for the web

Verizon seeking to acquire spectrum space from cable companies

The Gulf oil spill trial is set to start Monday, and could cost the oil giant billions.

On the White House agenda today: a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. The Obama administration says we need more protection from companies that have gotten better and better at tracking us online.

A substantial fraction of people die with virtually no financial assets — 46.1 percent with less than $10,000.

World not torn asunder after all.

This week we're finding out how department stores have been faring. Macy's and Saks are in good shape; today, Kohl's says its yearly sales rose. Department stores can tell us a lot about the health of the economy — at least part of it.

"Hooray!" says sofa industry

It has been reported that actor Sacha Baron Cohen hopes to attend this year's Oscar ceremony dressed in character. Event organizers are so keen on the idea.

Powdered wigs and town crier optional

Hold on, I've got a Twilio coming in.

Around for decades, Domino's Pizza used to be known as the 30 minute delivery guys. CEO Patrick Doyle explains how they changed that, with a little help from Bain Capital.

Rising prices at the gas pump could threaten the economic recovery and pose an election year problem for Obama. What can he do?

The auto industry bailout continues to be a point of controversy among the general population of America, but the view of carmakers has made a bit of a comeback in the last few years.

Several of Europe's biggest banks are reporting billion dollar losses today and yet, banks are handing out billions in bonuses and getting a lot of flack for it.

The dip in unemployment and job claims indicate optimism — but wages fell sharply for the majority of American workers last year in a way that they haven't since 2007.

Yes it's true, and possibly exciting

The president spoke to the crowd at the University of Miami about American energy.

Commentator Angelo Tsarouchas puts a price tag on what Greece has given the world.

Here come the iPads. Doo da doo doo.

My real question is about disability and long-term care insurance. I have some level of short- and long-term disability through work, but my husband has nothing (besides Social Security), and neither of us has long-term care insurance. I worry about what would happen if we lost one income stream. We've looked into these programs, but they are not cheap (especially the long-term care insurance). Is this something we should have? If we do, it will probably mean less savings in other areas (such as retirement). Is it worth the trade-off? Catherine, Princeton, NJ

You can check out any time you like but… oh never mind

Manufacturers are thriving all over west Michigan. Many companies can't even find enough skilled workers to hire.

The White House is proposing new online privacy rules. But one analyst tells us, advertisers aren't all that interested in who you really are.

The advertising arm of Google is getting a lot of heat lately about tracking people who use Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browsers. Safari does allow for some cookies to be placed on users but only from the site that they’re actually visiting, and Safari is not supposed to accept advertising cookies. There’s now a class action lawsuit against Google from a group of Safari users. Also, another installment of Tech Report Theater.

The Obama administration is expected to announce a plan to cut the federal corporate tax from 35 percent (that’s the second highest rate in the world) down to 28 percent. The consumer sentiment figure is a measure of how consumers are feeling about the economy and it’s put together by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan. The nation’s most populous state, California, had a brush with fiscal calamity this month, and lawmakers had to scramble recently to close a $5 billion budget shortfall.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is cracking down on checking account overdraft fees charged by banks. President Obama has proposed a lower corporate tax rate and an end to dozens of loopholes that help U.S. companies move jobs and profits overseas. Reporter Adriene Hill catches up with the Class of 1986 from Ferris Bueller’s high school. And Freakonomics Radio’s Stephen Dubner discusses the hidden side of trying to boost employee morale.

The GOP candidates and President Obama all have plans to boost manufacturing, but commentator Robert Reich says they're mostly wishful thinking.

The Golden State didn't collect as much income tax from wealthy residents as it had predicted.

The agency wants to figure out how it would feed astronauts on any future mission to Mars, so it needs people to try to cook and eat astronaut food for four long months.

The Obama administration could soon propose a lower, flat corporate tax rate. But how do corporate taxes really work?

Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan put together a consumer sentiment survey, which serves as an important economic indicator for the U.S.

Freakonomics Radio takes a look at alternative indicators of office morale, and the unintended consequences when companies try to keep employees happy.

Obama’s plan would cut the top corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent but close many loopholes that let companies pay far less today.

What you need to know about how Google may be following you around the web.

Apple is buying 160 acres to build a new data center. Amazon, Google and Facebook already own land in the state for their own server farms.

The ice cream company jumps in on the Greek yogurt craze.

Richard Curtin of the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index discusses how the survey gauges consumer hopes and expectations, and what it means in elections.

While a Canadian military leader calls for an increased Arctic presence, the U.S. still can't get more boats in the water.

The Obama administration today will outline a broad overhaul of the nation's corporate tax code that will lower the tax rate that businesses pay, but could increase to amount of tax revenue heading to Washington.

Rosy reports too good to be true?

There's no way IKEA furniture is this easy.

I am 24 years old and starting to get a handle on my financial situation. I have started an emergency savings account and am ready to open a Roth IRA with $2,500. I started an application for an account, but it asked for my choice of a sweep fund. Nothing I've read has mentioned this and my Internet research has come up with limited and confusing information. What is a sweep fund and how do I choose one? Julia, Boise, ID

More Americans are at risk of a lower standard of living in retirement.