Week of July 15th, 2013

The Royal Prince will be paid paternity leave. Yes, he gets paid.

A tiny Chinese territory has swiftly displaced Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world.

Automakers GM and Chrysler were Detroit’s last big bankruptcies, but they were able to emerge from Chapter 11 in a matter of months. Detroit’s bankruptcy, a Chapter 9, probably won’t be as quick. And we look at some of the economic discussion sparked by George Zimmerman’ acquittal. In some situations, do minorities in the U.S. have to spend more money than others in order to look more respectable?

Kai speaks to Detroit resident and author Charlie LeDuff about how the city is responding to the news that is has filed to become the largest bankruptcy by a city in U.S. history.

Need some quick savings tips? Below are a list of five from our experts this weekend.

Emergency funds, retirement accounts and answering your other questions on savings.

In what may be his final testimony before Congress as chairman of the Fed, Ben Bernanke says the central bank will wind down its bond buying program.

Most Americans don't save enough money to get them out of an emergency or support them in old-age. Why is saving money so difficult for most of us?

This month, we’re devoting Marketplace Money to the basics — topics like banking, investing, and credit. Saving is probably the most simple concept in personal finance. There’s no algorithm. No elaborate jargon. Just take a portion of what you earn and put it aside. But that’s the finance part of it. The personal is where we run into trouble. This week, how we save, strategies on savings and more. Plus, we take a global tour from Beijing to Brazil to Britain and back home to see how different cultures approach saving cash. And, how did the piggy bank become the icon of saving?

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People in the U.S save around 3 percent of their income. How does that compare to the rest of the world?

Automakers GM and Chrysler were Detroit’s last big bankruptcies, but they were able to emerge from Chapter 11 in a matter of weeks.

Chris Low, chief economist with FTN Financial, explains why Detroit's bankruptcy will impact each and every state around the country.

Vanderbilt's football team fights to put fans in the stands. A small business owner in Detroit shares his reaction to the city's bankruptcy.

Retail stores have moved beyond Internet cookies to physical tracking, what's the big deal?

A small business owner shares his take on the bankruptcy and his hopes for Detroit's future.

Cities and other organizations are looking for new ways to encourage people to save for the future.

Big Bertha, named for former city mayor Bertha Knight Landes, will dig up to 100 feet a day and build a massive tunnel under the city for a new freeway.

The American Civil Liberties Union says it has found another instance of Americans being tracked by the government. Not online, but on the road through license plate tracking.

Blame television, blame the international audience, blame money, and blame yourselves.

This is ‘no tech bubble’ says the head of the National Venture Capital Association. Even as the economy has improved, venture has not rebounded much.

A new report explores the uptick in speculative home flipping — though the geography of flipping has, well, flipped.

How will Detroit pay back its debt?

Vanderbilt still has the poorest attendance record in the Southeastern Conference even though it’s coming off its best season in a century.

Detroit’s many titles: Motor City, Motown, bankrupt. How can the city repay its debts? A new report shows the practice of flipping houses is back, but the geography has, well, flipped. The business of bad movies and their sequels. And FIFA announces World Cup ticket prices.

In Seattle, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine is about to get to work. Big Bertha — named for former city mayor Bertha Knight Landes — looks kind of like a giant, blue-tipped mechanical cigarette, except it’s way cooler. And, drones could be worth more dead than alive in Dear Trail, Colorado. The town is considering offering hunting licenses and $100 bounties for unmanned aerial vehicles.  

Detroit filed for bankruptcy today. Some context for the biggest municipal default in U.S. history.

The debut novel from Brooklyn-based author Gabriel Roth delves into the world of the data and the tech boom.

Detroit files for bankruptcy. J.P. Morgan Chase is reportedly in negotiations with federal regulators over charges the bank manipulated energy markets in California and around the country. The energy market — and the federal enforcement actions — are things that would have looked very different before the Enron scandal a decade ago. Also, Dell shareholders are deciding whether to approve a buyout involving the company’s founder — most of these deals go through, but will this one? Finally, a conversation with Ryan Schreiber, founder of Pitchfork, about the music industry in the digital age.

Detroit has filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, making it the largest city in U.S. history to do so.

Pitchfork, considered one of the most influential music sources in the industry, has found success where other music publications have faltered.

Some independent musicians and small bands have discovered a new frontier in Alaska, where they can actually make decent money on the road.

Britain's government is trying to make the country a major world hub for financial transactions that conform to Islamic principles. Islamic banking and finance are a fast growing area.

Budget-cutters see savings in standardizing the combat uniform of the various branches, sparking grumbles among rank in file

Need a book with an economic theme this summer? Here's a few choices.

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Emmy nominations are out and some of the biggest nods are going to Netflix.

J.P. Morgan Chase is reportedly in negotiations with federal regulators over charges the bank manipulated energy markets in California and around the country. This would have looked very different before the Enron scandal a decade ago.

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So goes tech earnings, so goes the economy? The state of job training around the world. And as the advertising industry embraces the Internet, it still depends on an older technology to deliver results.

Intel and eBay are forecasting choppy waters for the second half of the year. Google and Microsoft will release their latest business reports later today.

Indian officials have announced plans to place 50,000 troops on the northern border with China. The move could cost $11 billion over seven years.

The proposal would link interest rates to financial markets — specifically the 10-year Treasury note — and cap rates at 8.25 percent for undergraduate loans and 9.5 percent for graduate loans.

Five years after the Great Recession, industrialized countries are still down about 16 million jobs. And many of those without work are in need of a skills upgrade.

Soundcloud will turn six-years-old at the end of this month. In the last two years alone, Soundcloud's registered users have increased 400 percent to 40 million.

As the advertising industry embraces the Internet, it still depends on an older technology to deliver results.

Quantum Dawn 2. No, it’s not the next James Bond movie. It's a fire drill for big banks to test their defenses against hackers.

A heat wave covering the Midwest and Northeast is expected to peak today — and with it, demand for electricity to power air conditioning. People may be asked to conserve, but power grids expect they'll meet demand.

Quantum Dawn 2. No, it’s not the next James Bond movie. It’s a fire drill for big banks to test their defenses against hackers. Some 50 organizations will participate, from the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security, to Bank of America and Citigroup. And a six second Vine video will renew your belief that we are at our best when we work together. Not convinced? It also features a swimming pool, a trampoline, six basketball alley-oop passes and the best backyard slam dunk you’ve ever seen.

A new reason to call JPMorgan a power player. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reportedly has evidence JPMorgan used ‘manipulative schemes’ to make big money off losing power plants. On the subject electricity, do we have enough electricity to run all this air conditioning? A stand off at the border between China and India. And Native Americans see sequester cuts to mental health services.

A six second Vine video will renew your belief that we are at our best when we work together.

The suicide rate for Native Americans is nearly four times the national average, but many tribes' mental health services have been compromised by the sequester.

The magazine's decision to put the Boston Marathon bombing suspect on its cover has sparked rebukes from retail outlets and government officials.

Traditionally upscale chains, like Saks and Nordstrom, now have the majority of their stores in outlet malls.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has just released 76 years worth of farming data.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is visiting Capitol Hill to explain to Congress the nation’s monetary policy and the Fed’s outlook on reducing economic stimulus. Wall Street is watching closely. But the financial world is also paying attention to bank earnings: Bank of America is the latest major U.S. bank to report good news on that front. But for the rest of us, do bank earnings mean anything for our well-being? Also, Google is reportedly in talks to stream TV channels over the internet. The future of TV may just be, simply, the internet.

The "Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure" catalogs the fiscal, sexual, and mental lapses of federal workers — all with an eye toward preventing the next big mistake.

Housing authorities across the country are searching for ways to transition people out of public housing.

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Salt Lake City has become the genealogical capital of the world, and it's all because of Mormonism.

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Piecing together the Volcker rule 4 years later. And the World Trade Center developer looks to airlines for 9/11 payments.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke made his semi-annual testimony on Capitol Hill today. He told lawmakers that Fed tapering of economic stimulus is not "pre-ordained."

Is it really such a surprise that Google and Apple are exploring television-over-the-Internet?

Health insurance premiums for individuals in New York will fall by 50 percent next year, according to the state. But New York isn't Alabama or Texas or anywhere else, for that matter.

Bank of America is the latest major U.S. bank to report strong profit growth. But does the mean the economy is healing?

Tech giants from Intel to Apple and Microsoft and Sony are pursuing a strategy to create an Internet cable service and now there’s news that Google is entering the fray.

The case has added to the perception in Britain that U.S. regulators only pick on non-American banks.

It's been four years since Congress passed the Volcker Rule, a sweeping law aimed at fixing the financial system following its great collapse. But regulators still haven’t figured out how to implement it.

The developer of the World Trade Center hopes to recover billions of dollars from United, American, Boeing and other aviation companies to pay for WTC's destruction in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Women can feel more loyalty to companies, and more guilt when they leave. But staying with one job for too long could cost you a lot of money.

After more than five years of anonymous comments, ESPN.com now requires your Facebook account if you have something to say.

The city of Phoenix is increasingly enforcing a law that bans sleeping on the streets. A shelter has made room for displaced homeless people in a parking lot.

The Greek parliament votes today on whether to send as many as 25,000 government workers into a so-called 'labor reserve.'

Chinese tech company Huawei is teaming up with pop group Jonas Brothers to boost its image in America. Huawei wants to be known in the U.S. for its new smartphones, but so far, it's mostly famous in Congress.

Content providers — like Disney or Fox — are now asking companies delivering online ads — the Googles of the world — to stop working with websites that allow illegal file sharing.

Mashable has an infographic tallying up the likely costs of utility belts, Batmobiles and tasteful cave furniture for Batman through the years — adjusted for inflation of course.

A grim innovation from Greece: the slow-motion layoff. Nearly twelve years since September 11, the developer of the World Trade Center is still going after airlines, airports and even the airplanes that brought down the Twin Towers. And why women stay in jobs longer than they should.

Big companies sponsor concert tours of big artists all the time. But here’s a strange marriage: Jonas Brothers and Chinese tech company Huawei. Huawei wants to be known in America for its new smartphones. But so far, it’s mostly famous in Congress. Lawmakers worry Huawei could be part of a vast Chinese spying conspiracy.

She's instructed lawyers to "have a heart" and stay away from words like 'security,' 'collateral' and 'asset-backed.'

A few years back, it was all the TV world could talk about. But now with some high-profile cancellations, it seems 3D TV wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Business is good at Christie's and a recovery in the art market has a lot to do with that.

In an effort to spice up boring earnings calls, Yahoo will add live video stream of Marissa Mayer today. Netflix will stream a conversation with Reed Hastings moderated by an analyst and a CNBC journalists. But are these improvements or an attempt to control information? In a more overt display of industry boosterism, the greeting card industry has devised a plan it says could help rescue the U.S. Postal Service. Key to the plan is something called “cluster boxes” that would replace more expensive door-to-door to delivery.

Wechat, the wildly popular texting app from the Chinese Internet giant Tencent, has nearly 400 million users worldwide. It plans to target American consumers next.

Many believe the summertime lemonade stand teaches kids about the basics of entrepreneurship.

The Army plans to cut combat brigades at 12 military bases. In cities like Kileen, Texas, it's a another chance to diversify the local economy.

The greeting card industry has devised a plan to rescue the U.S. Postal Service. Key to the plan is something called "cluster boxes."

In an effort to spice up boring earnings conference calls, Yahoo added a live video stream of Marissa Mayer today. Netflix will do the same, with a twist, next week.

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Why it's a good time to be Goldman Sachs. McDonald's opens a fast-food outpost in Vietnam. And a painter turns his canvas on Walmart.

Should advertisers and other companies be able to collect and hold onto users' browsing data? And should users be able to tell web site operators to stop tracking them?

Goldman Sachs reported its latest business results on Tuesday. Profits — as measured by net income — hit $1.9 billion in the second quarter, twice the performance of the quarter before.

Meet Brendan O'Connell, Walmart artist — or at least the mega retailer is his muse. O'Connell has taken to painting the things you can find the big-box store and the people who roam its aisles.

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McDonald's teamed up with Visa to create an online budget guide assisting employees with money management.

International expansion is part of the fast-food chain’s business strategy. In fact, Vietnam will be the 38th Asian country McDonald’s is entering.