Week of February 17th, 2014

A listener asks if there is a problem with having 10 to 15 active credit cards.

Student debt affects other aspects of young people’s lives like buying a home, what do you do?

Just about anything.

Traditional research shows women in particular receive negative judgement when they emote.

A short story from the collection 'One More Thing'

The producers of "Anchorman 2 1/2" made a new movie out of outtakes

It's quiet, but not gone

A listener wrote to ask about our obsession with the so-called "tenture teanote". Well, you asked for it….

This weekend on Marketplace Money, guest host David Lazarus talks to Erin Lowry of BrokeMillennial.com about how students are paying more in student loans than they did just four years ago, and how the debt affects other aspects of their lives. Also, David Lazarus takes a look at why people should read the fine print of the terms and conditions of consumer goods and services if they want to protect their wallet. Rene Alegria, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mamiverse, a digital platform devoted to Latina moms and their families, tells us how his upbringing and family affect how he views money today. David Lazarus answers listener questions along with personal finance expert Farnoosh Torabi, and he talks to Lisa Gerstner of Kiplinger about how to complain the right way in order to get what you want. Digital producer Raghu Manavalan updates David Lazarus on what’s happening on social media and we take a look at airline fees: Why they exist and how to avoid them.

Kai talks with Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post and Felix Salmon of Reuters

Sochi locals wonder what will happen to the hotels and facilities that were built.

It seems the fever over U.S. debt has broken, if President Obama’s budget blueprint is any indication. Public opinion polls show it’s no longer a top issue, the economy is improving, and advocacy groups dedicated to solving the long-term deficit have petered out. But that doesn’t mean the fight over debt is gone. It’s just hibernating. Next, producers of “Anchorman 2” are releasing a new movie, “Anchorman 2 and a half,” which is the original “Anchorman 2” with all new jokes, taken from the outtakes. 700 jokes.

Marketplace Datebook for the week of February 24, 2014

Stuck on hold with customer service? Have this gameplan, first.

Climate change is reversing the fortunes of a once derided industry.

How to fund your business idea when banks won't lend.

The high-speed trading world is run by algorithms and computers.

Sorting through the advantages of one cloud storage offer over others.

Can bad weather be blamed for bad news?

When starting a business, you don't always have to go to a bank to get money.

How well have you kept up with the week in tech news?

There’s been a steady drip of economic news this week, and it has pretty much matched the recent weather: Blech. In fact, weather’s gotten a lot of blame. Housing starts fall? Crummy weather. Regional manufacturing declines? Ditto. But some economists worry the weather is masking a deeper chill. Plus, tech industry big wigs are always talking about doing stuff in the cloud. So are companies. When they’re selling you products…or selling each other products. This week Microsoft gave it’s service a makeover… the company’s Cloud storage offering is now called OneDrive. But when it comes to storing all of our data online… to be accessible from anywhere… whose servers should we be storing that information on?

What better way to wrap up the week than a round of Silicon Tally? Also, tech industry big wigs are always talking about doing stuff in the cloud. So are companies. When they’re selling you products… or selling each other products. This week Microsoft gave it’s service a makeover… the company’s Cloud storage offering is now called OneDrive. But when it comes to storing all of our data online… to be accessible from anywhere… whose servers should we be storing that information on?

Rene Alegria's grandfather teaches him how to save for a rainy day

We've come up with a way for you to share what you hear.

Some quibbles with rankings

More dead and captured in clashes between protesters and police.

Gap announces it will raise wages of its lowest-paid workers above the current minimum wage. Walmart and other chains are looking at doing something like this. We examine the factors that go into their decision making. Next, Facebook’s $19 billion bid for WhatsApp essentially means it’s paying $42 per WhatsApp subscriber. That’s $12 more per user than Facebook paid for Instagram. Finally, a new report on inequality from Brookings looks at which American cities have the highest and lowest rates of inequality. What impact does the gap have on vibrancy, and quality of life? 

They are becoming a force in venture capital.

President Barack Obama has proposed raising the federal minimum hourly wage. He also asked companies to pay more.

Facebook's is paying $42 for every WhatsApp subscriber.

Marketplace Datebook for Friday, February 21, 2014

How a small pharmaceutical company triumphed over the pressures of Wall Street and 'big pharma.'

WhatsApp is one of the fastest growing apps in history.

Facebook made one of the most expensive tech acquisitions in recent history.

Facebook announced it is buying WhatsApp, the messaging smartphone service, for $19 billion. WhatsApp lets users text free of charge. Facebook paid $16 billion for WhatsApp, plus an additional $3 billion in restricted stock that will be paid out to WhatsApp employees over the next four years.  Venture capitalists have been eyeing instant messaging technologies like WhatsApp as one of the most promising growth sectors for 2014. Think back to Facebook’s $3 billion offer for Snapchat (the one they turned down).

Yes, that's billion. With a "b."

Statistics on selfies taken worldwide.

New housing starts are down in January, but up year-to-year. We examine the mortgage factor – what role strict lending standards and rising rates have on buyers. Also, consumer debt is up, particularly among people with lower incomes and young adults. The economy depends on people borrowing and spending more, but this might not be a great sign — we ask whether people are getting over-extended once again. Finally, Netflix seems to be slowing down. Why? Because the people who provide the pipes that Netflix streams through for free want Netflix to pay for that privilege. This flies in the face of net neutrality rulings, but the fact is that other big web firms do pay a premium for faster service.

The U.S. and E.U. consider sanctions against Ukraine for its harsh response to protests.

Why new housing starts are down in January – though up year-to-year.

Some schools set tuition high, while others try a lower approach.

Artist Zach Scott has created an infinite ode to the conference call at ConferenceCall.biz.

A dispatch from the New York Toy Fair.

RealtyTrac finds that the cost of owning a median-price home is up 21 percent over a year – both housing prices and mortgages costs are up. Who’s to blame? And, Thursday is the deadline for states to spend some $3.7 billion set aside to help promote the Affordable Care Act, and much of that money has gone unspent in states with governors opposed to the law. What happens to that unspent money?

Consumer debt is up, particularly among young adults. Is this a good sign?

ACA grants go unspent in states with governors opposed to the law.

Incomes aren’t going up—but the cost of homeownership is.

Marketplace Datebook for February 20, 2014

Will raising the minimum wage hurt jobs or reduce poverty? A new report says: both.

Jules Pieri, Founder and CEO of the Product Launch Platform "The Grommet" details a good pitch.

Women leading family businesses is five times higher than the late '90s.

U.S. cities don't come close to the best places for relocating workers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to meet with French President Francois Hollande. On the agenda will be the question of whether or not Europe should build its own internet. Seriously. Plus, think of some of the companies and services we talk about often on this show: Twitter, Facebook,  Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat. These are companies worth billions of dollars. But where does that value actually come from? As the saying goes: When the service is free, the user is the product. Whether that product can be sold is the topic of a new documentary, “Generation Like,” airing on Frontline this week.

The political leaders of the U.S., Mexico, and Canada are meeting this week in Mexico for their regular summit, sometimes called the meeting of the “Three Amigos.” One of the things expected to come out of this year’s event is a new program to encourage business travel by relaxing some border controls. Plus, the talent consulting firm Mercer publishes its annual Worldwide Quality of Living Survey.  It compares cities based on political, social, economic, and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, and public services. Cities are ranked against New York, which is the base city with an index score of 100. So how do the world’s cities stack up on quality of life? What counts as good living? And why is the Big Apple the baseline?

President Obama meets with his counterparts from Mexico and Canada.

New scientific evidence is in

Should we be fretting that the Baltic Dry Index is tanking again?

Catfish farmers hope USDA will get around to regulating them.

And they'll tell you that zero-loyalty cuts both ways. They know you may let them go at any time, too.

Romance novelist Sylvia Day is making millions, and she's doing it her way.

The President announced new EPA targets today regarding fuel efficiency for heavy-duty trucks. It’s part of his much-talked-about strategy of going around Congress to get things done. But given how ambitious these new goals are, it raises the question of how much power the administration has to go around an industry in requiring new rules. Next, IPO wannabe King Digital Entertainment has made a lot of money out of peoples’ impatience: its top offering,  Candy Crush, is free to play, but it makes money from impatient players who want to buy shortcuts in the game – a dubiously sustainable business model. Finally, loan applications for home purchases have slipped in recent months. One reason:  student loan burdens have grown, which keeps would-be first-time home buyers out of the market.

The President announced ambitious new EPA targets today — at a Safeway.

Delayed trains left commuters standing in icy winds, and revealed an accident waiting to happen.

This is a Marketplace.org Reader

The percentage of homes sold to new homeowners slipped. One reason: student loans.

Marketplace Datebook for Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The government looks at the student debit card market.

King Digital Entertainment hopes to ride the success of its game Candy Crush Saga to stage a $500 million IPO.

More than 850 colleges offer their students school-sponsored debit or prepaid cards. And most allow students to receive their financial aid disbursements on those cards. But, the fees and transparency surrounding the cards are under scrutiny. Also: Uber officially launches in China, but the Bay area start-up may have a rough ride in a market already saturated with similar apps.

Demand for ivory in China has authorities scrambling to stop poaching.

Countries like China represent huge potential markets for U.S. tech companies, but homegrown options pose stiff competition for upstart American entrants. That’s exactly the challenge facing the taxi hailing app Uber as it launches in China. Crowdfunding website Kickstarter was hacked over the weekend and Microsoft has partnered with the company DocuSign to make electronic signatures easier in their Office software. Both of these headlines point to a still-growing challenge of the Internet age: proper authentication.

New housing projects are tailored to gay, lesbian and transgender senior citizens.

China is already saturated with similar car-service apps.

Is the extra cloth just extra space for advertisers?

One in two sandwiches sold in France is a hamburger. Presumably with French fries.

In U.S., it takes days for a bank payment to clear. In foreign countries, it happens in seconds.

Without mandatory regulation, the railroad industry looks to pricing as way to encourage safety.

It’s cold in some places and hot in others and that does funny things to tan lines, foliage and the economy. Plus: Without regulation, the rail industry has resorted to using pricing to impact how oil and natural gas are delivered by train. And: A check-in on the fifth year of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, iPads in schools, and those sleeved NBA jerseys.

Race to the tablet: The cautionary tale of L.A. schools' iPad program

Winter weather is mostly a drag on the economy, but a few businesses love it

Marketplace Datebook for February 18, 2014

Lessons on the fifth anniversary of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act

How does a theater with a maximum three person audience make money?

Stimulus woes in Japan put a hamper on the country's recovery. And taking a look at how we value water.

Economic stimulus is the talk of Japan, but the latest numbers suggest there's not much to show for it.

The autoworker's union in the wake of the Tennessee vote.

It’s the fifth anniversary of President Obama’s signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The stimulus was supposed to create 3.5 million new jobs. Five years on, we run the numbers on how successful the program was at reaching that goal. Also, the Affordable Care Act continues to encounter traction issues. One big problem: the administration’s apparent failure to connect meaningfully with minorities. Later: Snow’s the word in much of the country. But so’s the word drought. In Texas and the far west the rain has been sparse for almost two years. Marketplace’s Adriene Hill looks at how we value the water we have.  

Bitcoin faces more challenges as online black markets get hacked by thieves or raided by law enforcement.

A business opportunity for firms that make de-icer with everything from the remnants of rum to beet juice.

It’s the fifth anniversary of President Obama’s signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

With "Social Media Week" kicking off, we look at the state of services like Twitter.