Week of April 7th, 2014

A look into why food costs are rising across the world.

A look into Amazon's purchase of digital comic book site Comixology.

Some spring cleaning tips for your wallet, too.

April 15 is the last day to file your taxes. A few things to keep in mind if you haven't yet filed your taxes.

Amazon just bought comiXology for Kindle. Why non-comics fans should care.

The president has picked his budget adviser Sylvia Mathews Burwell to head HHS.

Wal-Mart is challenging stores like Whole Foods with a new line of cheaper organic foods.

The President has picked his budget adviser Sylvia Burwell to replace HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius. She’s the second director of the Office of Management and Budget to ascend to a higher position in the administration with Jacob Lew as her predecessor). What is it about the OMB – one of the wonkiest spots in a wonky town – that makes it such a good proving ground? Plus: Walmart is challenging Whole Foods with a new line of organic foods with sharply lower prices. But this isn’t meat or produce, its processed foods like spaghetti sauce and pasta. And therein lies the challenge: ain’t much organic wheat grown anywhere. Where you going to find commodity volumes of organic commodity grains, tomatoes and other ingredients? Also, Amazon just bought comiXology for Kindle – but you might be forgiven for thinking that comic geeks would revolt against anything that doesn’t come wrapped in an eminently swappable plastic sheath. Krissy takes a look at the business of making comics pay these days. 

This week on Marketplace Money, guest host Lizzie O’Leary and tax attorney Kelly Phillips Erb give tax advice for last-minute filers. Marketplace Tech host Ben Johnson tells us about the final days of Windows XP and why you should really, really upgrade if you still use it. Lizzie O’Leary and LA Times Consumer Finance Columnist David Lazarus answer questions from our listeners. Matthew Boesler, Business Insider reporter, tells us about the impact of food inflation on food prices, personal finance expert Farnoosh Torabi gives us her tips for spring cleaning, and poet Doug Kearney tells us what he learned about money growing up.

The popular series turns 35 this year, but do you know how it started?

Senate Bill 2206 was introduced last week, cited as the Let Me Google That For You Act.

A "kill switch" on smart phones would prevent thefts and possibly save billions of dollars.

Why are investors suddenly fleeing from stocks? Some at the Fed are worried the inflation rate, around 1 percent, is too low. When it comes to wellbeing, Costa Rica tops the list of countries in Latin America.

It was a rough week for tech and bio-tech stocks.

Marketplace Datebook for the week of April 14, 2014

When it comes to wellbeing, Costa Rica tops the list of countries in Latin America.

Coal communities in eastern Kentucky have been reeling from the effects of a relentless wave of mining layoffs.

Some at the Fed are worried the inflation rate, around 1 percent, is too low.

The situation in Ukraine is missing from the agenda for the IMF spring meetings in Washington, D.C.

One of the most pressing issues before attendees at the IMF spring meetings in Washington, D.C., doesn’t show up on the agenda – the situation in Ukraine. We offer a review of the tools and options bankers have. Plus: Some at the Fed are worried the inflation rate, around 1 percent, is too low. The hope is to nudge it up to 2 percent. What does the inflation rate tell us?  And why would we want to increase it?  

With Passover approaching, we talk with Rabbi Josh Franklin from Temple Beth Elohim about using technology to elevate worship. Plus a look at tech companies and the stock market. Finally, Nitasha Tiku, co-editor of Valleywag, stops by to play Silicon Tally, our weekly wrap up the week in tech news.  

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of Health and Human Services, will resign after serving five years in the position and presiding over the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. President Obama accepted Sebelius’s resignation earlier in the week, and on Friday will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace her, according to White House officials. Plus, the search for the Malaysian jet goes on, and at great expense. This is less about the 777 that disappeared, and more about all the other 777s that are still flying: investigators need to protect all the other people that are traveling in these jets every day. That means they need to know what went wrong. And they’ll do and spend whatever it takes to find out. And after a four-year absence, Greece is back in the international sovereign debt market. 

Discount chain Family Dollar is out with disappointing earnings.

Investors are flocking to buy five-year bonds from Greece, despite its economic woes.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…unless you're an airline

The HHS secretary announced she will step down after presiding over the rocky rollout of the ACA.

Hiawatha Bray explains the hidden costs of your Google Maps app.

Nancy Koehn of the Harvard Business School says nixing HR's a bad idea.

H&M's high-end COS brand is set to launch in the U.S.

Marketplace Datebook for April 11, 2014

Rural hospitals are closing at a rate that’s starting to get some politicians’ attention.

Tech sector employees have struck a new collective bargaining agreement.

Will China interfere with efforts to isolate Russia? And, teens are now spending as much on food as clothes

This is a Marketplace.org Reader

A California-raised poet takes one childhood lesson a little too far.

England still depends on coal for 40 percent of electricity

Taxpayers will receive nearly $2.4 billion from their IPO

A survey of buying habits says Starbucks is a top spending location.

Retail, telecom and auto firms are looking at billions in healthcare spending

Half of the Fortune 50 are said to be poised to enter the healthcare realm, according to an analysis out  Thursday from PricewaterhouseCoopers. How will retailers, telecoms and even automakers make money in the healthcare world? Plus: Teen spending on food has eclipsed spending on clothing, and that has a lot to do with Starbucks, according to a new survey of teenagers buying habits. We look at the chase for young spenders’ dollars, and what Starbucks is doing to be so successful.

It may not be so easy to cut off Russia.

Imports declined more than 11% in the world's second largest economy

With the Energy Committee meeting to discuss the reliability and security of the electric grid, University of Alaska Physics Professor David Newman joins us to talk about his study on right-sizing the power grid to prevent regional blackouts. We also take a look at how Bitcoin users should file their taxes. Plus, more on why the OpenSSL security flaw is called Heartbleed and why we should be shoring up software infrastructure

Mars makes a lot more than chocolate.

A security flaw in OpenSSL could allow a hacker to decrypt your personal information.

Goldman Sachs considers shutting down its private trading exchange as publicity about high-speed trading and talk of SEC investigations draw attention to the bank. The bank will consider how it profits/benefits from the private exchange versus the cost of scrutiny and negative attention. Are the calculations similar to those in its decision to sell its commodities trading business? Also, the break-up of a graphic design duo has resulted in a lawsuit of $20 million – over fonts. Tobias Frere-Jones and Jonathan Hoefler worked together for 15 years to create some of the most famous and ubiquitous fonts around– used by GQ, Martha Stewart, the New York Jets, and Saturday Night Live. They won awards for their typefaces – before the relationship turned sour. Who knew there was so much money in fonts? Plus: Not to worry, Comcast tells Congress. It needs to merge with Time Warner Cable, so it will have the strength to compete with the real heavyweights in broadband and content delivery – companies like Google and Apple. We examine the argument.

Marketplace Datebook for Thursday, April 10, 2014

Comcast says it needs a Time Warner Cable merger to take on Google and Apple.

Publicity about high-speed trading and talk of SEC investigations have drawn attention to the bank.

They're going to be available year round.

The Atlantic's Deb Fallows talks regional differences in how we say hello.

We look at what the proposed Time-Warner Cable and Comcast merger will mean for internet users. And a challenger appears in the single-serve coffeemaker market.

Thirty years ago, the Thatcher government closed most coal mines.

Hearings scheduled for the proposed Time Warner- Comcast merger.

Some providers accounted for a large portion of Medicare costs in 2012

Keurig is king in the U.S. but Nestle Nespresso wants a bigger piece.

On Wednesday, the government will release data on what Medicare paid doctors in 2012. Reformers love this idea – hoping it will help make consumers smarter when it comes to getting care. But the American Medical Association says doctors who treat the sickest patients might end up looking bad when compared to their peers. We examine the promise and peril of big data in healthcare. Also on Wednesday, hearings are ecxpected to take place about the proposed Time Warner/Comcast merger. One set of issues likely to take center stage is how this proposed merger might impact the market for broadband and internet service. 

Doctors who make the most in Medicare, by state and specialty

On Wednesday, lawmakers in Washington will consider the massive $45 billion deal to merge Comcast and Time Warner Cable. It is the beginning of a long regulatory road for the country’s two largest cable providers. If the deal goes through, it could have a big impact on everyone from startup founders to low income citizens who want access to the internet. Plus, It might be time to get excited about what new technology – from computers to algorithms that recognize patterns in raw data – can do for the study of our fellow members of the animal kingdom. Denise Herzing is the director of the Wild Dolphin Project, which is using a new device to study dolphin interaction called a Cetacean Hearing Telemetry Device, or CHAT.

Who doesn't want to translate dolphin sounds into human words?

Kai thinks the Internet has gone too far.

Manischewitz tries to broaden its base by latching onto the healthy food movement.

Employees of some of the biggest tech firms accuse them of interfering with prospects.

The "Job Opening and Labor Turnover" survey says employers advertised 4.2 million jobs in February.

The “Job Opening and Labor Turnover” survey out today says employers advertised 4.2m jobs in Ferburaury, the highest figure since January 2008. It also showed that more people are quitting their jobs. We investigate what kind of jobs are being posted and the workers leaving their jobs. Plus: Employees of some of the biggest tech firms, incliding Apple and Google, have accused their employers of colluding to prevent workers from being hired by their rivals and are asking for $9 billion as part of a class-action law suit. The ecidence against the companies is pretty damning. So what impact is this lawsuit going to have on wages in the industry and what does this say about the complexities of hiring and keeping tech firms? Also, the Manischewitz Co. is changing hands again, this time acquired by a private-equity group that plans to push Manischewitz’s efforts to broaden its customer base to non-Jews by latching on to the healthy food movement. What could be healthier than kosher?  

The brains behind "the first crowd sourced fashion company".

Brampton lost its coal mine 30 years ago, despite a year-long miner's strike. What's there now?

Marketplace Datebook for Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The Hiltons: An American dynasty?

Banco Popular is shifting eastward from Los Angeles and Chicago. And looking at giving and taking in the workplace.

This year you'll pay a lot more for limes — a key ingredient in Margaritas and guacamole.

An executive order will make it easier for federal contractors to discuss pay

The Puerto Rican bank is getting out of the Chicago and Southern California markets, retreating to the East Coast. We look at the reasons. Plus: Obama signs the EO, that will make it easier for federal contractors to talk about what they make. So will they? 

The bank may shed its branches in Chicago and L.A.

Windows XP support dies today. And we’ve been talking about the popular Microsoft operating system for weeks. The number of cash machines that run on it. The number of home computers it lives on. And the business that won’t let it go. But do we really need giant operating systems anymore? Plus, the HBO show that has tech people talking is Silicon Valley. The new series takes aim at the financial highs and socially awkward lows of the Tech Industry. One of the show’s creators, Alec Berg, joins us to talk about finding humor in Silicon Valley’s startup culture.

HBO's Silicon Valley finds humor in the life of a great startup.

Wharton professor Adam Grant tells us who is more successful in business

NCAA limits the value of gifts championship winners receive

China has imposed tough restrictions on live pigs imports from the U.S.

Researchers settled on some rules of thumb.

The Nasdaq is sliding and there’s lots of hand-wringing over the tech sector.

Tomorrow Obama signs an EO meant to help close the wage gap for federal contractors. Of these contractors, woman earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. In this episode, we investigate who these women are and what they stand to gain. Also, with the Nasdaq sliding we look at the Tech sectors value and what it means to the overall economy, considering it doesn’t produce jobs. Plus: Amazon’s created a device called Dash that can speed your oredering of groceries from Amazon Fresh, if you happem to be one of the few people who uses Amazon Fresh, which raises the question: Why do tech companies find it so challenging to be grocery stores? Afterall, some grocery stores already deliver and have been doing so for a while.   

Real grocery stores have delivered groceries to customers for a long time. What's so hard?

Pixar President and co-founder, Ed Catmull talks about the company.

Do long, drawn-out foreclosures really help homeowners prepare?

In eastern Kentucky, coal mines are closing, putting thousands out of work.

Marketplace Datebook for Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Companies based in Chicago record sales in Kankakee and other towns outside the city to lower tax bills.

We look at the best and worst states on closing the gender pay gap. And The University of Baltimore is offering a free semester for finishing within four years.

Wyoming has the biggest gap in pay between women and men

We’re getting into the earning reporting season for the big banks, and the results are not expected to be as strong as they have been. Banks’ bottom lines have been hit by a slump in mortgage lending and trading income. Also, a Bitcoin ATM operator called Robocoin is setting up shop in Congress this week, with a demonstration of a Bitcoin ATM in the Rayburn House Office Building. And while this is clearly a publicity stunt (the ATM will only be up for three hours), it does raise some interesting questions, because the IRS considers Bitcoin an asset, not a currency.

University of Baltimore offering discount for finishing in four years

The main problem is that Kentucky coal is played out and expensive to mine.

Big banks profits are not expected to be as strong as they have been.

A Bitcoin ATM maker is setting up shop in Congress.

Over the last few months, there has been growing evidence that online surveillance conducted by the U.S. government is impacting the tech industry. One area in particular? Cloud Storage. Tech companies have started to move some of their facilities overseas under pressure from foreign governments. And some of those governments have considered building their own infrastructure, so that their citizens information won’t be stored in the U.S. Germany’s talking about a so-called Bundes Cloud. But our friend at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Jonathan Zittrain, says all this stuff is wrong-headed. 

A lesson about branding from the world of art.