Week of March 2nd, 2015

A journo journeys to where the grill is always hot and the doors never lock.

Businesses that help dampen the noise from oil and gas development are thriving.

From the Capitol Grounds Regulations, courtesy of the architect of the capitol's office: "No person shall coast or slide a sled within Capitol Grounds."

According to a paper from the Brookings Institution, there are about 46,000 Twitter accounts out there being used by ISIS supporters. And they’re pretty active, too. Those accounts had an average of a thousand followers each, which is way higher than your average non-ISIS-related Twitter user.

We traveled the world to bring you the best in business news this week.

Airing on Friday, March 6, 2015: Another oil train derailment —this one outside Galena, Illinois. Based on the amount of oil shipped by rail, federal authorities estimate there could be a dozen of these a year or so. We look at what the U.S. will propose for greater safety and whether railroads will stop being secretive about where oil trains are running. Plus, Apple joins the Dow and AT&T gets the boot. We what the means for Dow and Apple.  

On this week’s episode, Marketplace and our partners at the BBC head to India for the next segment of our Six Routes series. The International Monetary Fund predicts economic growth in India will overtake China’s. With that growth comes an emerging middle class, but more than 300 million people live in poverty in India. So what does economic mobility look like there? Plus: Have you complained to your city lately? We hear from listeners, and two city council members about how decisions get made. Lizzie talks Magic with Marketplace Tech host Ben Johnson, who explains a new delivery service that will bring you anything. Later, a first-generation American explains what surprising affect his parents’ immigration had on his financial decisions — and on his life.

Talk to us the way you might in a town hall.

The FDA has approved a weight loss device that's similar to a pacemaker.

The move was apparently a no-brainer.

An uptick in accidents suggests tougher rules for oil tankers will prevail.

In two states, the law explicitly allows students to opt out of upcoming standardized tests.

Is it important to know where what you buy comes from?

A strong jobs report for February, and the combining of personal values with investment portfolios.

Airing on Friday, March 6, 2015: Later this year, Apple is expected to unveil a new larger-screen iPad. The new device, boasting additional features, will be aimed at the business market. Will this move by Apple affect the whole of the business tablet/computer sector? And ho well have you kept up with the week in tech news? It’s time for Silicon Tally! This week, Ben plays takes on Katie Notopoulos, Senior Editor at Buzzfeed.   

Airing on Friday, March 6, 2015: In just a couple hours, the Labor Department will release new numbers on unemployment, including the unemployment rate, and how many jobs the U.S. economy added last month. There is a tendency to focus on the headline numbers. But a new report from the Economic Policy Institute reminds us it’s important to dig deeper. And in the United Kingdom, law enforcement has been focusing on cyber crime. It’s National Crime Agency arrested dozens of suspected hackers this week. Plus, now that McDonalds is promising us antibiotic free chicken, who else will join this movement and how is this potential trend going to affect the supply chain from farm to table and ultimately the price for the consumer.     

A rumored bigger iPad would aim at business use and possibly include USB ports.

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

Now that McDonalds is promising us antibiotic free chicken, who else will join?

Here are the numbers we're reading and watching for Friday.

An explainer on the relationship between what labor productivity numbers can reflect.

The NEWTON Ask A Scientist website answered student questions for almost 25 years.

Michael Meyer spent three years in Chinese villages that are nothing like their names.

Etsy's scaling up, but how does that sit with its socially-minded users?

As competition heats up, companies are working harder to poach talent.

When low prices and high supplies converge, you get a super-rare situation.

China has set 7 percent as its growth target. What would that look like here?

Airing on Thursday, March 5, 2015: China has just set 7 percent as its target for annual growth, which would be its slowest growth in years. But what would 7 percent growth look like in the U.S.? Is it even possible in a developed country like the U.S.? We investigate. Plus, Etsy will be one of the biggest tech IPOs to come out of New York in recent years. But Etsy was built on a philosophy of handmade and small-scale — its roots are in the “maker movement”. How will this sit with a shiny future on Wall Street? We explore the culture clash behind the ETSY IPO. And after, oil prices are up. But futures prices are even higher. This creates a situation that oil traders call ‘contango.” The situation is now becoming so extreme that some banks are calling it “super contango.” What does it mean? It means some people are gonna make bank. And unlike most plays in the commodity markets, this one comes with no risk and a cast-iron guarantee to make money.  

Last year colleges and universities received a record 43 “mega gifts” over $50 million.

Some have grumbled the company already sold out by allowing manufactured goods.

A street vendor and a manufacturing success story reveal the limits of India's economy.

It's not alone. Experts say law-enforcement is full of perverse incentives.

The ECB begins more bond buying, the DOJ reports on the Ferguson Police Department, and how the labor market and productivity relate.

Airing on Thursday, March 5, 2015: Later today, the Federal Reserve will release the first round of results of the latest round of “stress tests” the Fed’s performed on 31 of the world’s biggest banks. They’re part of the Dodd-Frank Act congress passed after the financial crisis. More on how those tests work. And at the beginning of the financial crisis, the Bank of England held a series of auctions designed to encourage lending. Well now, there are allegations those auctions were rigged. And this morning, we’ve learned there is a fraud investigation into how the UK’s central bank and traders may have behaved. Plus, with U.S. fourth quarter productivity numbers out today, an explainer on the relationship between an improving labor market and productivity.  

Airing on Thursday, March 5, 2014: First up is Lee Hutchinson, Senior Reviews Editor for Ars Technica, to talk about how to set up your own, at-home email server. Next, for this week’s segment of Back to Back to The Future Part II, Ben speaks with Matt Novak, author of Gizmodo’s Paleofuture blog, about controlling the weather. 

The Senate voted to block a new rule that would speed up unionization votes.

…and why it is such a difficult process.

Here are the numbers we're reading and watching for Thursday.

Soaring land prices are only part of the reason farmers look for additional work.

Marketplace listener Vivian Simonsen-Jupp of Henderson, Nevada was excited to have everyone in her family home for Christmas for the first time in years.

Tuesday marked a big day for the Affordable Care Act

Sweet Briar College says it will close at the end of the academic year.

But when you're Hillary Clinton, it's not as easy to sidestep a work email account

The Japanese worry that their corporations are as insular as the country, and aren't adapting to the global market.

The Federal Reserve released their 2009 transcripts, all 1,648 pages.

Airing on Wednesday, March 4, 2015: Toyota’s appointment of a French executive as its first executive vice president from outside Japan is a cultural landmark as well as a business one. Japan frets over its economic “Galapagos Syndrome,” a concern that its cultural insularity makes it noncompetitive in global markets. Toyota’s move to open its top ranks is a major shift we look to explore. Plus, off the back of the revelation that Hillary Clinton used private emails for State department business, we ask whether, and to what extent, other corporate leaders also do this, why they do this, and what the regulatory and security implications are. Also, the small all-girl liberal arts college Sweet Briar will pull the plug on itself, at the end of the semester because of “insurmountable financial challenges”. While Sweet Briar may be unusual for doing this before things totally fall apart, lots of small liberal arts schools, especially regional ones, are facing the same scary future. We investigate.

Still paying college debt? You’re not alone.

The Times and NPR sell their audiences on unique retail options.

Looking ahead to the jobs report, Ukraine's interest rates, and the rise of gas prices.

Airing on Wednesday, March 4, 2015: The Reserve Bank of India made a surprise announcement this morning: For the second time in two months, India’s central bank cut a key interest rate. More on that. Plus, Ukraine’s central bank is raising its interest rate from 19.5 percent to 30 percent. The hike comes as the government is seeking a $17.5 billion assistance program from the International Monetary Fund. Inflation is rampant and the national currency has tumbled since Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula and pro-Russian separatists took up arms in the country’s east. We look at the reasons behind the hike in the interest rate. We’ll also talk about FEMA’s partnership with the popular food chain, the Waffle House in the southeastern U.S. during emergencies to measure the impact of disasters.    

Airing on Wednesday, March 4, 2015: First up is Molly Wood, technology columnist for the New York Times, to talk about the perfect match between smartwatches and mobile payments … if either industry can figure out how to convince consumers to adopt its new technology. Next we have Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at the cybersecurity firm Sophos,  on the “FREAK” flaw in Apple and Android browsers. We’ll also speak with sound artist Matt Parker about The Imitation Archive, Parker’s quest to collect and archive the sounds of the early days of computing.     

Private companies run most of the facilities housing undocumented immigrants.

The hike comes as Ukraine's central bank seeks to tackle rampant inflation.

The company hopes to beat a slump with new plans, and fewer workers.

Matt Parker, a sound artist, collects audio from the early days of computing.

Gas prices seem to decline more slowly than they recover

Here are the numbers we're reading and watching for Wednesday.

“Aspirational luxury” is the sweet spot Chinese investors are trying to target.

Your boss might be monitoring every keystroke you make.

Huge amounts of wastewater must be disposed of, much of it in deep wells.

Meanwhile, a showdown over debt could be looming.

The dating app has put a cap on the number of swipes you can make for free.

The Israeli Prime Minister's speech was a chance for some to fundraise.

Airing on Tuesday, March 3, 2015: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address before a joint meeting of Congress this morning was about Iran and its nuclear program. But it was also about politics. And where politics go, money is sure to be close behind. We investigate. Plus, the dating app Tinder just came out with a premium model. If you want to swipe through more than 100 profiles you’ll have to pay up — $10 a month for users under 28 and $19.99 for anyone older. How will this new pricing affect how consumers use the plus version of the popular app given its lack of endless, free swipes? This and more. 

The controversial Common Core standards only cover math reading, but two-thirds of adults surveyed believe there are other topics.

Insurance subsidies are central to the legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

Who cares about the NASDAQ composite, Samsung Pay debuts, and how price affects effectiveness.

Private systems like clintonemail.com, can be more secure than government servers

Airing on Tuesday, March 3, 2015: In a speech before Congress today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — in Washington at the request of Congressional Republicans — will denounce the push for a diplomatic resolution to a nuclear weapons agreement with Iran. At a time of strained political relationships between the U.S. and Israel, we take stock of the business relationship between the two. Plus, there’s a new report out today from the European Union on climate change and the environment. The good news is progress on reducing pollution has been significant. The bad news? Progress has also been insufficient. We’ll also take a look at the upcoming case going before the Supreme Court that challenges tax credit as outlined in the Affordable Care Act.  

Airing on Tuesday, March 3, 2015: The battle to be the smartest smart phone in the smart pay world. Apple is there. Now comes Samsung with its new GalaxyS6 with Samsung Pay. And, it could have an edge. Game on. We’ll also talk with Roger Cheng, Executive Editor at CNET, about new products at Mobile World Congress, happening in Barcelona this week. And PBS Newshour correspondent Miles O’Brien joins us to talk about prosthetics technology. O’Brien had his arm amputated following an injury while he was on assignment last year.

You can pay with the new Galaxy nearly everywhere credit cards are accepted.

Why replacing the human hand is a huge engineering challenge.

Political tensions are high around Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress.

A recent study suggests telling patients a drug is expensive enhances the effect.

Here's what we're reading – and the numbers we're watching – Tuesday.

The Internet giant is a new entrant in an already crowded marketplace.

Almonds don't just take a lot of water to grow; they take a lot of bees, too

Ellen Pao is suing Kleiner Perkins for gender discrimination and retaliation

CEO Ben Baldanza talks about his airline's cheaper, stripped-down experience

Natural flavors come from a substance found in nature, but that's just the start.

Fiat-Chrysler is transforming the iconic but American-centric Jeep into an international brand.

On the S&P, there are four Johns, Roberts Williams or Jameses for every female CEO

Airing on Monday, March 2, 2015: Google is going into the mobile business and will begin building out a network in the coming months. We look at why the tech giant has decided to venture into this sector, how it will work, and how it make money in this crowded marketplace? Plus, in a short amount of time Fiat-Chrysler is transforming the iconic but American-centric Jeep into an international brand. The Jeep renegade is now built in Brazil and Italy and will soon start production in China and India. The company expects to be rewarded with a huge increase in sales. We investigate.

College students spend more than $1,000, on average, for textbooks and supplies each year.

Heavily marketed to treat patients with dementia, drugs can lead to death

Americans continue to spend less, MOOCs go corporate, and attracting startups with a new name.

Airing on Monday, March 2, 2015: For the second time in three months, China’s central bank has cut some key interest rates. Chinese policy makers have been worried about slowdowns in growth, especially in the real estate and manufacturing sectors. More on that. Plus, Netflix’s original programming doesn’t carry advertising — a big attraction for viewers. But its business model does include product placement within shows like “House of Cards.” And a Twin Cities housing advocacy group reports that even though Minnesota’s unemployment rate is now 3.7 percent, another measure of the economy is still rotten: “nearly 4,000 children and youth had been identified as homeless across several larger school districts, the highest number to date since data collection began for this report.”        

Airing on Monday, March 2, 2015: Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs are on today’s agenda at an annual conference hosted by Coursera, a major online course provider. They will likely discuss the growth of corporate MOOCs. We find out if MOOCs have become less about transforming higher education and more about helping already educated workers get ahead and boosting the company’s bottom line? Next up is Alison Griswold, staff writer at Slate, to talk about Venmo’s security problems. And then we are joined by Ted Rappaport, director of NYU WIRELESS – he speaks with us about the development of 5G technology and wireless internet cell phone plans.   

Massive open online courses are gaining popularity in job training.

High rents and a housing subsidy shortage are pushing families into homelessness.

Business leaders say the region's cold weather creates a climate for innovation.

Netflix doesn't carry ads, but its original shows have a lot of product placement.

5G is the agenda for the day at the Mobile World Congress.

Here are the numbers we're reading and watching for Monday.