Segments From This Episode

• Bracing for a housing ripple effect

  by Alisa Roth

  Sales of new homes has hit a seven-year low, and home builders are obviously feeling the squeeze. But that's not the only industry that's going to feel the effects of what started with the meltdown in the subprime home loan market. Alisa Roth reports.

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• Investing like Yale: Don’t try at home

  by Steve Tripoli

  Yale and Harvard have a lot of money to invest, and thanks to some smart decisions and investors they are likely to be well-funded for a very long time. But individuals really don't have the luxury of time these institutions have — basically, to infinity. Steve Tripoli reports.

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• Doing the math of college tuition costs

  by Marketplace Staff

  The federal government will pump another $20 billion into student aid, in part by cutting subsidies to lenders. Commentator Kim Clark says more money for college students is all well and good — but we ought to check the math on how we factor those costs in the first place.

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• Legal scramble over ‘no-match’ letters

  by Ashley Milne-Tyte

  Thousands of so-called "no match" notices are due to be mailed out as part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants, warning business owners that employees have invalid Social Security numbers. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports industries and livelihoods hang on the decision.

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• Private water flash point

  by Gretchen Wilson

  Using new water meters, South Africa's found a way to put conservation and commerce on the same page. But Gretchen Wilson reports human costs don't appear on the bill, and the disparity of who gets water — and how much — has the potential to be a flash point.

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• Creditors have upper hand in disputes

  by Helen Palmer

  What credit squeeze? The Federal Reserve says Americans are charging as much stuff as ever on credit cards. But a report out today from the consumer watchdog Public Citizen says that when we dispute those charges, cardholders lose almost every time. Helen Palmer reports.

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• Fighting wrong enemy in cancer ‘war’

  by Kai Ryssdal

  Author Devra Davis says in her new book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer, we're going about it the wrong way — treating the disease, while all but ignoring the lifestyle and environmental factors that lead to a greater risk of getting cancer in the first place.

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