Marketplace for Friday, March 28, 2008

Segments From This Episode

• Political TV spots you make yourself

  by Jeremy Hobson

  Don't like the political ads you see on television? Then make one yourself. At VoterVoter.com, a website launched today, you create a campaign commercial and they help you get it on TV.

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• Week on Wall Street

  by Marketplace Staff

  Stockbroker and business analyst David Johnson chats with host Kai Ryssdal about what happened on Wall Street this week and what may lie ahead.

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• Credit crunch hitting more businesses

  by Ashley Milne-Tyte

  Companies that haven't traditionally done much in debt markets are now finding themselves caught up in the liquidity squeeze. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports on how the credit crunch might catch some companies unaware.

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• Voting with their stomachs

  by Gretchen Wilson

  Zimbabwe has gone from being a net food exporting country to one with a critical food shortage — all of which will play into Sunday's presidential election. Marketplace's Africa correspondent Gretchen Wilson talks with Kai Ryssdal about the nation's crisis.

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• Pentagon faulted for private contractors

  by Marketplace Staff

  We all know companies often outsource work to contractors to cut costs. Even governments do it. But federal auditors now say the Defense Department counts on outside contractors too much Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

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• Clear Channel deal may be fading out

  by Jill Barshay

  The biggest radio company in the nation was supposed to have been bought out by a couple of private equity firms this month for $20 billion. But Clear Channel says the deal might collapse due to the shaky credit markets. Jill Barshay reports.

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• Other nations feeling pain of U.S. woes

  Confidence in the dollar and the U.S. economy is generally shaky throughout the rest of the world, as the pain from Wall Street's excesses in subprimes continues to spread. Stephen Beard reports on America's least popular export.

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• Ethics law targets Louisiana’s old ways

  by Marketplace Staff

  When a new set of ethics laws goes into effect in Louisiana this weekend, politicians are going to have to start toeing the line. The Bayou State has a long history of questionable relationships between businessmen and politicians. Kate Archer Kent reports that the new governor's trying to change that.

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