Marketplace for Thursday, April 17, 2008

Segments From This Episode

• Did banks manipulate key index?

  Concern is growing that banks may have been hiding their distress by manipulating a key financial benchmark called the LIBOR. It's used as the basis for millions of financial transactions around the world, including mortgages and corporate loans. Stephen Beard reports.

  ShareDownload

• Student loans are getting whacked

  by John Dimsdale

  Bank of America and a unit of Citigroup have joined a growing list of lenders cutting back on student loan programs. At the same time, the House passed an emergency bill that would enable lenders to have more cash to keep making loans. John Dimsdale reports.

  ShareDownload

• Fertilizer costs add to food price hikes

  by Dan Grech

  There are lots of factors behind the soaring prices of food around the world. A big one is the rapidly growing cost of fertilizer. Dan Grech reports.

  ShareDownload

• McCain’s gas-tax plan is on empty

  by Marketplace Staff

  Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain wants to suspend the federal gas tax for the summer travel season. Truckers say they like the idea. But commentator and tax expert Len Burman says McCain's proposal won't get us where he wants to go.

  ShareDownload

• Social networks still looking for profits

  by Stacey Vanek Smith

  

  Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are all the rage, but nobody has any idea how to make money off of them. Are they the Google of the future, or just the newest examples of that old Internet bubble? Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.

  ShareDownload

• NBA is back in the zone for playoffs

  by Tess Vigeland

  

  The National Basketball Association has managed to put a nasty off-season behind it and generate new excitement for its game. With the playoffs about to begin, Tess Vigeland talks with Henry Abbott, who writes the True Hoop blog for ESPN.com.

  ShareDownload

• Seeking equality by keeping score

  by Marketplace Staff

  A decade after Apartheid, whites still control 90% of businesses in South Africa. To turn that around, the government has launched a program to force whites to share the wealth — requiring a new type of racial auditing in the workplace. Terry FitzPatrick reports.

  ShareDownload