Marketplace for Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Segments From This Episode

• Who’s getting fat on higher oil prices?

  by Bob Moon

  The price of oil hit $133 a barrel today. What we want to know is who's pocketing the extra money we're all paying to fill our tanks? Bob Moon tried to find the answer.

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• Fuel costs could bring down airlines

  by Kai Ryssdal

  Reacting to higher fuel prices, American Airlines is retiring dozens of less fuel-efficient planes, laying off thousands of workers and charging passengers to check bags. Kai Ryssdal talks with former airline executive Howard Putnam about airlines' future.

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• Increased rice exports a short-term fix

  by Sam Eaton

  Shortages of rice in Asia have forced Japan and several other big producers of the grain to reconsider their recent export bans. But will it help ease global markets? Sam Eaton reports.

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• Biofuel credit leads to ‘splash and dash’

  by Sarah Gardner

  The energy bill approved by the House includes a specific credit for biodiesel, which is promoted as a cleaner way to wean us off petroleum products. But there's a loophole that's giving the biodiesel subsidy a bad rap. Sarah Gardner reports.

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• An economic stimulus? Infrastructure

  by Marketplace Staff

  Why do some countries' economies grow and others don't? A World Bank commission says that, among other things, the ones that grow invest in their infrastructure. Commentator Robert Reich says that's what the United States ought to do.

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• Companies find benefits in flex-time

  by Nancy Marshall-Genzer

  More than three-quarters of companies now offer flex-time as a way to keep workers happy while maintaining the corporate bottom line. That's an increase of 10% from a decade ago, a study says. Nancy Marshall Genzer has more.

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• Glitch makes risky investment look safe

  by Ashley Milne-Tyte

  A computer glitch at the Moody's credit-rating service reportedly gave a complicated kind of mortgage-backed security the coveted AAA rating when it should have been rated much lower. And Moody's kept it there for a year. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

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• Newspapers seek new business models

  by Alisa Roth

  Circulation and ad revenues aren't just declining at newspapers, they're plummeting. Thousands of reporters and editors have lost their jobs. So how are papers surviving? Alisa Roth reports.

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