Marketplace Morning Report for Thursday, March 10, 2011

Segments From This Episode

• Bad vs. good bulbs on the Hill

  by Eve Troeh

  The BULB Act comes to Congress today to try to stop the outlawing of wasteful light bulbs.

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• How high-speed rail could help the U.S.’s aging infrastructure

  by Jeremy Hobson and Chris Farrell

  High-speed rail and other infrastructure projects could help the economies of various regions in the country.

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• Building economies around air travel

  by Steve Chiotakis

  Greg Lindsey, author of "Aerotropolis," talks about the significance of air travel in the future of the global economy.

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• Eurozone debt crisis intensifies

  by Jeremy Hobson

  Ratings agency Moody's cut Spain's credit rating today after Greece was downgraded several notches on Monday. Ratings downgrades in Europe could have big consequences in the United States.

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• China reports $7.3 billion trade deficit

  by Rob Schmitz

  China's trade deficit hit $7.3 billion in February — the largest in seven years. Analysts blame the gap on mass celebrations of the Lunar New Year.

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• Emerging economies gain on Forbes billionaire list

  by Rebecca Singer

  Forbes has released its 2011 list of world billionaires. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim tops the list for the second year in a row, but for the first time, the Asia-Pacific region had more billionaires than Europe.

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• FDA approves first new lupus drug in 50 years

  by Jeremy Hobson and Gregory Warner

  The drug will treat only a small number of people, but is still expected to reach blockbuster status, with $2 billion in annual sales.

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• Wisconsin limits union rights

  by Gregory Warner

  The state senate passed a measure Wednesday restricting union bargaining rights, ending the stand-off that shut down the state legislature.

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• PIMCO sells off all its U.S. debt

  by Jeremy Hobson

  The world's largest bond fund has sold off all its U.S. treasury bonds. Analysts say that despite the sale, PIMCO founder Bill Gross is still optimistic.

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• McCain, Kerry back online privacy bill

  by Steve Chiotakis

  The two senators are circulating an Internet privacy bill that would create an "online privacy bill of rights." Julia Angwin, tech reporter from the Wall Street Journal, explains.

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• Bids are due for Orange County Register owner

  by Jeff Tyler

  In the digital age, are newspapers companies still worth buying? California's Freedom Communications is on the block and about to find out.

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