Marketplace Morning Report for Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Segments From This Episode

• Arizona’s Medicaid cuts leave some patients with few other choices

  by Paul Atkinson

  The state's decision to freeze enrollment in some Medicaid programs is leaving the nearly 6,000 residents with serious medical conditions with few other places to turn.

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• Big tech companies go after patents

  by Steve Henn

  Companies like Google and Apple are in a patent war, going after smartphone patents from defunct tech firms.

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• The latest trend? Fashion and beauty reality TV

  by Sally Herships

  More than 100 new reality TV shows are in the works for summer and fall, and a large swath of them are focusing their lenses on beauty and fashion.

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• How are Americans preparing for a possible default?

  by Kristian Foden-Vencil

  As the August 2nd default deadline approaches, people are buying up gold coins and locking in mortgage interest rates to prepare for a worst-case scenario.

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• Chinese bullet train disaster clouds future sales

  by Rob Schmitz

  Public outrage erupted in China after a deadly crash between two high-speed trains this past weekend

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• American economic dominance at risk?

  by Marketplace Staff

  Alan Beattie of the Financial Times discusses why the debt drama in Washington is problematic for the world

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• Congress takes on ratings agencies

  by Marketplace Staff

  A House subcommittee today looks into the role of ratings agencies during and after the financial crisis

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• Companies order fewer big ticket items in June

  by Marketplace Staff

  Economist Richard Dekaser says this may be first hard data to prove that debt ceiling debate has worried companies.

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• On Capitol Hill, lawmakers hear ratings agencies failed in multiple crises

  by Marketplace Staff

  Ratings agencies: you can't live with them, can't live without them, says New York University Professor Lawrence J. White

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