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Many states are struggling with lean budgets this year. Now Vermont's governor wants to make ends meet by selling or leasing the state's lottery to a private company. But some lawmakers worry about the long-term effect of giving up control of a state money-making asset. John Dillon reports.

After five years in the war in Iraq, estimates of the monetary costs range from several hundred billion dollars to trillions of dollars. Kai Ryssdal talks to University of Chicago economics professor Steven Davis about how to truly assess the cost of the war.

Though the Fed cut interest rates dramatically, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has gone up since the beginning of January. Jeremy Hobson reports why banks aren't interested in dropping rates for long-term loans.

The federal government already raised the limit on loans mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can underwrite. Today's move to relax capital requirements on loans is designed to quickly free up $200 billion in more financing. John Dimsdale reports.

The JPMorgan buyout of Bear Stearns seems to have appeased the markets, but it also angered many Stearns shareholders. Now some are suing, claiming Stearns execs hid the firm's true financial condition and failed to properly manage risk. Bob Moon reports.

What if, instead of paying per song, your iPod came with every song on iTunes? There are reports of such a subscription service in the works, but Janet Babin reports that might be exactly the opposite of what the music industry needs.

Mortgage refinancing has been at its lowest level since December, and policymakers have been hoping refinancing could help end the crisis in the financial markets. Jeremy Hobson reports.

Did you ever hear that joke -- that the quickest way to significantly reduce your environmental footprint is to die?...

Israeli high-tech expert Avshalom Neumann was inspired to set up a business after he saw a religious pilgrim call home from Jerusalem's Wailing Wall. Orly Halpern has more on his call-in prayer service.

Since other fast food companies have started offering coffee drinks, Starbucks has been seeing their profits drop. Lisa Napoli reports how the coffee giant plans to rebound from recent competition.