Marketplace Money Stories

As season four of AMC's "Mad Men" draws to a close, employees at the firm Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce face the possibility of utter ruin. The show is set in the 60s, but the firm's situation rings true for many people today. Harley Shaiken from U.C. Berkeley talks with Tess Vigeland about challenges workers faced in that era and what was different back then.

As chairman of the FDIC, Sheila Bair oversees the takeover of failed banks and examines more than 800 other troubled institutions for their soundness. She talks with Tess Vigeland about whether she's concerned over the number of bank failures this year and if enough has been done to prevent a repeat of what caused our last financial crisis.

It used to be that Western companies can go to China and be successful just by being themselves. But Chinese consumers are becoming choosier — and how a company caters to Chinese tastes (or not at all) determines who successful they'll be in the coveted Chinese market.

The U.S. isn't a nation of savers — but there are a few people who take savings very, very seriously.

Commentator Kim Clark takes a closer look at PLUS loans and how it's hurting taxpayers and the parents of students who are taking the loans out, even though they cannot afford to repay them.

You won't be seeing credit card companies tabling on college campuses this fall, because of the financial reform law. Reporter Curt Nickisch looks at how that change affects how college students learn about money.

Marketplace Money host Tess Vigeland and MSN's Kathy Kristof answer listener questions. On tap this week: An unmarried couple splitting the finances, renting a condo to your children and helping a parent deal with his spotty finances.

What would you do if you walked into an A&W Root Beer — and they said they were out of root beer? Or, if you stopped by a KFC that was out of chicken? Well, we know one economist who recently experienced both. Host Tess Vigeland talks to Freakonomics correspondent Stephen Dubner about the economic theory behind bad customer service.

Tess Vigeland and Marketplace Money's senior producer Deborah Clark go through the mailbox, inbox, voicemail and Facebook page for listener responses to recent stories.