Airing on Thursday, March 5, 2015: Later today, the Federal Reserve will release the first round of results of the latest round of “stress tests” the Fed’s performed on 31 of the world’s biggest banks. They’re part of the Dodd-Frank Act congress passed after the financial crisis. More on how those tests work. And at the beginning of the financial crisis, the Bank of England held a series of auctions designed to encourage lending. Well now, there are allegations those auctions were rigged. And this morning, we’ve learned there is a fraud investigation into how the UK’s central bank and traders may have behaved. Plus, with U.S. fourth quarter productivity numbers out today, an explainer on the relationship between an improving labor market and productivity.  

Airing on Wednesday, March 4, 2015: The Reserve Bank of India made a surprise announcement this morning: For the second time in two months, India’s central bank cut a key interest rate. More on that. Plus, Ukraine’s central bank is raising its interest rate from 19.5 percent to 30 percent. The hike comes as the government is seeking a $17.5 billion assistance program from the International Monetary Fund. Inflation is rampant and the national currency has tumbled since Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula and pro-Russian separatists took up arms in the country’s east. We look at the reasons behind the hike in the interest rate. We’ll also talk about FEMA’s partnership with the popular food chain, the Waffle House in the southeastern U.S. during emergencies to measure the impact of disasters.    

Airing on Tuesday, March 3, 2015: In a speech before Congress today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — in Washington at the request of Congressional Republicans — will denounce the push for a diplomatic resolution to a nuclear weapons agreement with Iran. At a time of strained political relationships between the U.S. and Israel, we take stock of the business relationship between the two. Plus, there’s a new report out today from the European Union on climate change and the environment. The good news is progress on reducing pollution has been significant. The bad news? Progress has also been insufficient. We’ll also take a look at the upcoming case going before the Supreme Court that challenges tax credit as outlined in the Affordable Care Act.  

Airing on Monday, March 2, 2015: For the second time in three months, China’s central bank has cut some key interest rates. Chinese policy makers have been worried about slowdowns in growth, especially in the real estate and manufacturing sectors. More on that. Plus, Netflix’s original programming doesn’t carry advertising — a big attraction for viewers. But its business model does include product placement within shows like “House of Cards.” And a Twin Cities housing advocacy group reports that even though Minnesota’s unemployment rate is now 3.7 percent, another measure of the economy is still rotten: “nearly 4,000 children and youth had been identified as homeless across several larger school districts, the highest number to date since data collection began for this report.”        

Airing on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015: The U.S. and Cuba continue talks today. One major issue still standing is Cuba’s place on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Banks are watching that issue very closely. We explore. Plus, later this morning the U.S. government will report a revision to its main calculation of economic growth. First time round GDP was reported as running an annual rate of 2.6 percent last quarter. This is a routine revision, including new data that’s poured in. In India, the government has just changed the way it goes about calculating its GDP and, lo and behold, things are looking up. And can you imagine betting against the legendary investor Warren Buffett in public? Warren Buffett was trying to make a point about index funds, that this meat-and-potatoes boring investment strategy would beat any fancy hedge fund portfolio in the fullness of time. Well, Ted Seides, President and Chief Investment Officer at Protégé Partners, which invests in small and specialized hedge funds, took that bet. And even though Mr. Buffett is probably chortling with mirth somewhere, Mr. Seides was willing to come in to talk about how things are going 7 years into the 10 year bet.    

Airing on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015: First up on today’s show, we’ll talk about some of the back-and-forth in a capitol hill hearing room yesterday. And Sears reports their earnings today. We look at the real estate, which is about all the retailer really has left. And in our global economy, almost everything is connected in some circuitous way. We’re exploring that fact in a series we’re doing with the BBC called Six Routes to Riches—a look at the challenges and opportunities people face as they earn a living. Today, a story that starts with a riddle. What connects the following things: a $500 dollar pair of sunglasses for sale at a boutique in China, an economic slump in Croatia, and a pair of white inspection gloves in Berlin?

Airing on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015: Today, thousands of adjunct faculty and their students around the country are planning demonstrations to demand better pay and some kind of stability. We learn more about these temporary, often part-time, and usually low-paid instructors-for-hire. And Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is back on Capital Hill today talking jobs and the economy. But what she’s saying is likely to sound a lot like what she’s said before. Plus, Campbell Soup reports its second-quarter earnings today and it is already warning that it expects those numbers to be down given the strong dollar. The well-known brand recently reorganized shifting its central focus from its familiar soups, which have faced lukewarm sales of late, to bigger moneymakers like the baby food Plum Organics. 

Airing on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015: First up, more on the banks being accused of rigged the market for precious metals. Plus, talks are expected to resume this week between unions and oil company representatives in the largest U.S. refinery strike in decades. The strike expanded this past weekend when other refineries including Motiva Enterprises, the largest refinery in the nation, joined the strike. Is a deal imminent and how is the slowdown affecting gas prices? And we’ve been reporting on the ways a few of these institutions are introducing technology to try to improve education these kids. Today, we hear the story of Shawnee, a 14-year-old, at the Wyoming Girls School in Sheridan Wyoming. Like Shawnee, most of the girls at the school have been sentenced for non-violent offenses like drug possession and parole violations. 

Airing on Monday, Feb. 23, 2015: Late Friday, the European Union granted Greece its extension to its financial lifeline. In return, Greece needs to immediately write down, sign and hand-in a list of financial reforms. More on that. Plus, the federal government spends about $150 million a year on education for neglected and delinquent kids. A big piece of this goes to residential juvenile justice facilities that house an average of 60,000 young people a day. This is a group that is required by law to get schooling, but critics say the record here is not good. We visit some juvenile justice facilities to looks at the role technology might play here. Plus, for some of us the recent run of freezing temperatures and snowstorms has made getting to work rough, a frustration, certainly an inconvenience. The lucky ones can work from home for a day or two, distracting cooped up kids with screen time. Some of us aren’t so lucky … even when public transportation has shut down and all the cabbies stay home. We reports on how workers and their employers slog through these cold weeks.