China is rejecting a World Bank report predicting it will pass America as the world’s biggest economy. The reason? The Chinese government believes having the #1 title could put it under pressure to make compromises it may not want to make on its currency, climate change and trade. Plus, the Fed, which has been operating with four governors instead of its usual seven, will be down to just three by the end of May if the increasingly cantankerous Senate doesn’t act on new nominations before then. We explain what it means for the Fed to be working without a full bench. Also, when buying a sports team requires a buyer with so much money it doesn’t matter to him, how do you actually figure out a price that reflects what the franchise is worth as a business as opposed to a status symbol?

Sterling’s made out to be a big deal, buying influence from the likes of the NAACP. In fact, he spreads a modest amount in charitable contributions among dozens of community groups, which in return for a $10,000 check every year are happy to attend his annual charity luncheon and bestow humanitarian awards on him. How central to local philanthropy are donors like Sterling and networks like his? Plus, Texas got a setback today when the Supreme Court ruled the EPA can order states like Texas to cut emissions in order to reduce air pollution in downwind states. But another milestone today was the holding company of Texas’s largest utility declaring bankruptcy. Nearly 10 years ago TSX was taken private in the biggest leveraged-buyout in U.S. history, renamed Energy Future, and loaded with debt, betting on natural gas prices to rise. Along came the financial crisis and fracking, and now Energy Future is the nation’s biggest bankruptcy, bigger than another Texas bust, Enron. Then, Yahoo is jumping into the original content pool with Amazon, Hulu and others by offering LiveNation concerts and a comedy series to viewers. Sabri Ben-Achour reports on what Yahoo’s latest content strategy is and what it might cost the company.

The NBA operates a bit like McDonalds – the owners of the teams are basically franchisees. And the franchisees run the NBA. So could the other owners oust Sterling because he threatens their bigger business model? Plus, high school graduation rates in the U.S. have hit a new high, 80 percent, after a nearly decade-long campaign to raise graduation rates. What was done to raise the rate, and how valuable is the degree that more teenagers are getting. Also, new U.S. sanctions target the head of the state-controlled Russian oil giant Rosneft. We explain how U.S. and multi-national companies with U.S. ties, including BP, Exxon and Shell, are finding themselves affected by the move, and what options they have to protect themselves.

It was reported that Alibaba would be adding new shares to an impending deal that would push its IPO to $20 billion making it the largest IPO- ever. Marketplace’s Sabri Ben-Achour picks apart why Alibaba might be worth this much. Plus, there’s growing criticism over the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. A recent ad has been called “patronizing” and Dove’s “most bulls**t ad yet.” Mitchell explains the controversy, and looks at whether Dove/Unilever expected – and will even benefit from – this outrage. Then, Oregon waives the White Flag and turns its exchange over to the Fed model, because fixing it would be just too expensive.  Maryland is also a mess, so it’s taking the Connecticut model.  And you thought Healthcare.gov was the problem. We look at the states which are running their own exchanges going into year two.  

The FDA proposed new rules on e-cigarettes, extending its reach to a fast-growing industry which has so far had no oversight. Among the new regulations comes a ban on the sale of e-cigs to minors, but not on internet advertising. So what’s next for the industry that’s already lobbying hard to soften the most restrictive/ costly regulations.  The FCC aill also be proposing new rules on Internet traffic that would allow broadband providers to charge companies a premium for access to their fastest lanes. Where are we in the process of addressing this problem and how will the money likely shift as a result of the proposals? Plus, as Northwestern University football players wait to vote for or against a union tomorrow, the pending vote and other factors are already forcing the NCAA and big-time football colleges to rethink the way they treat scholarship athletes whose performance brings them billions in revenue.

A new government report reveals that thousands of employees of the Internal Revenue Service got bonuses or time-off awards despite being disciplined for misconduct – including tax compliance problems. How could this happen and what are the criteria  for determining awards for government employees? Should they be revised? Plus, Valeant’s acquisitions have had a particular focus: companies that produce “medical aesthetics” products that smooth and clear facial skin – Botox and similar paralyzers, Restylane and similar fillers, and lasers. This care is a fast-growing business, and Valeant now has one sales force to sell all these products. Also, the NYPD’s newly created Twitter hashtag #MyNYPD has backfired spectacularly – as New Yorkers have used it to tweet about police brutality and misconduct.  Why do organizations/ companies fail to tame Twitter in these instances? And when the public can so easily hijack your hashtag, who’s managed to get it right?

Marketplace’s David Gura sums up the case between braodcasters and the firm Aereo and explains why it threatens to upend the way people consume television. Plus, the world’s greatest football team, Manchester United (which is listed on the NYSE and will report earnings Friday) has sacked its brand new manager after less than a season. David Moyes  performed so poorly, and pissed off shareholders, supporters and players so effectively that he had to go. Why don’t companies move with this kind of alacrity against executives who fail to perform? Sabri Ben-Achour reports. Also, there are reports that Nike is making layoffs in its Fuel Band manufacturing plant, and might be exiting the wearable tech market – but shifting its focus to fitness software instead. We look at where that’s going in the ultra-competitive world of wearable tech. Then, CVS says it will take customers’ health insurance payments at its more than 7,000 locations. We explain how much the chain stands to gain and what’s at risk as it diverges from its core business and into payment processing.

President Obama will visit East Asia this week – stopping in Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea. All these nations have territorial disputes with China. The president has repeatedly promised a military and diplomatic shift of focus to the region. How much has been spent so far on the “pivot” and is it real? Plus, last week, the deadliest avalanche to rip through Mount Everest killed 13 sherpa guides. It’s prompted the sherpas to ask for better compensation, and threaten a strike, just as the climbing season begins on the mountain. Krissy Clark looks at the central role of the Sherpas in Mount Everest’s climbing industry. Then , two railroads are scrambling to comply with a federal order to get fertilizer to Midwestern farmers in time for spring planting. Shipments of crude oil have squeezed out other freight, so much that farmers were being told they wouldn’t get full orders of fertilizer in time. How does oil trump other freight?

With spring in full swing across the US, economists are looking forward to a busy home-buying season. One factor that might push people to buy – the high cost of renting compared to owning. Since the financial crisis, people who hold a mortgage have been spending less on housing than people who rent. But that’s beginning to change, as Adriene Hill reports. Plus, Gillette is said to be close to unveiling a new razor with a blade that rotates on a ball hinge, the latest innovation in the high-end battle for the dollars men spend on grooming. The thing looks like a Dyson vacuum cleaner, and it’s enough to make you wonder… how do Gillette and others go about convincing men that this is something they need to have? Then, the Obama administration announced $2.5 billion more in loan guarantees for solar energy. Despite the Solyndra failure (followed not long after by the failure of several Chinese solar companies), solar has grown into a big industry. We count the ways.