The unemployment dropped to 8.6 percent in November. Will this trend continue or is this just a one time thing? Meanwhile, the Senate failed to pass a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut. The Walt Disney Company has raised its annual dividend by 50 percent. Businesses are warming up to getting green. We look at what it might take to rebrand the euro’s tarnished image. And commentator Bethany McLean asks why Enron, 10 years after it filed for bankruptcy, is still the poster child for corporate corruption.
Segments From this episode
Disney's gift to shareholders signals an improved economy
by Bob Moon
Dec 2, 2011
Disney and other big companies have boosted annual stock dividends lately. Does this mean America's economic crystal ball is clearer? Or do companies simply not have better options to spend the cash they're hoarding?
Payroll tax cut extension still in limbo
by John Dimsdale
Dec 2, 2011
Extending the payroll tax cut failed in the Senate over divisions on how to pay for it. If it isn't paid for, that diverts money from Social Security.
Weekly Wrap: The 8.6% unemployment, the euro fix
by Kai Ryssdal
Dec 2, 2011
Reviewing the week's headlines on Wall Street. This week: Today's latest jobs numbers and whether the central banks' plans to save the euro will work.
Businesses warm to going green
by Eve Troeh
Dec 2, 2011
Even without government regulation, big business is embracing environmental goals.
Jobless rate falls to lowest level since 2009
by Stacey Vanek Smith
Dec 2, 2011
The U.S. economy added 120,000 jobs in November. But the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent because many more people dropped out of the workforce.
Rebranding the euro
by Sally Herships
Dec 2, 2011
A crisis of confidence besets the euro as it approaches its 10th anniversary. Can the currency be rebranded to restore its luster?
Letters: Payroll tax cut, holiday sales, crap technology
by Kai Ryssdal
Dec 2, 2011
Going over listeners' responses to past broadcasts. This week: What companies can do to help the economy, what's been ignored in the holiday shopping coverage, and old but underrated products.
Commentary
Enron, ten years later
by Bethany McLean
Dec 2, 2011
The energy giant filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2nd, 2001. Ten years on, what does Enron mean in the face of the most recent financial crisis?