Playlist: Yahoo, deadweight loss

Posted by Chau Tu

For Marketplace, Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Yahoo announced that it will layoff 4 percent of its workforce, which made us ask, What is Yahoo? And where is its future headed? Kai sat down with Stephen Dubner for a holiday-related edition of Freakonomics, which talked about unwanted gifts, economically known as deadweight loss. On the subject of products, are extended warranties necessary? And shopping-wise, it seems consumers are back to shopping, but they seem to be conservative about where that money goes. A congressional report released today revealed HAMP, the government’s mortgage modification program, isn’t working as well as expected. California’s public university system is limiting the amount they’re able to pay their employees in benefits and pension plans. And we got a report from Turkey about its business successes. Here are the songs we played:

• Girl They Won’t Believe It – Joss StoneBuy

• Green Means – NobodyBuy

• Northside Diehard – MatlockBuy

• The Safety Dance – Men Without HatsBuy

• Call on Me – Janet JacksonBuy