Marketplace from American Public Media

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

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Tracing Toyota's faults pre-recall

Safety regulators are coming under scrutiny for failing to spot issues with Toyota vehicles before the company needed to implement a massive recall. But not everyone was asleep at the wheel. Bill Radke delves deeper with Marketplace's Brett Neely. More»

Cars suffer from auto commonization

Toyota has the commonization of several of its auto parts to thank for its recent large-scale recall. Alisa Roth explains what that means. More»
Social buzz isn't what it once was

A new study finds the buzz generated in social circles for certain advertising purposes isn't what it used to be. Jeff Tyler reports. More»

Marketplace Scratch Pad

A gift horse for health reform?

Just when you thought health care reform was dead in Congress, along comes Anthem Blue Cross. The insurance company and its parent, Wellpoint, are planning to raise rates as much as 39% for California customers.

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Feb 9, 2010 11:50 AM PT — Scott Jagow
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Flying cheap, tired and untrained

If you’ve ever flown a “puddle-jumper,” you might want to catch the Frontline documentary, Flying Cheap, tonight on PBS. Correspondent Miles O’Brien, a pilot himself, looks at the cheap ways and frightening lack of experience at some regional airlines.

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Feb 9, 2010 9:31 AM PT — Scott Jagow
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Morning Reading

Good morning. A few things to start the day: Maybe the US needs to lose its AAA credit rating, California needs to learn that Social Security numbers are private, and some chuckles from stand-up economist-comedians.

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Feb 9, 2010 5:55 AM PT — Scott Jagow
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Mad banker scientists

The R&D departments at the big banks are still experimenting in their laboratories. The latest idea for financial “innovation” comes from Citigroup. It is working on the first derivatives that would pay out in the event of another financial crisis.

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Feb 8, 2010 2:29 PM PT — Scott Jagow
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The economy is so bad...

Perhaps we can contribute to the growing collection of one-liners about the economy. You don’t even need to use your imagination. I’ve come up with a couple “the economy is so bad” jokes just from today’s news.

Continue reading The economy is so bad...

Feb 8, 2010 1:12 PM PT — Scott Jagow
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The inflation bomb and Charles Darwin

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will tell Congress this week how the Fed plans to diffuse the $1 trillion bomb ticking away inside the banks. Did I mention that the Fed assembled this bomb in the first place?

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