Marketplace Features

Tuesday, December 22
As Marketplace continues its look at the global economic turmoil, commentator Mark Weisbrot questions the role the International Monetary Fund has played in shoring up the world's financial walls.   RealAudio

Friday, December 18
Some big companies were counting on overseas market growth to propel them into the next century. Now that so many of those economies are in trouble, are they changing their business plans? Marketplace's Jessica Smith takes a look.   RealAudio

Wednesday, December 16
Marketplace host David Brancaccio talks with Glenn Yago of the Milken Institute about his organization's study on hedge funds and whether there is a need to place tighter controls on them.   RealAudio

Monday, December 14
The world economic crisis is being addressed with proposed fixes to the "global financial architecture." But commentator Stephen Solomon says it's only part of the solution. He says America should promote political freedom and liberal values along with economic freedom and prosperity.   RealAudio

Friday, December 11
A leading Bangladesh banker offers his suggestions on rethinking capitalism. Marketplace's Jocelyn Ford reports.   RealAudio

Thursday, December 10
Perhaps the most disillusioned new capitalists anywhere in the world can be found in Russia. When twenty-somethings look back on Soviet days with nostalgia, present reality must be pretty grim. But as David McGuffin reports there is still a good number of people there holding onto capitalistic ideals.   RealAudio

Marketplace commentator Robert Reich says usually the financial economy is a servant to the "real world" economy. But he says when the "real economy" suddenly becomes the plaything of finance, like it has in so many places in the world...there's trouble.   RealAudio

Wednesday, December 9
During the 1960s, the Volkswagen "Bug" was an icon for economy and simplicity. Marketplace commentator Stephan Richter sees VW's New Beetle as a symbol for economic globalization.   RealAudio

Cash-strapped businesses in Thailand are resorting to bartering goods and services to keep going. They've developed a central organization to coordinate exchanges: BarterCard. Marketplace's Michelle Cheung reports.   RealAudio

Tuesday, December 8
How is the global economic crisis affecting the American consumer? Marketplace reporter Cynthia Ingle takes a look in this edition of "Free Market Freefall."   RealAudio

Monday, December 7
While no one is very cheerful about the present state of Asian economies, many people are suggesting that they've hit the bottom and there's nowhere to go but up. Marketplace's Jocelyn Ford reports.    RealAudio

Friday, December 4
In this edition of "Free Market Freefall," Marketplace's George Lewinski reports on the economic ups and downs that have crunched the emerging middle classes in countries like Thailand and Indonesia. RealAudio

Thursday, December 3
With economies failing around the world, some countries wonder if it's time to rethink the concept of free market capitalism. In this edition of "Free Market Freefall," economists Paul Krugman and Susan Lee debate whether a new roadmap is needed to get the broken-down world economy back on track.   RealAudio

Wednesday, December 2
The Asian financial crisis may seem like a remote problem to most Americans, but Marketplace commentator Bruce Stokes warns that if the region's economic problems continue much longer, the crisis will become much more of a reality for the U.S.   RealAudio

Tuesday, December 1
Inside Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillippines and Korea, there's little talk of economic recovery. Marketplace contributing editor George Lewinski reports many of the of those countries' elites and middle class are still stunned by what has happened to their economies.   RealAudio

With many world economies in recession, some governments are feeling to need to put more controls on the flow of capital. Marketplace commentator Zanny Minton Beddoes says a few modest regulations may help, but too much control is not a good idea.   RealAudio

Monday, November 30
In part one of Marketplace's new series "Free Market Freefall," reporter Mitchell Hartman surveys the global landscape. With many of the world's economies in ruin, what's the system best suited for the world... capitalism, communism, or a so-called "Third Way?"   RealAudio

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Related Information: The Asia Foundation has several reports and publications about the 1998-2000 Pacific economic outlook. The International Monetary Fund has been a lightening rod in this period of global financial instability. Read this article from their website. For more economic analysis of the Asian economic crisis, read this article by Mark Zandi in The Dismal Scientist. Several policy briefs from The Milken Institute discuss the current situation in Asia: Capital Access Index: Emerging and Submerging Markets The Role of Governments and Markets in International Banking Crises: The Case of East Asia The Asian Crisis Tsunami: Trade and Other Impacts on California and the United States The Consumer Research Center is the home of The Conference Board. The Board has several releases about consumer and business confidence. The Cato Institute has publications of interest: Perpetuating Poverty: The World Bank, the IMF, and the Developing World Revisiting the `Revisionists': The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Economic Model This article from Cato Journal discusses the lessons of China's transition to a market economy.