NPR Audio - Business

News Corp. and Microsoft are working on a deal that might take News Corp. content off of Google and put it exclusively on Bing, Microsoft's search engine. That means that if you do a Google search, content from a News Corp. outlet, such as The Wall Street Journal or Fox News, would not show up. You would have to use Bing to find it.

The economic downturn forced many companies to seek extra ways to shrink costs: Some imposed furloughs or fewer work hours; others tried a straight wage reduction. Many of those companies are now concerned, however, about hanging on to their employees.

Many parents and teachers view college as the natural path to success. But diplomas are getting more expensive, and many people succeed without a bachelor's degree. Guests address the value of a college degree, and whether the fields projected to grow require them.

Each holiday season, thousands of people find temporary jobs helping retail companies meet the demands of the busiest shopping period of the year. This year, many companies are being cautious about additional hiring because consumers are expected to spend only slightly more than last year.

The agency says preliminary data show more reports of serious cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks and strokes, in high-risk patients taking Meridia compared with those on a placebo.

The federal government said it has found a "strong association" between problematic imported Chinese drywall and corrosion of pipes and wires, a conclusion that supports complaints by thousands of homeowners over the last year.

News Corp. and Microsoft are said to be in talks about a "Web pact" aimed at Google. The media company would be paid to "de-index" its news sites from Google, The Financial Times reports.

Home resales far exceeded expectations last month, surging 10.1 percent to the highest level in 2 1/2 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit. Sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million in October.

Many small towns across rural America continue to see population declines. But the tiny town of Preston, Kan., is getting help from an unlikely source: An Arizona mortician who has set up shop there and hopes to draw business from a 50-mile radius.

The abysmal job market is making it hard for some to start making student loan payments, which come due this month for May graduates. A new law could ease the pain for some: It limits monthly payments to 15 percent of a graduate's income.

Gold prices have soared this year — largely because the U.S. dollar has gotten weaker. Investors have been looking at gold as a better bet than the dollar. And the expectation is that the dollar will stay weak because of low U.S. interest rates. That means investors — including governments — will likely continue pouring their money into the gold market.

Economists expect the joblessness that has weighed down the nation's economic recovery will start to slowly abate in 2010, but they predict consumers will continue to keep a tight rein on spending, according to a new survey.

The University of Akron said it could ask new workers for a DNA sample to run background checks. But an anti-discrimination law that went into full effect Nov. 21 prevents employers from requiring workers to share genetic information.

The international economy is still fragile and vulnerable to shocks despite recent improvements in financial markets, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund said. Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the worst of the economic crisis has passed but problems remain.

One of the busiest passenger rail trains in the nation is getting a new engine — a greener engine. In California, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor, which runs between San Jose and Sacramento, is starting to use a cleaner-burning diesel engine. The new technology cuts harmful emissions in half.

Internet sensation Susan Boyle's debut album is out in the United Kingdom. It will be available in the U.S. Tuesday. It's called "I Dreamed a Dream." It's her signature song, which is from the musical Les Miserable. A British newspaper critic has panned it. Amazon.com says the album is its biggest ever pre-ordered CD.

Barnes & Noble says shoppers who have pre-ordered its new digital reader may not receive it until January. Sony says one of its new e-readers also is in short supply. Analysts say the companies underestimated the demand. Amazon is in a good position. The online retailer had shortages of its reader last year, but this year it says it has plenty in stock.

In recent years, budgets for permanent foreign staffs have been slashed in all but a handful of newsrooms. GlobalPost, an upstart online news outlet that relies on a network of more than 70 part-time contributors in 50 countries, is making the case for a new for-profit model for covering the world.

A Charlotte, N.C., construction firm is among an increasing number of small companies trying a strategy that makes the firing process a bit gentler. It's called "attached unemployment," a kind of temporary layoff aimed at softening the blow of job cuts.

The tax deduction for mortgage interest is a cherished benefit for millions of Americans, but most economists think it's a bad idea. One of those economists, Dennis Ventry of the University of California-Davis, talks to host Guy Raz about the history of the deduction, and why the odds of changing it are so long.

We're headed into the year's biggest travel week, and there's not much bigger than what's sitting in the port of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., right now. It's called the Oasis of the Seas, and it's the largest cruise ship ever built — five times the size of the Titanic, with a price tag of $1.5 billion.

Billionaire investor Raj Rajaratnam was arrested last month and charged with running the biggest insider trading scheme involving a hedge fund. Twenty people from across corporate America have now been charged or arrested in connection with the case, and the scandal now involves some of the country's best-known companies. Host Liane Hansen speaks with Joanna Chung, U.S. financial correspondent for the Financial Times.

The Obama administration has launched the Financial Fraud Task Force to investigate issues related to the economic crisis. The Department of Justice will lead the task force's efforts to combat fraud in such areas as mortgage lending, stimulus spending and the government's bailout of the financial sector. Host Liane Hansen talks with Department of Justice Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, who will be one of the leaders of the task force.

Despite being the country that invented the Internet, America lags far behind nations like Japan and South Korea in broadband speed and access. Guy Raz checks in with Thomas Bleha, author of the book Overtaken on the Information Superhighway, to find out why.

Dozens of demonstrators who barricaded themselves inside a campus building at the University of California, Berkeley in a protest over fee hikes and budget cuts were removed late Friday, bringing the daylong occupation to an end, university officials said.

As it gets more difficult to see a primary care doctor, walk-in medical centers are picking up the slack. And if Congress succeeds in passing a nationwide health insurance mandate, the urgent care industry expects even more growth.

Boeing has moved to South Carolina from its ancestral home in the Pacific Northwest to build the 787 Dreamliner. The company will spend less on labor and receive more than $175 million in state incentives. But it will have to train a new workforce, which Boeing's Seattle unions predict may be the undoing of the Southern operation.

The Washington Times has long thought to be immune from the economic forces challenging the rest of newspaper industry because of the deep pockets of its founder and owner, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church. But the recession has taken a toll on the paper and now an apparent power struggle among Moon's sons is adding to the paper's challenges.

Bon Jovi is at the top of the album charts this week, riding an unprecedented publicity push. His record label struck a deal with the conglomerate NBC Universal for an exclusive presence on their many TV networks, including appearances on Today, Inside the Actors Studio and The Tonight Show.

Just because they're masters of the universe doesn't mean the people of Goldman Sachs don't care about their fellow man. Fairly or not, the investment bank, which reported a $3.2 billion third-quarter profit, is perceived by many as a company that places profits and political power ahead of the general good.

Jobless rates rose in 29 states and the District of Columbia in October, the Labor Department reported. Rates declined in 13 states and were unchanged in eight.

Treasury yields briefing dipped into negative territory this week, reflecting investors' lingering concerns about the economy.

Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said.

Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican and lifelong critic of the Federal Reserve, scored a big win on Capitol Hill by getting a House panel to pass a bill requiring new reviews of the Fed's interest-rate decisions.

The bookkeeper in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., won a $300 million jury verdict against the tobacco giant. Philip Morris' parent, Altria Group, called the judgment "fundamentally unfair" and said it will seek a court review.

If you're a member of Costco, the nation's largest wholesale club, you may be surprised to learn that Coca-Cola's products are no longer on the shelves. The two companies are locked in a rare public dispute over the price consumers pay for beverages.

America's Finest News Source has released a book celebrating its 21 years of satire (with a wink). Onion editors Joe Randazzo and Joe Garden talk with Renee Montagne about the serious business of being funny. Also: See the fun The Onion has had at NPR's expense.

New studies are projecting that carbon dioxide emissions — greenhouse gas emissions — will decrease for the year 2009. That is thanks to the global recession. But the reprieve is small and expected to be short lived.

Thousands of University of California students converged on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles Thursday, as regents adopted a 30 percent fee hike. It's one of the latest signs of California's continuing economic crisis. UC officials say, faced with a huge deficit of their own, they have no choice but to raise the fees. Many students say they can't afford to pay more.