Business

Looking Ahead At The Next Top Tech IPOs

4:38pm December 30, 2013

Every year, research firm CB Insights offers up a report on the fastest growing and most highly valued private companies in technology — basically, the ones most likely to go public. Audie Cornish speaks with Anand Sanwal, CB Insights' CEO, for a look at the top tech IPO's expected in 2014.

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Energy companies are adding workers, but fatal accidents are on the rise, too.

On-The-Job Deaths Spiking As Oil Drilling Quickly Expands

7:15pm December 27, 2013

As baby boomers retire and drilling increases, energy companies are hiring, adding 23 percent more workers between 2009 and 2012. But the hiring spree has come with a terrible price: Last year, 138 workers were killed on the job, twice as many as in 2009.

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Ripening fruit in a grove in Plant City, Fla., this month. Florida citrus growers are worried about citrus greening, which causes bacteria to grow on the leaf and fruit, eventually killing the tree.

Time Is Running Out To Save Florida's Oranges

7:15pm December 27, 2013

by Greg Allen

Scientists and growers are in a bitter fight against citrus greening, a disease that has devastated Florida's orange and grapefruit crops. They fear that unless scientists find a cure for greening soon, it's just a matter of time before economic realities and the disease force growers out of business.

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PLANET MONEY MAKES A T-SHIRT: The Lives Of The Workers Who Made Our Shirts

Nixon And Kimchi: How The Garment Industry Came To Bangladesh

10:35am December 27, 2013

by Zoe Chace

The business that transformed the nation is the product of an obscure but hugely influential trade deal — and a cultural struggle over Korean food.

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Kevin Petrovic, 19, and his business partner, who's also 19, raised about $6 million from venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to launch FlightCar. The company is trying to make its mark with car-sharing for travelers.

Economy

Cars Are Next Frontier For Sharing Services

9:57am December 27, 2013

by Chris Arnold

Two 19-year-olds from New Jersey noticed all of the cars in long-term parking at the airport. They had an idea: Why not rent them out? They raised $6 million in venture capital funding for their company FlightCar.

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Obama's Position On Free Trade Marks Subtle Evolution

8:06am December 27, 2013

by Scott Horsley

Two decades after NAFTA created a giant North American free trade zone, the U.S. is negotiating more big trade deals that would span the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. President Obama has embraced the potential agreements as a way to improve the U.S. economy.

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A Bangladeshi worker participates in a protest outside a garment factory in Dhaka.

World News

The Tragic Number That Got Us All Talking About Our Clothing

5:31pm December 26, 2013

by Caitlin Kenney

As 2013 wraps up, NPR is looking at the numbers that tell this year's story. The number 1,134 got us all talking about where our clothes come from, who's making it, and under what conditions. It's the official death toll of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh.

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The Secret Protectionism Buried Inside NAFTA

7:49am December 26, 2013

by Zoe Chace

In order to get the North American Free Trade Agreement signed 20 years ago, a specific trade-off was made. The trade-off would not protect U.S. jobs from moving overseas.

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USDA Grants Santa Special Livestock Permit

7:24am December 25, 2013

All of Santa's reindeer have gotten the green light from the Agriculture Department to enter U.S. territory. The USDA granted Mr. S. Claus a special livestock permit. And in the spirit of Christmas, the department waived the normal application fees and disease testing requirement for his reindeer.

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Administration Extends Health Insurance Deadline Again

7:24am December 25, 2013

A midnight deadline to sign up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act that starts Jan. 1 has been extended by a day. The White House describes the extension as an effort to accommodate people in different time zones.

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