ECONOMY

China's White Elephants: Ghost Cities, Lonely Airports, Desolate Factories

2:49pm October 15, 2015

by Frank Langfitt

China's economic growth is slowing and misallocation of resources is making things worse. In one city in recession, the new airport is mostly empty and plans for a giant liquor factory have stalled.

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A steamboat drifts along the Mississippi River in New Orleans. A group called America's Watershed Initiative says "funding for infrastructure maintenance means that multiple failures may be imminent" for the lower Mississippi River basin.

Mississippi River Basin Gets A Grade Of D+

4:21pm October 14, 2015

by Brakkton Booker

A group that measures river basin health cited the poor condition of infrastructure such as locks and dams, among other things, on what it says is the world's fourth-largest watershed.

Texas, Oklahoma Permit Companies To Dump Workers' Compensation Plans

8:22am October 14, 2015

by Howard Berkes

The NPR/ProPublica investigation examining workers' compensation continues with a look at an emerging trend: employers opting out of workers' comp altogether.

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Colored Pencils, Watercolors, Brushes: Art Supplies Add Up

8:22am October 14, 2015

by Mary Plummer

Teachers spend a lot of their own cash on school supplies. But art teachers, with all kinds of special materials, can spend even more.

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Volkswagen Faces Uphill Battle In Repairing Tarnished Reputation

9:27pm October 13, 2015

by Sonari Glinton

Volkswagen faces two enormous repair jobs: fixing its polluting diesel cars and its battered reputation. Both may be much harder to fix than anything other scandal-plagued car companies have faced.

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U.S. Regulators Visit Cuba To Explore Boundaries Of New Trade Opportunities

9:27pm October 13, 2015

by Scott Horsley

Officials from the Treasury, Commerce, and State Departments visit Cuba this week to grasp a better understanding of the country's economy. They want to know how far the U.S. can go in doing business with Cuba under the limits of the half-century old embargo. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker led the delegation, despite criticism from those who say the move comes too soon.

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SABMiller Agrees In Principle To Merger With Anheuser-Busch InBev

7:54pm October 13, 2015

by Yuki Noguchi

A titanic merger in the beer industry is brewing: Anheuser-Busch InBev offered more than $104 billion to win over the board of SABMiller. The behemoth will control about a third of the globe's beer production and about 70 percent of the market in the U.S. Now the question is whether regulators will allow the merger.

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Las Vegas' Slow Economic Recovery Serves As Democratic Debate Backdrop

7:54pm October 13, 2015

Las Vegas is hosting the first official debate between the Democratic presidential candidates Tuesday night. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Michael Finnegan of the Los Angeles Times about how the city's slow recovery from the recession may set the tone.

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Economy

Why Are Millennials Buying So Many Houses In Des Moines?

7:13pm October 13, 2015

by Sarah Boden

Data from Realtor.com shows that in the first half of 2015, roughly 60 percent of borrowers who used a mortgage to buy a home in Des Moines were between the ages of 25 and 34.

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Economy

Ashley Furniture Hiring Hundreds In Davie County

3:23pm October 13, 2015

Ashley Furniture says it plans to hire 454 new workers in Davie County after the state promised the company nearly $10 million in tax breaks.