ECONOMY

Economy

Residents Of Hot Weather States Sweat Air Conditioning Bills

5:02am August 27, 2013

by Jude Joffe-Block

As the number of Americans living in Sunbelt states grows, air conditioning is increasingly becoming a necessity — not a luxury — for a larger swath of the population. Yet the main federal energy assistance program uses a formula that favors cold weather states for heating help over hot weather states that need cooling help.

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Bernard Omondi got $1,000 from GiveDirectly.

The Charity That Just Gives Money To Poor People

1:41pm August 23, 2013

There are no strings attached. People can spend the money on whatever they want, and they never have to pay it back.

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Unemployment Claims Drop To Pre-Recession Levels

5:08pm August 22, 2013

More than 330,000 people filed new claims for unemployment insurance benefits last week. That sounds like a big number — and is a slight increase over the previous week — but it's being taken as some very good news. For a month, now, fewer new people are asking for unemployment insurance than at any time since November, 2007. That's before the Great Recession.

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The Eastman Kodak Co. corporate headquarters in Rochester, N.Y.

Kodak Reinvents Itself As Judge Approves Bankruptcy Exit

1:54pm August 22, 2013

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper has approved Kodak's plan to emerge from court oversight. That paves the way for it to be a much smaller company focused on commercial and packaging printing.

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Eva Teague, 31, is trying to start her own pig farm in Colorado but is running into financial obstacles typical of many young farmers trying to break into the business.

Young Farmers Break The Bank Before They Get To The Field

1:29pm August 21, 2013

by Luke Runyon

They want to get involved with both the local food movement and more conventional forms of agriculture. But many of them are finding their options limited. Ranch and farmland across the plains is going for several thousand dollars an acre, keeping many aspiring farmers out of the market.

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Cars In America: Is The Love Story Over?

5:29pm August 19, 2013

by NPR Staff

America once had a love affair with the automobile. But a new study shows just how much air has been let out of those tires, and the millennial generation seems to be ambivalent toward owning cars or even acquiring driver's licenses.

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Economy

Why Modern Latinas Are A Challenge To Marketers

7:59am August 15, 2013

by Shereen Marisol Meraji

The market research firm Nielsen has published a report on the Latina consumer. According to Nielsen, Hispanic women are a key growth engine in the American marketplace. The Latina population is growing while the white, non-Hispanic female population is dropping.

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Economy

Attorney Dispenses Legal Advice As Well As Shaving Cream

5:24am August 15, 2013

by Diane Orson

A Connecticut attorney has opened a shop that combines his passion for the law with his barber skills. Donald Howard says he first got the hybrid-business idea working as a paralegal for a personal injury attorney who doubled as a sports agent. And, a California attorney opened Legal Grind, a coffee house and law office.

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Economy

Auto Industry's Pent-Up Demand Expected To Ease Slowly

5:24am August 15, 2013

by Sonari Glinton

The average car on the road these days is more than 11 years old — a historic high. Some analysts say that means there soon will be a surge in car buying. Others are skeptical.

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Too Much, Too Fast: China Sees Backlash From Massive Growth

11:25am August 12, 2013

by Jim Zarroli

Years of rapid industrial expansion have left many parts of China contending with thick smog and dirty water. The move comes at a time when China is trying to shift away from the investment-led economic model that has generated such dizzying growth in recent years, but the global economic downturn has made the transition a lot more challenging.

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