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Tuesday

Technology

Some Coffee Shops Crack Down On Free Wi-Fi

Small independent cafes are trying to stay afloat. Many of them offer free wireless Internet — but they don't want one Web surfer with a small coffee taking up table space all day long. So some are introducing stricter policies to get more turnover.

Some Coffee Shops Crack Down On Free Wi-Fi

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Michael Moore's 'Capitalism' Love Story

In 'Love' And War: Documentarian Michael Moore pulls one of his (in)famous stunts by declaring all of Wall Street a crime scene. Overture Films hide caption

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Overture Films

Movies

Michael Moore's 'Capitalism' Love Story

For his film, Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore knocked on the doors of the country's biggest financial institutions, and surrounded Wall St. with crime scene tape. He did it because he believes capitalism is evil.

Michael Moore's 'Capitalism' Love Story

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Cash-Strapped College Students Rent Textbooks

CapRadio

This semester, Sacramento State University launched a new textbook rental program. There are limited titles available, but the program is helping some students save serious cash.

Cash-Strapped College Students Rent Textbooks

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Monday

Business

Calif. Rules On Flat Screen TVs Worry Some Retailers

California may become the first state to regulate how much energy flat screen TVs use. If the new rules are approved in November as expected, many flat screens sold in California in 2011 will have to use a third less energy than they do now. Some retailers have banded together to oppose the regulations.

Calif. Rules On Flat Screen TVs Worry Some Retailers

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Business

Mortgage Rates At Lowest Level Since Late May

For anyone who didn't refinance when rates were super low earlier this year, now might be the chance. The Mortgage Bankers Association says last week the average rate for 30 year fixed rate loans was 4.97 percent. Mortgage applications have jumped 50 percent from where they were early this summer.

Mortgage Rates At Lowest Level Since Late May

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Business

Study: CEO Salaries At Nonprofits Up In 2008

Some charitable givers close their wallets when they learn of the sky-high salaries made by some nonprofit CEOs. A new study shows that the top pay at the nation's largest nonprofits rose again in 2008. The organizations say high pay is necessary to attract top talent.

Study: CEO Salaries At Nonprofits Up In 2008

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Business

New Home Appraisal Rules Rankle Industry

Many real estate agents and home appraisers are complaining that new rules for appraisers are having an unintended consequence: a lot of bad appraisals. Many agents and mortgage brokers say problems are delaying sales and refinancings, and could be costing homeowners up to $3 billion each year.

New Home Appraisal Rules Rankle Industry

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Friday

Planet Money

'Giant Pool Of Money' Mortgage Crisis Follow Up

A year and a half ago, NPR News and This American Life teamed up to produce "The Giant Pool of Money," a program that explored what was thought at the time to be the worst financial crisis the U.S. had experienced in decades. After that show aired, in May 2008, the crisis got much worse. How are the people profiled in last year's program doing now?

'Giant Pool Of Money' Mortgage Crisis Follow Up

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Thursday

Michael Moore's New Target: 'Capitalism' Itself
Overture Films

Review

Movies

Michael Moore's New Target: 'Capitalism' Itself

Michael Moore is famous for skewering the excesses of American industry — and in his latest film, he goes looking (mostly on Wall Street) for the source of the trouble. Critic Kenneth Turan says that while Capitalism certainly has spirit, the pop-culture polemicist may have taken on more than he could chew.

Michael Moore's New Target: 'Capitalism' Itself

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Wall Streeters Weigh Life After 'Giant Pool Of Money'

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaks on Sept. 7, 2008, during a news conference on the bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption

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Susan Walsh/AP

Planet Money

Wall Streeters Weigh Life After 'Giant Pool Of Money'

Glen Pizzolorusso and Jim Finkel each made a fortune in the mortgage industry. Then the bubble burst. The global economic crisis forced them to reconsider what they believed about life and the investment world they lived in. One is spending time in school, the other cleaning up the debris from toxic assets.

Wall Streeters Weigh Life After 'Giant Pool Of Money'

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Wednesday

Economy

House Bill Adds To Jobless Benefits In 27 States

House lawmakers have voted to extend unemployment benefits for 13 weeks to people in states where the unemployment rate is at least 8.5 percent. That's about half the states. It affects about 300,000 workers whose benefits would otherwise run out this month. The Senate is working on a similar bill.

House Bill Adds To Jobless Benefits In 27 States

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Monday

The Madoff Investment Scandal

Madoff Heads To Jail, And The Books Head To Stores

Six months after Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, six books have already been published about the scandal. Four came out just last month. They cover much of the same ground — with some exceptions.

Madoff Heads To Jail, And The Books Head To Stores

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Thursday

Fighting Gentrification With Money In Houston

Shotgun houses in Houston's Third Ward. Shotgun houses were the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War, through to the 1920s. Blake Gordon/Aurora Photos for NPR hide caption

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Blake Gordon/Aurora Photos for NPR

National

Fighting Gentrification With Money In Houston

In a city that is growing and changing more rapidly than almost any other in the nation, NPR's Steve Inskeep reports on State Rep. Garnet Coleman's efforts to keep his Houston neighborhood just the same. Coleman has used his control of a local board to buy up land in the Third Ward as a way to prevent gentrification.

Fighting Gentrification With Money In Houston

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Education

House Bill Lets Students Bypass Private Lenders

The House is expected to vote on a bill Thursday that would let students borrow directly from the U-S Treasury — instead of from private lenders subsidized by the government. House Democrats say this would save millions in the long run. But the bill has opponents in the loan industry — and obstacles in the Senate.

House Bill Lets Students Bypass Private Lenders

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