Money Talking

Some investors are worried that fighting in the Middle East and the stalemate between Russia and the west could threaten the U.S. economy. This week on Money Talking, regular contributors Joe Nocera from the New York Times and Rana Foroohar from Time magazine discuss how these and other events happening abroad could affect U.S. economic growth. Plus, inversions. More U.S. corporations are rushing to "invert," or incorporate in another country with lower tax rates. Money Talking discusses whether this spate of inversions could inspire Congress to change the tax code. 

Big changes could be coming to the media world after Rupert Murdoch made an $80 billion bid to buy Time Warner. The offer was rejected, but that doesn't mean it’s the end of the story. If Murdoch succeeds, he would wind up with movie and TV studios like Warner Brothers and HBO. This week on Money Talking, regular contributors Joe Nocera with the New York Times and Rana Foroohar with Time magazine consider what would happen if Rupert Murdoch succeeds in purchasing Time Warner.

What gives with CEO-founders recently? Some have been behaving badly, facing allegations of sexual harassment or making inappropriate comments. It’s even led to a few getting fired. But when they lose their jobs – if we needed another reminder that CEOs aren’t like the rest of us – they fight to get their jobs back. Case in point: Dov Charney, founder of American Apparel. This week on Money Talking, Nikki Waller with the Wall Street Journal joins regular contributor Joe Nocera with the New York Times to review what happens when CEOs behave badly. Should there be term limits for CEOs who also found the company?

On this Fourth of July, Money Talking takes a moment to look at the innovative ideas, services and products that might fuel U.S. economic growth in the years ahead. Regular contributors Rana Foroohar of Time magazine and Joe Nocera of the New York Times join host Charlie Herman to reveal their choices for the innovations they believe will bring about some of the biggest changes. And then a discussion about the word "disruption." Does it need to be disrupted?

For a government agency that’s pretty much flown under the radar for most of its 80-year history, the Export-Import Bank is getting a lot of attention recently. While its mission is to provide loans, insurance and other types of financial assistance to companies that ship U.S. goods overseas, it’s now at the center of a fight in Congress over the role of government in business. This week on Money Talking, regular contributors Joe Nocera of the New York Times and Rana Foroohar of Time magazine look at why the Export-Import Bank is under such scrutiny and what it means for business in general.

Doubts are growing about Iraq's long-term stability as militant insurgents seize control of cities north of Baghdad and attack the country's largest refinery. As Iraq is OPEC's second-biggest oil producer after Saudi Arabia, the violence is raising the specter of soaring oil prices. Iraq pumps around three million barrels a day and had been expected to provide the majority of growth for the cartel in the years ahead. This week on WNYC's Money Talking, Rana Foroohar of Time magazine and Bob Lenzner of Forbes discuss whether the fighting in Iraq is pushing up gas prices here in the U.S.

This week Money Talking revisits topics discussed in recent months: whether the economy can get out its perpetual rut and Bitcoin. After a severe winter that sent the economy into negative territory at the start of the year, have things turned around this summer? Regular contributors Joe Nocera of the New York Times and Rana Foroohar of Time magazine review their predictions about economic growth for the year ahead, and if the recent stock market record highs are trickling down to the everyone.  Plus, what ever happened to Bitcoin?

An internal investigation at General Motors into a faulty ignition switch concludes that there's been an 11-year history of failures at the company. But in releasing the report Thursday, the company's CEO, Mary Barra, said there is no proof of a conspiracy to hide the issue. The faulty ignition switch that costs less than a dollar to replace has been blamed for more than a dozen deaths. It also led to recalls of millions of vehicles and resulted in a multi-million-dollar fine, with even more payouts expected. This week on Money Talking, regular contributors Joe Nocera of the New York Times and Rana Foroohar of Time magazine discuss the report and what it means for GM's future. Plus, a discussion of new SEC recommendations that target high-speed trading. 

June 4 marks the 25th anniversary of Tiananmen Square, when student-led protests in China were ruthlessly put down by the country's government. Today, China is poised to surpass the United States as the world's largest economy. Perhaps that's not too surprising for a country of 1.3 billion people that has embraced capitalism and seen its economy boom. This week on Money Talking, WNYC contributors Joe Nocera of the New York Times and Rana Foroohar of Time magazine discuss how the meteoric rise in China's economy is connected with the Chinese government's response to Tiananmen Square and what it means for it to surpass the U.S. as the world's largest economy.

Money Talking host Charlie Herman and regular contributors Joe Nocera of the New York Times and Rana Foroohar with Time magazine have a discussion about the business books they're reading this Memorial Day weekend.

Charlie Herman is reading Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar. "What I'm really curious to see is what has changed in the more than 20 years since this book was written in the Wall Street corporate culture...especially now when you see a lot of activist investors putting pressure on companies, and there are a lot of buyouts that are happening now."

Rana Foroohar is reading The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert and thinking about how companies are responding to climate change. "I've been thinking a lot about what this means for business. Because there are stories already about countries like the Netherlands, for example, that are exporting their dike technologies to different parts of the world where seas are rising."

Joe Nocera is reading the newly released Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful and Private Dynasty by Daniel Schulman. "It's a surprisingly straightforward book. It's not a polemic in the way a movie that's about to come out — Citizen Koch — is a diatribe against them. But it really does tell you fascinating things about how, for instance, their father was one of the founders of the John Birch Society."