Business and Finance

• Pepsi To Restrict Caloric Drinks In Schools Worldwide
  Before long, kids in schools around the world won't see as many caloric drinks from PepsiCo. The beverage giant will pull back on the sale of sugary soft drinks overseas, as it has already in the U.S.
• Focus Shifts To 'Black Boxes' After Toyota Crashes
  Questions about Toyota and sudden acceleration have prompted new interest in the "black boxes" on cars. Event-data recorders typically contain information about speed and acceleration in the seconds before a serious crash. The information is increasingly used in accident investigations.
• Toyota Crashes Lead To Scramble For Lawsuits
  As lawsuits against Toyota mount, attorneys are lining up for a leading role in the class-action lawsuits against the automaker. But it's a tough fight to grab one of those starring roles in the courtroom. Dionne Searcey, national legal correspondent for <em>The Wall Street Journal,</em>, discusses the lawyers' fight.
• Farmers Hurt By Collapse Of Carbon Credits Market
  With the cap-and-trade legislation aimed at curbing global warming stalled in Congress, there's an almost-complete collapse of the market for carbon credits. That means profits are drying up for people who are paid to create those carbon credits &mdash; like farmers who manage their land in ways that capture carbon dioxide in the soil.
• Greenspan On The Housing Bubble: Not My Fault
  The former Fed chairman says he didn't create the housing bubble and couldn't have prevented the economic calamity that followed the bubble's collapse.
• Working Hard, Or Watching The NCAA Tournament?
  Duke University professor Charles Clotfelter heard a rumor that a law firm cut off online access to live streaming during March, because employees were watching too many basketball games. So he decided to measure the NCAA basketball tournament's effect on productivity.
• U.S. Bank Auditors Got Bonuses Before Crisis
  Banks weren't the only ones giving big bonuses in the boom years before the worst financial crisis in generations. The government also was handing out millions of dollars to bank regulators, rewarding "superior" work even as an avalanche of risky mortgages helped create the meltdown.
• Leading Indicators Up Slightly
  The private Conference Board says its leading economic index rose 0.1 percent in February. Ataman Ozyildirim, a Conference Board economist, said "the leading economic index points to moderately improving economic conditions in the near term."
• Consumer Prices Stayed Pat In February
  A rise in food prices last month was offset by a drop in gasoline and other energy costs. The Labor Department's report indicates there is little sign of inflation, which enables the Federal Reserve to keep its key interest rate at a record low to help revive the economy.
• First-Time Unemployment Claims Dip
  The Labor Department says the number of newly laid-off workers requesting jobless benefits fell 5,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 457,000. That nearly matched analysts' estimates of 455,000.
• Global Reality Challenges IMF's Free Market Gospel
  In a notable turnaround, the International Monetary Fund recently acknowledged that some developing countries might benefit from controls on capital inflows. IMF research found that countries with such regulations were better equipped to weather recent global economic crises.
• Did Blue Cross' Mission Stray When Plans Became For-Profit?
  Anthem Blue Cross of California has become central to the political debate over controlling and regulating health insurance companies. Critics say the company is an example of what happens when federal or state regulators don't or can't control them. California regulators have tangled with Blue Cross for decades but the company has had many reincarnations. From member station KQED, Sarah Varney reports.
• U.S. Urges China To Ease Currency Controls
  U.S. officials continue to pressure China over its currency policy. In Beijing Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to China repeated Washington's frustration over Beijing's policy of keeping its currency artificially low in order to boost exports.
• Wachovia Settles Money Laundering Case
  Banking giant Wachovia has agreed to pay $160 million to settle a federal investigation into laundering of South American drug money. The deal, announced by the U.S. attorney in Miami, said the bank had laundered the money since at least 2003 using Mexican exchange houses.
• Google Still Threatening To Leave China
  Google has been threatening to pull out of China. Since it was attacked by hackers two months ago, Google said it would no longer cooperate with Beijing's Internet censorship. Loretta Chao of <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> talks to Renee Montagne about whether Google's position is a moral stance or a business calculation.

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Motley Fool

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