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Business
If Supplies Of Oil Are Up, Why Is Gas Still Pricey?
KUHFSupplies of oil have been surging this year, and U.S. drivers, who have been switching to more fuel-efficient cars, are using less gasoline.That would seem to be the right economic combination to push down prices at the pump, but gasoline prices have remained stubbornly high this summer.
Parallels
Can This Dominican Factory Pay Good Wages And Make A Profit?
Textile workers in some poor countries like Bangladesh can make less than $100 a month. One factory in the Dominican Republic is trying something different: It's paying workers $500 a month. The company has yet to break even after three years, but the CEO says the business is growing rapidly and he believes it will be profitable.
All Tech Considered
In More Cities, A Camera On Every Corner, Park And Sidewalk
A growing number of cities are using surveillance cameras in the hope of fighting crime, but all that video is almost useless without powerful search tools to sort the material. The municipal camera trend is proving to be big business for companies that design video analytics software.
G-8 Nations Pledge To Crack Down On Corporate Tax Evaders
June 19, 2013 This week's meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized countries concluded with a pledge to end the use of tax shelters by multinational corporations. But there are still big questions about how they will make a dent in the problem.
The Two-Way
Fed Leaves Interest Rates And Bond Purchase Plan Untouched
June 19, 2013 The Federal Reserve will continue its program of purchasing $85 billion in securities and will leave the target interest rate for federal funds untouched to support the U.S. economy, the U.S. central bank said in a policy update issued Wednesday afternoon.
Business
U.S. Automakers Are On A Roll, But Hiring Is Slow And Steady
June 19, 2013 Profits for the nation's carmakers are on the rise, but after years of doing more with less, higher profits are unlikely to translate into significant numbers of new jobs. There are eight fewer plants and hundreds of thousands fewer workers in the industry than before the Great Recession.
Dollar For Dollar: Adventures In Investing
The Art Of Investing: The Rewards Aren't Always Financial
June 19, 2013 The Internet makes collecting and even investing in art much more accessible to ordinary people. As part of his adventures in investing, NPR's Uri Berliner pays $450 for an abstract flower study he's only seen online. Is it an investment or a painting he's just happy to have hang on his wall?
The Two-Way
Amazon Cuts Ties In Minnesota Ahead Of New Sales Tax
June 18, 2013 Amazon ends the contracts of people and businesses that are paid for sending customers to the retailer. The company has taken similar steps in other states that have passed laws like Minnesota's new sales tax legislation.
The Salt
Dirty Spuds? Alleged Potato Cartel Accused Of Price Fixing
June 17, 2013 A civil lawsuit that shifted into U.S. district court in Idaho last week alleges that the United Potato Growers of America has become a veritable OPEC of spuds. The group is accused of using high-tech, strong-arm tactics to inflate potato prices.


