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Why Your Facebook Habit At Work Makes Economists Worry
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All Tech Considered

Why Your Facebook Habit At Work Makes Economists Worry

Productivity, a key measure of the economy's health, has been growing more slowly in recent years. Can Facebook and other social media distractions on the job be partly to blame?

Why Your Facebook Habit At Work Makes Economists Worry

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The Obama Years: Views On A Presidency, Across America

Barack Obama accepts the Democratic presidential nomination at the 2008 Democratic National Convention on Aug. 28, 2008, in Denver. Chuck Kennedy/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Chuck Kennedy/AFP/Getty Images

Politics

The Obama Years: Views On A Presidency, Across America

How has life changed over the past eight years under President Obama? NPR hits the road to ask Americans about Obama's White House years on everything from jobs and energy to race and immigration.

Listen to NPR Special Coverage: Obama's Years

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The Political Moment Finally Caught Up To Bernie Sanders' Message

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders addresses the crowd Tuesday during a campaign rally at the Big Four Lawn park in Louisville, Ky. John Sommers II/Getty Images hide caption

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John Sommers II/Getty Images

Politics

The Political Moment Finally Caught Up To Bernie Sanders' Message

After decades of speaking out against income inequality, the senator found fertile ground for it nationally in this post-recession, post-Occupy era. What's the long-term outlook for his movement?

The Political Moment Finally Caught Up To Bernie Sanders' Message

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Ready For A Road Trip? RVs Are Rolling Back Into Fashion

Grant and Cathy Lowe stand in front of a trailer they just bought. It is part of their retirement plans to own this camper, and they intend to have it paid off before they quit working. Frank Morris/KCUR hide caption

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Frank Morris/KCUR

National

Ready For A Road Trip? RVs Are Rolling Back Into Fashion

KCUR 89.3

More Americans are looking for a second home — on wheels. After crashing hard in the recession, RV sales have rebounded and are on track to approach record levels this year.

Ready For A Road Trip? RVs Are Rolling Back Into Fashion

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Arguably, These Are The 5 Business Stories That Shaped 2015

Pedestrians are reflected in the glass of a window showing share prices at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Dec. 17. At least five business stories had major impacts in 2015. They involved everything from crashing oil prices to merging beer companies. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

Business

Arguably, These Are The 5 Business Stories That Shaped 2015

Compared with the Great Recession years, 2015 was a fairly tame time. Still, at least five stories had major impacts. They involved everything from crashing oil prices to merging beer companies.

Ever Since The Great Recession, Zombie Houses Have Haunted New Jersey

The house next door to Maureen and Michael McCabe has been sitting empty for seven years. "It freaks me out," Maureen McCabe says. "I don't know if there's animals running around there, mice and rodents." Joel Rose/NPR hide caption

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Joel Rose/NPR

Economy

Ever Since The Great Recession, Zombie Houses Have Haunted New Jersey

Years after the subprime mortgage crisis, New Jersey has the nation's highest rate of zombie homes — abandoned by their former owners but not yet through foreclosure. Some sit vacant for years.

Ever Since The Great Recession, Zombie Houses Have Haunted New Jersey

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Irwin Lipkin, Last Of Madoff Defendants, Gets 6 Months In Prison

Irwin Lipkin, one of Bernard Madoff's longest-serving employees, covers his face as he is pushed in a wheelchair leaving U.S. court in New York on Wednesday. Mike Segar/Reuters/Landov hide caption

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Mike Segar/Reuters/Landov

The Two-Way

Irwin Lipkin, Last Of Madoff Defendants, Gets 6 Months In Prison

The 77-year-old was one of Bernard Madoff's first employees. He pleaded guilty three years ago to knowingly signing false documents, but has insisted that he thought the operation was legitimate.

Study Suggests Recession, Recovery Have Not Left The Rich Richer

Maggie Barcellano prepares dinner in January 2014 at her father's house in Austin, Texas. Barcellano, who lives with her father, enrolled in the food stamps program while she works as a home health aide and raises her 3-year-old daughter. A study suggests that social safety nets, including food stamps, helped cushion income losses for middle- and working-class Americans during the recession. Tamir Kalifa/AP hide caption

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Tamir Kalifa/AP

Economy

Study Suggests Recession, Recovery Have Not Left The Rich Richer

Conventional wisdom is that income inequality has gotten worse in the years since the financial crisis, but new research by a George Washington University professor says that's not what the data show.

Study Suggests Recession, Recovery Have Not Left The Rich Richer

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2014: The Year When The Job Market Finally Turned The Corner

A construction worker clears wood from a platform that spans the Penn Station railroad tracks in New York City on Nov. 18. Construction jobs rose by 20,000 according to the November jobs report. Mark Lennihan/AP hide caption

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Mark Lennihan/AP

Business

2014: The Year When The Job Market Finally Turned The Corner

Seven years after the Great Recession began, the U.S. job market finally is growing at a robust pace. In November, employers added 321,000 workers, raised wages and extended the average workweek.

Suicide Rate In U.S. And Europe Climbed During Great Recession

Most of the rise in the suicide rate in North America and Europe during the economic downturn of 2007 to 2009 occurred among men middle-aged and older. Gary Waters/Ikon Images/Corbis hide caption

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Gary Waters/Ikon Images/Corbis

Shots - Health News

Suicide Rate In U.S. And Europe Climbed During Great Recession

Scientists can't prove a causal link, but the disturbing correlation in the data deserves a closer look, researchers say. Some countries seemed more resilient than others.

The Two-Way

The U.S. Finally Gets Past Pre-Recession Jobs Total

With today's monthly jobs report meeting predictions, the U.S. has surpassed the number of jobs before 2008. But the recovery has been slow and long, economists say.

The U.S. Finally Gets Past Pre-Recession Jobs Total

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