The story of what it really looks like when a bank fails and is taken over by the FDIC. Listen here for the NPR story and here for a longer This American Life version.
With some banks closing and many others announcing massive layoffs, this is clearly not a good time to find a job in the financial industry. But business is booming for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The government agency insures bank deposits and takes over whenever a bank fails — an almost weekly occurrence these days. [...]
Our last story explored the business plan of Somali piracy. Per Gullestrup ransomed his ship, his crew was released and headed home. The pirates, in the Gulf of Aden, headed off. But the story didn’t end there. Listen here.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia has become an international problem — and an international business. Navy SEALS rescued an American merchant captain earlier this month after Somali pirates raided the Maersk Alabama as it was making its way around the Horn of Africa to deliver aid.
But the issues of criminality and the potential for [...]
People talk about “the global economy,” but many connections are hard to see. What’s the connects clothes shopping in England to a shipping company in Copenhagen to a bakery in Egypt? Listen here.
The International Monetary Fund this week estimated that it will eventually write down $2.7 trillion dollars in assets. Just what is a trillion. Some ways to think about it. Listen here.