Business

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Not so long ago, the journalist James Fallows made a prediction about China. Many Americans worry about the power of a rising China, but Fallows argued that in the next few years Americans may have more to worry about from China's weakness.

China's economic boom has altered the world economy, but its growth is slowing down. And we're going to talk about that with Beijing-based economist Patrick Chovanec. He's on the line from Beijing.

Welcome to the program.

PATRICK CHOVANEC ECONOMIST: Good to be here.

Melissa Block looks ahead to the week's tech news with Laura Sydell. They cover a big upcoming announcement from Amazon.

Crowd funding began as a way to support the arts on the Internet. Artists could go online to pitch a new album, for example, in the hope that thousands would give small amounts. But now it's expanded to entrepreneurs, and the rules aren't quite as clear.

Union shops in the private sector have dwindled in recent decades. Now, public union leaders worry that they're losing political clout, bargaining power and members. That raises questions about whether unions fallen victim to their own success. Originally broadcast on June 7, 2012.

Ladies, if the thought of showing up at a party or a picnic with a box of wine seems a little gauche, there's now a product for you: Vernissage's "bag-in-a-bag" of wine. It's boxed wine, shaped like a handbag.

European leaders have vowed to do all they can to keep the eurozone intact, but U.S. companies are making contingency plans in case Greece is forced to leave the currency union.

The New York Times said major U.S. banks and corporations are "preparing for what was once unthinkable" — Greece's exit from the eurozone:

According to U.S. Census data, 62 percent of women who've been giving birth held jobs at the time. Despite improvements in recent decades in attitudes and treatment of women in the workplace, many still face discrimination when the boss finds out they are pregnant.

At the end of this week, the government's latest snapshot of the job market will be released. David Greene talks to David Wessel, economics editor of The Wall Street Journal, about the unemployment rate.

At least a dozen private equity firms are being investigated over their use of a questionable tax strategy, according to The New York Times. The state's attorney general is looking into whether the firms converted fees for managing funds into investment income — allowing it to be taxed at a much lower rate.