This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.Who will succeed in buying Chrysler, the troubled carmaker in the United States? The competition is just getting started. Dieter ZetscheDieter Zetsche, chairman of DaimlerChrysler, confirmed last week that his company was in talks with possible buyers...
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.Last week, the United States asked the World Trade Organization to help settle two trade disputes with China. Pirated materials from China, including movies and booksOne of these involves the issue of intellectual property. Books, magazines, movies, c...
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.Imagine this: An official in a position of trust helps you choose a company for a service important to your future. You expect that the advice will be in your best interest. What you do not know is that the person's office has a financial relationship...
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.For Robert Nardelli, two thousand seven might seem like a bad year. After all, he resigned in January as chief of the world's largest operator of home-improvement stores. Robert NardelliSales and profits grew during his six years at Home Depot. But th...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. Gold has long been valued, and not just for its beauty.The metal is also valuable for its resistance to chemical reactions, and for its electrical qualities.But some people have always valued gold most as an investment, even without any ...
I'm Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Economics Report.Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate permitted by law.In the United States, the federal minimum wage is five dollars and fifteen cents an hour.It has not changed since nineteen ninety-seven.And it does not include all jobs.For exa...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. Economics and weather have a lot in common.Knowing what conditions will be like weeks or months in the future is not easy.One thing that helps economists predict the future is the index of leading economic indicators.An index is a way to...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. A new state law in Maryland says large companies must spend at least eight percent of their total wages on health care.If not, then they will have to pay the difference to the state to help provide health care to the poor.The amount for ...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. Ford Motor Company plans to close fourteen factories and cut as many as thirty thousand jobs in the United States and Canada.Its North American operations employ more than one hundred twenty thousand people.Company chief William Clay For...
I'm Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Economics Report. Millions of people hold the world in their hand.Small wireless devices let them use e-mail, search the Internet and get the latest news.But lately the news has worried many users of the popular BlackBerry devices from the Canadian comp...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.Ben Bernanke That means the Federal Reserve could continue to raise target interest rates. On January thirty-first, the central bank approved its fourteenth increase since June of two thousand four. The action came on Alan Greenspan's las...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.A political storm grew this week over a deal to sell operations at six American ports to a government-owned company in Dubai.Critics see a "homeland security accident waiting to happen," as Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York c...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.Businesses are structured in different ways to meet different needs. The simplest form of business is called an individual proprietorship.The proprietor owns all the property of the business and is responsible for everything.This means th...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. A proposed deal announced this week could change the future of the telecommunications industry in the United States.It would make the biggest telephone company in America, AT&T, even bigger.AT&T plans to buy BellSouth, a major pr...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.One of the most important questions a worker can ask is: "Will I have enough money for retirement?" For more than thirty years, Americans have used individual retirement accounts, or IRAs, to increase retirement savings.Today, there are s...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.Many workers depend on plans offered by their employers to help pay for their retirement.There are two major kinds of retirement plans.One is defined by what is paid out, the other by what is paid in.The first is called a defined benefit ...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. General Motors lost almost eleven thousand million dollars last year.Now the cost-cutting efforts of the world's largest automaker are gaining speed.To cut costs, General Motors is cutting jobs and selling shares of businesses it ownsLas...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. The main goal of the World Bank is to fight poverty.But, for almost ten years, the World Bank also has investigated financial crimes by government and bank officials.World Bank headquarters in Washington DCIn nineteen ninety-six, former ...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.This year, April seventeenth is the last day for Americans to pay federal income taxes for two thousand five. Most taxpayers have had enough income tax collected by their employers during the year.So they do not owe any more money.In fact...
I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report. Many companies provide earnings guidance.They tell their shareholders how much they expect to earn in the future.Often companies report expected earnings for each three-month period.nyseEarnings are usually measured in terms of earnings-...
