International Business
6:22 am
Wed February 6, 2013

City Looking To Bolster Local Manufacturing By Increasing Exports

Credit Ryan Loyd / TPR
Much of the discussion at City Hall yesterday was about economic issues like exports.

San Antonio city leaders are looking at ways to increase its import and export industry, but are focusing intently on exports.

According to reports, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom and China are the top five export markets for the city, with exports increasing by $5 billion from 2003 to 2010.

Many within the city now want to focus on challenges like logistics in transporting or varying regulations in exports that block San Antonio's success.

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NPR Story
4:27 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Feds Bust Huge Credit Fraud Ring

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 9:51 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We're also tracking a story that federal authorities call one of the biggest credit card fraud rings in U.S. history. Eighteen people are alleged to have created an elaborate web of fake identities and sham companies to steal hundreds of millions of dollars.

NPR's Dan Bobkoff has more.

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NPR Story
4:27 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Cities Must Strategize To Boost Service Workers' Pay

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 9:51 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Let's look at the economy in another way. The urban scholar Richard Florida has found a problem with the way our cities are evolving.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

He's famous for studying the creative class, his term for millions of entrepreneurs, writers, thinkers, engineers, the innovators who make an economy grow.

INSKEEP: Florida says cities become more prosperous when those innovators are concentrated there.

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NPR Story
4:27 am
Wed February 6, 2013

In Dallas, Boy Scouts Debate Opening Membership To Gays

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 9:51 am

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Leadership of the Boy Scouts of America may take an important vote today. The organization's executive board is wrapping up a meeting in Dallas, and they're talking about whether to drop their policy banning gay leaders and gay scouts. Activists delivered petitions with more than 1.4 million signatures to the national headquarters this week calling for the Boy Scouts to open up the organization.

NPR's Kathy Lohr reports that the issue has ignited a passionate debate about what the 100-year-old group should do.

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All Tech Considered
2:05 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Using 3-D Printers To Make Gun Parts Raises Alarms

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 1:48 pm

You may have heard about 3-D printing, a technological phenomenon that uses a robotic arm to build objects one layer at a time. As people get imaginative and create items in a one-stop-shop fashion, one more creation has been added to the printing line: gun parts.

On the West Side of Manhattan, behind large glass windows, a dozen 3-D printers build plastic toys and jewelry. Hilary Brosnihan, a manager at 3DEA, an events company that sponsored a print pop-up store, says things are moving rapidly.

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All Tech Considered
2:01 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Is Online Gambling Legal If Bitcoins, Not Dollars, Are At Stake?

Credit NPR
An image depicts the SatoshiDice website, which exclusively uses Bitcoin, not dollars, for gambling.

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 9:51 am

With no government ties, Bitcoin is used to buy everything from blogging services to Brooklyn-made cupcakes. Theoretically, millions of dollars are being kept in the digital currency, and it's increasingly being used by specialized online gambling websites. But is Bitcoin gambling legal?

Purely in the interests of journalism, I decided to get my hands on some of the currency. When I did so, Bitcoin, which has been around for a few years now, was fetching around $17 on most exchange sites. It has since risen to more than $20.

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Puerto Rico: A Disenchanted Island
1:58 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Puerto Rico's Battered Economy: The Greece Of The Caribbean?

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 9:51 am

Puerto Rico's population is declining. Faced with a deteriorating economy, increased poverty and a swelling crime rate, many citizens are fleeing the island for the U.S. mainland. In a four-part series, Morning Edition explores this phenomenon, and how Puerto Rico's troubles are affecting its people and other Americans in unexpected ways.

Edward Bonet's mom no longer tries to convince him to join her in Florida. Unlike his family, the 23-year-old from Puerto Rico refuses to leave the island and its shattered economy.

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The Salt
1:56 am
Wed February 6, 2013

New Hampshire Cuts Red Tape To Put Nanobreweries On Tap

Credit Emily Corwin / NHPR
Throwback Brewery co-owner Nicole Carrier and assistant brewer Chris Naro pour beer for customers at their North Hampton, N.H., taproom.

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 9:51 am

As beer drinkers demand increasingly obscure beers with ingredients like jalapenos or rhubarb, smaller and smaller breweries are stepping up to the plate. New Hampshire is one state helping these brewery startups get off the ground, with new laws that make it easier for small-scale breweries to obtain licenses and distribute their craft beers.

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Research News
1:55 am
Wed February 6, 2013

Why You Love That Ikea Table, Even If It's Crooked

Credit iStockphoto.com
Building your own stuff boosts your feelings of pride and competence, and also signals to others that you are competent.

Originally published on Wed February 6, 2013 9:51 am

Have you ever spent a couple of hours working on a craft project — or a presentation for work — and then fallen in love with what you've accomplished? Do the colors you've picked for your PowerPoint background pop so beautifully that you just have to sit back and admire your own genius?

If so, get in line: You're the latest person to fall victim to the Ikea Effect.

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