National News

When it died last month at the hands of a sluggish economy and a Federal Reserve intent on maintaining interest rates at zero, inflation was thought to be several thousand years old -- although a specific age has not been released by the family.

The immediate cause of death was this morning's report on the consumer price index: 0.0 percent.

Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Fed who had a troubled relationship with inflation while it was alive, had this to say about its passing: "There was a perception that inflation and growing inflation was a big problem, and I couldn't have gotten by with the policies we followed unless there was a feeling in the country that somebody ought to do something."

Volcker famously broke inflation's back in the early 1980s, an injury from which it never recovered.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman had harsh words for the departed: "It's very hard to get inflation in a depressed economy."

Inflation is survived by cousins, most of whom live overseas. Family in Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Argentina and Iran tell us they are not doing interviews.

Participant Media says it only makes a certain type of film. Only ones that “invoke social change,” as Participant Media CEO Jim Berk says.

Participant Media made its name creating thought-provoking films like "An Inconvenient Truth," "Fast Food Nation" and "Waiting for Superman." This weekend, Participant Media is part of the production team nominated for an Oscar for "Lincoln," the film starring high-profile actors like Daniel Day-Lewis. Which makes one think: Has the company changed its vision over the years? Jim Berk says no.

“It’s an evolving of the vision. It’s always been about a story well told,” says Berk.

With all this talk about invoking social change and making films with a purpose, it would be hard to deny the fact that winning an Oscar would be nice. Still, Berk says changing the world is much more important than standing on stage at the Academy Awards.

“It’s all about social impact. The wins for us with 'Lincoln' were when you have the Senate and Congress screening it. When you have the president screening. When you have thousands of teachers asking us can we use the film as part of the curriculum. We do like the recognition, but at the end of the day, the company’s existence isn’t for anything but social impact,” says Berk.

But Berk says he’s still excited about "Lincoln" potentially winning an Oscar this weekend, even though he won’t get to stand on stage.

Despite what they said was a healthy 2012, industry leaders worry that in 2013, upcoming spending cuts will hit already-battered airlines hard.

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As concerns grow over competition to Indian gambling, many tribal nations are putting casino profits into other business ventures. Native American tribes say diversifying their business is the only way to make sure they have a future.

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The $600,000 represents 20 percent of the senator's operating budget. Last year, he returned $500,000.

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The rumor mill has been churning out speculation about what's next from Apple. The latest fodder comes from the Apple Insider blog, which found an Apple patent filing pointing to a smart watch with a flexible touchscreen display.

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UPDATE: Nevada has approved interstate online gaming. The governor signed a bill yesterday afternoon that allows the Silver State to negoitate online gambling agreements directly with other states. 

Delaware has also declared itself the first state with a "broad spectrum" of legalized online gambling and USA Today reports that "online wagers would generate at least $3.75 million in revenue for fiscal 2013." And this week, New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie confirmed that he would sign a bill legalizing online gambling in his state.

Other states -- including Mississippi, Iowa and California -- could follow suit.

So if it is going to become that much easier to gamble, now may be the time to brush up on your awareness of what games provide the best return-on-investment. And stay tuned to this weekend's Marketplace Money, where we talk with a gambling expert about how to win online and what to watch out for when playing in an Internet casino.

Let us know if you score well in our quiz below and we'll invite you to come with us the next time we head to Las Vegas.

Baseball fans and collectors are bidding on baseball history: a bloodstained sock worn by Curt Schilling in the 2004 World Series. The sock had been on loan to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but Schilling was forced to put it up for auction after his video game company went bankrupt.

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Fish fraud is often just a form of swindling when a cheap fish, like tilapia, is sold as pricy red snapper. But a conservation group says it also puts consumers at risk of health issues and makes it harder to avoid buying fish that are being overfished.

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A satellite image combining infrared, near infrared and green light produces a colorful combination. The volcano has been blowing off steam, and lava, this week.

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Frustration over a change in federal copyright policy making it illegal to unlock a new cellphone has resulted in more than 100,000 signatures on a petition at the White House's website, meaning the executive branch must now respond to the call to overturn the policy.

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The senators cited Hagel's lackluster confirmation hearing performance and his views on Iran. The White House said it would not back down from the nomination.

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The New Y0rk Times Company owns the Boston Globe. It has for 20 years. Now, it wants to sell The Globe. And that got Marketplace thinking: What would it take to expand our media empire, starting with the Boston Globe? Now, we're not going to do a public radio pledge drive to raise money to buy the paper. But if we could? I asked media analyst Ken Doctor, who writes the blog Newsonomics, if we should try.

"This is a great buy," Doctor says, without hesitation. He points out that the Globe's newsroom hasn't been gutted, like other papers. It's 365 staff members strong. Plus, adding The Globe would let Marketplace try for the golden fleece of media: convergence. We could be pioneers who bring words, audio, video and digital everything together in one company. In addition, the paper still makes money -- about $20 million a year. So, what should we pay?

"A hundred million would be about four to five times that annual profit, and that is what these newspapers are going for these days," Doctor says.

So I had Kai Ryssdal call our company's chief operating officer in Minnesota, Dave Kansas.

He said no.

"A hundred million is a steal? For dead trees?" he said.

No way.

Maybe just as well, since journalism professor Jeff Jarvis at City University of New York says the Globe, while a great brand, also has major downsides. Debt, pension, big, old facilities, unions and "other difficulties of life" being just a few on his list. Jarvis says we'd have to be prepared to be the bad guys.

"Could you go through the painful process of reducing the Boston Globe to boston.com?"

Massive layoffs and axing the printed paper edition are inevitable, he says, as the Globe undergoes the same digital march so many other papers have taken. Besides, we don't have that $100 million to invest anyway. Let's just ensure our own survival first.

Florida’s Gov. Rick Scott is now urging his state to expand Medicaid under President Obama's health care overhaul, a significant policy shift after it was Scott who helped lead the charge against the new health care law.

But the question states like Florida aren't facing isn't just a political one -- it's economic as well.

Think about it: Washington picks up the tab on expanding Medicaid for the first three years, what’s not to love about that?

Starting next year, individuals and families who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level -- about $25,000 for a family of three -- will become eligible for Medicaid. And the government will pick up 100 percent of the tab.

Again: What’s not to love?

“Well, first of all they don’t pick up 100 percent of the tab,” says Ed Haislmaier, a senior researcher fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

OK?

“The first three years the federal government pays 100 percent of the benefits costs, not the administrative costs,” he says.

But Haislmaier admits that’s small change. The big hit comes when the three years are up and the federal match starts to taper off to 90 percent.

“In Florida, by 2020, this is going to cost $832 million a year,” says Haislmaier.

Plus, the recession pushed more people into poverty and onto Medicaid and state budgets shrank. Expanding Medicaid now is just too expensive. Haislmaier says it doesn’t matter how sweet the offer from Washington.

“That’s like saying I’m going to give you a car and pay 90 percent. If you don’t have the other 10 percent, that’s not a great deal,” he says.

It’s true, states would have to cough up some dough: $5.5 billion over the next decade in the case of Florida.

Urban Institute economist John Holahan says it’s worth it. For every dollar Florida spends, it gets $12 back from the feds.

“There just aren’t that many ways to get that kind of a return, if you are a state official,” he says.

It all comes down to where the state officials want to spend taxpayer dollars, says Joan Alker of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. No matter what, she say, you can’t wish away the problem of the uninsured.

“This allows states to use taxpayer dollars in a smarter way by giving them primary and preventive care up front rather than waiting until they get sicker and wind up in the emergency room,” she says.

Alker says the reality in some states is elected leaders will have to spend political capital if they want to make financial sense.

In early 2012, experiments that made H5N1 bird flu more contagious caused an uproar. People feared that mutant viruses could escape the lab and kill people. To prevent a repeat, the government has unveiled a policy describing how scientists should study dangerous pathogens and toxins.

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In early 2012, experiments that made H5N1 bird flu more contagious caused an uproar. People feared that mutant viruses could escape the lab and kill people. To prevent a repeat, the government has unveiled a policy describing how scientists should study dangerous pathogens and toxins.

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When I was a kid growing up in the last century and there was a new song I liked, I’d wait by the radio to catch it. But that equation has changed, says Camy Jun, a 20-year-old sophomore at Chapman College.

“At home listening to music, I’ll either listen to YouTube or iTunes and I listen to the radio when I’m in the car, but never outside of that,” says Jun.

And when Jun hears a song on the radio she likes, she goes to YouTube to find it. And that’s also where she discovers new music.

“Everybody always knew that there was a lot of consumption and that Youtube is a phenomenal venue to break new artist and break new songs,” said Robert Kyncl, the head of global content at YouTube. He says YouTube’s been part of the music hit-making ecosystem for quite a while now.

“We are part of the ecosytem, we shouldn’t be isolated and sit out there on an island,” Kyncl said.

Billboard has been including data from major streaming music sites like Spotify and Rhapsody but it just started including YouTube today. And that’s put the "Harlem Shake" -- a song that’s also become a popular video meme on YouTube -- to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. "Harlem Shake" is the first song by a virtual unknown to hit the top of the charts.

Andrea Domanick is an entertainment writer at the Las Vegas Sun. She says if artists want a song to be a hit, it’s almost essential to have it on YouTube.

“There’s been maybe one or two occasions where I have not been able to find a song I wanted to listen to on YouTube and it’s been incredibly frustrating,” said Domanick. “And I remember thinking, what, why, how does this person not have this song up? Do they not want people to hear their music?”

Domanick says YouTube is basically the new radio, and it’s about time Billboard acknowledged it.

The blasts took place near government and military buildings in one of the deadliest days in the capital since the uprising began almost two years ago.

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The birds are roaming the town of Albany on the east side of San Francisco Bay. They're messy, they're loud and they can be aggressive. And if you don't think they can be scary, check how freaked out one California TV producer got when she encountered just one turkey in another town.

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Corporate tax credits improved its profits, but those were tempered by the payroll tax increase on its customers.

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