The word "business" leads here; for other meaning see The Business.

In economics, business is the social science of managing people to organize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate revenue.

The etymology of "business" refers to the state of being busy, in the context of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work.

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NPR Topics: Business

Worried Consumers Continue To Shun Credit
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:10:00 -0500
Consumers borrowed less for a record eighth straight month in September amid rising unemployment and tight credit conditions. Economists worry the declines in borrowing will drag on the fledgling recovery. The Federal Reserve said borrowing fell at an annual rate of $14.8 billion in September.
Money In A Bottle: The Celebrity Scent Business
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:30:00 -0500
If you walk down the cosmetics aisle of any big store, you might mistake the perfume collection for the guest list to a Hollywood party. But star-studded scents account for only about 10 percent of fragrance sales; their value is the publicity.
U.S. Economic Steps May Be Leading To Bubble
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:29:00 -0500
The global economy is slowly recovering after the worst financial crisis in decades, but government efforts to stimulate growth, including the Fed's move to drive interest rates down to zero, may be creating another problem. Prices for assets — gold, stocks and real estate in Asia — are soaring, leading to warnings that a new bubble could be forming.

Latest financial news - CNNMoney.com

Five more banks fail - 120 for the year
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:43:45 -0500
Five banks failed late Friday, bringing the 2009 tally to 120.
Art auction lifts hope for industry rebound
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:52:06 -0500
A recent sale of Impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's auction house exceeded sales estimates and raised the hopes of industry insiders that a rebound is under way.
Berkshire Hathaway for $68? Sweet!
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:32:45 -0500
I don't know about you, but I don't have a spare $101,900 stuffed under my couch cushions to buy an "A" share of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. I probably could scrounge together $3,395 for one "B" share, but I would rather not.

The Financial Page

James Surowiecki: Priced to Go
James Surowiecki Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0000
In the spring of 1992, the airline industry was in dismal shape, debilitated by the recently ended recession and an overreliance on discounting. So American Airlines announced a new “value pricing” plan, which entailed cutting fares while replacing complex discounts with a simple, four-tier price system. It . . .
James Surowiecki: Why Banks Stay Big
James Surowiecki Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0000
Before the financial crisis, the banking industry was too concentrated and clubby. And now? It’s even more so. In the midst of the crisis, the country’s four biggest banks—Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo—actually got bigger. Thanks primarily to . . .
James Surowiecki: Exit Through Lobby
James Surowiecki Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0000
Resigning in protest is not in the American grain. Robert McNamara stuck around as Secretary of Defense even after he decided that the Vietnam War was a disaster; Colin Powell did the same during the Bush Administration’s push for war with Iraq; and in the lead-up to . . .

Reuters: Business News

Stocks eye retailers as jobless ranks swell
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:59:07 -0500
NEW YORK (Reuters) - As unemployment in the United States edges above 10 percent, anxious investors will look to earnings reports from major retailers for signs of life in the beaten-up consumer.
Freddie Mac posts $5 billion loss
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:59:08 -0500
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a "prolonged deterioration" in housing.
Berkshire Hathaway's net income triples
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:47:41 -0500
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Friday said quarterly earnings tripled, as rising stock markets boosted its investment holdings and a quiet hurricane season contributed to higher insurance profit.

ABC News: Money

Unemployment Hits 10.2%, Highest in 26 Years
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:30:04 -0500
Employers shed 190,000 jobs over the past month.
Watchdog: Taxpayers Likely to See Profit From Govt. Bank Help
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:04:39 -0500
Congressional Oversight Panel: Fees from govt. guarantees will bring profits.
Wife No. 2 Paying for Wife No. 1? Join the Club
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:56:16 -0500
Massachusetts' 2nd Wives Club lobbies to change rules on alimony payments.

BBC News | Business | UK Edition

Rifts appear ahead of G20 meeting
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:20:10 -0000
Disputes over climate change and stimulus spending have emerged ahead of a G20 meeting in St Andrews in Fife.
Treasury seeks RBS lending proof
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:17:26 -0000
The Treasury demands proof from bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland that there is little demand for its business loans.
US jobless rate rises to over 10%
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:47:19 -0000
The US economy lost 190,000 jobs in October, taking the jobless rate above 10% for the first time since 1983.

The Economist: Business

Foreign investors in Hungary: Less welcome
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:12 -0000
Are populist politicians turning on foreign capital?FOREIGN investment helped catapult central Europe to prosperity over the past 20 years. To escape the current recession it will need more of it. But a populist response to the economic crisis is pulling in the opposite direction, as several recent incidents in Hungary illustrate. The body that administers Hungary’s airwaves, ORTT, has taken the two nationwide radio licences away from foreign-owned stations and given them to two local firms, one of which has links to Fidesz, the right-wing opposition party. The body’s chairman, Laszlo Majtenyi, has resigned, complaining that the decision—by delegates from Fidesz and the ruling Socialist party—broke the law. A parliamentary investigation has been blocked, prompting speculation about a political stitch-up. ...
Gift certificates get a makeover: The gift that gives back
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:12 -0000
Retailers are using gift certificates to drum up more businessGIFT certificates, or rather their high-tech new replacements, gift cards (certificates in the form of credit cards), are America’s most popular present. They spare gift-givers the strain of choosing anything specific, and recipients the horror of having to keep the result. Retailers like them too, because they are quite profitable. But like most goods in the recession, they have become harder to shift, prompting some radical redesigns.Gift cards are profitable because retailers receive money for them up front, and around 10% of them are never redeemed, according to Lew Paine of the GFK Group, a market-research firm. When people do use them, they often spend more than the amount given, on products with high margins. ...
Berkshire Hathaway buys BNSF: Express from Omaha
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:01:12 -0000
America’s most famous investor buys a railway companyWARREN BUFFETT describes his latest deal as “an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States”. On November 3rd his investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway, agreed to buy the 78% it did not already own of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, America’s second-biggest railway operator, in a deal valued at $44 billion. Saluting the flag has become an integral part of Mr Buffett’s carefully cultivated folksy image, but the deal also looks like a bet on many less stirring ideas, including ever-higher imports from China, heavier traffic through the Panama Canal, higher oil prices and the preservation of coal’s big role in power generation in America. The purchase is Mr Buffett’s biggest yet, but the size is no surprise. Back in 2002 he said, “We are looking for big deals…We have got an elephant gun and it’s loaded.” Berkshire Hathaway is paying around 30% more for Burlington Northern’s shares than their price on the day before the deal was announced, and barely 10% less than their all-time high. Unlike with Mr Buffett’s $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs in the depths of the crisis last September (now worth over $7 billion), he could have bagged this elephant for a lot less money: in March, Burlington Northern shares hit a low of $51, compared with the $100 Berkshire is paying for them now. ...

Business News - UPI.com

British market recalls mothy figs
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:41:31 -0500
LONDON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The Asda supermarket chain, Britian's second-largest, Friday recalled its Wholefoods brand of Garland Figs because of a larvae infestation, the company said.
China opens probe of U.S. car imports
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:39:17 -0500
BEIJING, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Chinese trade officials said the Ministry of Commerce would investigate U.S. vehicle imports for anti-competitive trade practices.
UPI NewsTrack Business
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:32:31 -0500
U.S. markets gains hold up Friday ... GM could deploy U.S. funding overseas ... Chrysler wins over a key executive ... 200 Waldenbooks outlets to close ... News from United Press International.
Grain futures close lower Friday
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:30:04 -0500
CHICAGO, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Grain futures closed lower on the Chicago Board of Trade Friday as stocks were flat in New York on news the U.S. unemployment rate reached 10.2 percent.
Crude oil prices slide Friday
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:07:57 -0500
NEW YORK, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The price of light, sweet crude fell under $78 per barrel Friday as equities stayed flat in New York on news unemployment rose to 10.2 percent in October.
U.S. markets gains hold up Friday
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:54:06 -0500
NEW YORK, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Narrow gains held up in U.S. markets Friday, despite news the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent.

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