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

Craigslist Drops Adult Services Ads
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:23:00 -0400
The section on the website was replaced with a black bar that says "censored." A group of state attorneys general had asked the site to drop the section last month, saying there weren't enough protections against blocking potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking.
Report: Blackwater Created Shell Companies
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:10:00 -0400
The report on the newspaper's website says Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has asked the Justice Department to see whether Blackwater misled the government when using the subsidiaries to gain government contracts.
On Jobs, U.S. Now Ranks Worse Than Similar Nations
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:01:00 -0400
The U.S. unemployment rate surged far higher and has remained higher than in other major industrial countries. It's now at 9.6 percent. The big shift came when American companies cut workers more aggressively than foreign firms in the face of the financial crisis.

Latest financial news - CNNMoney.com

Obama's economy boost - just don't call it stimulus
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:54:37 -0400
President Obama is pledging to propose a new package of job-boosting ideas next week -- just don't call it stimulus.
Dollar slips on return to risk
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:23:24 -0400
As better-than-expected economic data boosted investor morale this week, the greenback lost some of its luster, falling against a basket of currencies.
Where the jobs are now, and where they'll be next
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:07:10 -0400
U.S. companies modestly added jobs in August, easing concerns that the nation might slip back into a recession. The latest jobs report released by the Labor Department today is better than expected. Employment in the private sector rose by 67,000 payrolls, after a revised 107,000 increase in July that was more than originally estimated. The report immediately sent stocks rallying, despite the fact that overall employment dropped and the unemployment rate climbed to 9.6% from 9.5%, as more people actively searched for jobs.

The Financial Page

James Surowiecki: The crisis in customer service.
James Surowiecki Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0000
American workers are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore. That’s the clear message of flight attendant Steven Slater’s emergence as a “working-class hero,” after he threw his job away with a tirade against passengers and a . . .
James Surowiecki: Building a smarter tax code.
James Surowiecki Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0000
The fight on Capitol Hill over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts is about many things: deficit reduction, economic stimulus, supply-side ideology. But at its core is a simple question: who counts as rich? The Obama Administration’s answer is that you’re rich if you . . .
James Surowiecki: Wall Street, the White House, and the weak economy.
James Surowiecki Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:00:00 -0000
The U.S. economy is limping along. The job market is in rotten shape, and business investment is hitting historic lows. And, if you’re looking for a culprit for this dismal state of affairs, many businesspeople would be happy to point you to the White House. Companies aren’ . . .

Reuters: Business News

Stocks rally as jobs data spurs optimism
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:07:23 -0400
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street closed a stellar week on Friday after recent economic data, including a stronger-than-expected labor market report, bolstered optimism that the economy would not fall back into recession.
Venezuela OKs payment for French retailer Casino
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:09:56 -0400
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has approved a $690 million payment to French retailer Casino and other owners of a supermarket chain nationalized earlier this year, state media said on Saturday.
Taxpayers likely to face initial loss on GM IPO: sources
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:33:47 -0400
NEW YORK/DETROIT (Reuters) - The U.S. government is likely to take a loss on General Motors Co in the first offering of the automaker's stock, six people familiar with preparations for the landmark IPO said.

ABC News: Money

Communities Get 'First Look' at Forecloses
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:10:01 -0400
Programs offers communities advance notice on foreclosures United States - Real estate - Foreclosure - Federal Reserve System - Education
Unemployment Rate Rises to 9.6 Percent
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:18:44 -0400
Despite some hiring, nation's unemployment rate seems frozen at more than 9 percent Unemployment - Work - United States - Labor Movement - Labor force
First Medical Marijuana Commercial Airs
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:07:28 -0400
A decision by a Fox affiliate in California's capital to broadcast what is believed to be the first paid ad for a medical marijuana dispensary has caused hardly a stir, according to the station general manager and the advertiser. Medical cannabis - California - Health - Drugs - Illegal

BBC News - Business

Six million facing new tax bills
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:40:43 -0000
HM Revenue and Customs says some 1.4 million people each owe about £1,500 in tax, while 4.3 million will get an average rebate of £418.
UN calls special food price talks
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:40:42 -0000
The United Nations' food agency calls a special meeting of policy makers to discuss the recent rapid rises in food prices.
HSBC threatens to quit London HQ
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:19:19 -0000
HSBC may quit its London headquarters if the UK government decides to break up big banks, a senior executive says.

The Economist: Business

Intellectual-property battles: Patent lather
Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:46:15 -0000
Paul Allen has rekindled a controversy over patent trollsDEEP-FRIED beer may sound scrumptious, but is it patentable? Mark Zable, an inventive Texan, thinks it is. To protect his novel production process, which involves encasing the alcohol in batter and dunking it in a fryer, he recently applied for a patent. He wants to profit if others exploit his beery brainwave. Without patents to protect their creations, inventors would have little incentive to invent. But some Americans fret that patent protection has grown too strong. The system breeds so many lawsuits, they worry, that it throttles the innovation it is supposed to promote. ...
Mobile internet in emerging markets: The next billion geeks
Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:46:15 -0000
How the mobile internet will transform the BRICI countriesBUYING a mobile phone was the wisest $20 Ranvir Singh ever spent. Mr Singh, a farmer in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, used to make appointments in person, in advance, to deliver fresh buffalo milk to his 40-odd neighbours. Now his customers just call when they want some. Mr Singh’s income has risen by 25%, to 7,000 rupees ($149) a month. And he hears rumours of an even more bountiful technology. He has heard that “something on mobile phones” can tell him the current market price of his wheat. Mr Singh does not know that that “something” is the internet, because, like most Indians, he has never seen or used it. But the phone in his calloused hand hints at how hundreds of millions of people in emerging markets—perhaps even billions—will one day log on. Only 81m Indians (7% of the population) regularly use the internet. But brutal price wars mean that 507m own mobile phones. Calls cost as little as $0.006 per minute. Indian operators such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications sign up 20m new subscribers a month. ...
Schumpeter: Declining by degree
Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:46:15 -0000
Will America’s universities go the way of its car companies?FIFTY years ago, in the glorious age of three-martini lunches and all-smoking offices, America’s car companies were universally admired. Everybody wanted to know the secrets of their success. How did they churn out dazzling new models every year? How did they manage so many people so successfully (General Motors was then the biggest private-sector employer in the world)? And how did they keep their customers so happy? Today the world is equally in awe of American universities. They dominate global rankings: on the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy’s list of the world’s best universities, 17 of the top 20 are American, and 35 of the top 50. They employ 70% of living Nobel prizewinners in science and economics and produce a disproportionate share of the world’s most-cited articles in academic journals. Everyone wants to know their secret recipe. ...

Business News - UPI.com

Executive spending provokes lawsuit
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:43:24 -0400
NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- New Jersey company Access Communications is suing former owner Michael Mitrow for overuse of the corporate credit card, court papers say. New Jersey - Lawsuit - United States - NEW YORK - Credit card
Disney, Time Warner reach agreement
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:59:13 -0400
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Time Warner Cable Inc. and Walt Disney Co. said they had agreed to new contract terms that would continue programming without disruptions for U.S. viewers. Time Warner Cable - Walt Disney Company - Disney - Arts - Production
Texas probing Google on antitrust matters
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:23:45 -0400
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Internet giant Google said it would cooperate with an antitrust investigation conducted by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Google - Texas - Texas Attorney General - Search - Greg Abbott
Earthquake jars Christchurch, New Zealand
Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:25:09 -0400
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Officials have declared a state of emergency in Christchurch, New Zealand, where a 7.1 Subscribe to Business RSS feed