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

Price Fight: Coke Isn't It At Costco
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 -0500
If you're a member of Costco, the nation's largest wholesale club, you may be surprised to learn that Coca-Cola's products are no longer on the shelves. The two companies are locked in a rare public dispute over the price consumers pay for beverages.
'Oprah Winfrey Show' To Go Off The Air In 2011
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:41:00 -0500
The talk-show icon will call it a wrap after 25 seasons, her production company said. A formal announcement is expected on Friday's edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Geithner: Use Leftover Bailout Money To Cut Deficit
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:18:00 -0500
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the government's $700 billion bailout program will end "as soon as we can," and that part of it will be used to lower the record deficit. He urged Congress to move quickly in overhauling the nation's financial rules, which he says is key to a healthy economy.

Latest financial news - CNNMoney.com

Gap profit spikes 25%
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:07:53 -0500
Read full story for latest details.
Is TARP bailout helping the economy?
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:18:43 -0500
As the Obama administration considers how to approach the next phase of the $700 billion financial bailout, questions are being raised on Capitol Hill about whether it is helping the economy.
Dell misses forecasts, shares sink
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:16:09 -0500
Shares of Dell Inc. fell sharply following the stock market's close on Thursday, after the PC maker reported drastically lower quarterly profit and sales that badly missed Wall Street's forecasts.

The Financial Page

James Surowiecki: The Debt Economy
James Surowiecki Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:00:00 -0000
John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that all financial crises are the result of “debt that, in one fashion or another, has become dangerously out of scale.” The recent financial crisis was no exception, with everyone—homeowners, private-equity investors, our biggest banks—taking on enormous amounts of . . .
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 . . .

Reuters: Business News

Asia shares dip in nervous trade, dollar steady
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:01:31 -0500
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian shares slipped on Friday, but recovered some early losses, while the dollar was steady after U.S. data raised fears that a global economic recovery could lose momentum.
Dell bets on corporate spending for recovery
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:34:20 -0500
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Dell, the world's No.3 PC brand, said on Friday that its core business of selling computers to companies was returning, after a sharp drop-off during the global downturn led to disappointing quarterly results.
GE, Vivendi $1 billion apart over NBC Universal stake: report
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:55:52 -0500
NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric and Vivendi are at least $1 billion apart in their valuation of the French group's stake in NBC Universal, the Financial Times said on Thursday.

ABC News: Money

Mammogram Guidelines Motivated by Money?
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:39:52 -0500
Panel insist financials played no factor-- others aren't so sure. Forensics - Student - Organizations - Competitions - Academic
Hollywood's Top 10 Most Overpaid Stars
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:42:58 -0500
Why Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy and Tom Cruise may not be worth big bucks. Tom Cruise - EddieMurphy - Recreation - Travel - Specialty Travel
2 More: GOP Lawmakers Want Geithner's Head
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:38:32 -0500
Two more lawmakers call for Geithner's head as Geithner redirects blame to Bush. United States Secretary of the Treasury - United States - Presidents - History - Bush George Walker

BBC News | Business | UK Edition

Good weather boosts Fuller profit
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:47:53 -0000
Brewer Fullers reports a 26% rise in half-year profits as the good early summer weather boosted beer sales.
Japan says deflation has returned
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:01:49 -0000
The Japanese government warns that deflation has returned to the economy for the first time since 2006.
Thousands of Vicks spray recalled
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:31:49 -0000
Procter & Gamble is recalling 120,000 bottles of Vicks Sinex nasal spray after small traces of bacteria were found.

The Economist: Business

A spat among professional networks: Class war
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:39:49 -0000
Does local beat global in the professional-networking business?IN THE three-way fight between the biggest online professional networks—America’s LinkedIn, France’s Viadeo and Germany’s Xing—this week the French contender scored a victory. Last year LinkedIn had struck a deal with Apec, France’s best-known professional-recruitment service, to offer search functions to its huge customer base of over 30,000 companies and 500,000 executives. But on November 17th Apec made a new deal with Viadeo, having noted that although LinkedIn could reach executives at France’s biggest international companies, it failed to connect enough people in the country’s thousands of smaller firms.In professional networking, argues Dan Serfaty, Viadeo’s founder, having local depth is better than signing up a narrow slice of the highest-powered people around the world. A typical LinkedIn member would be an investment banker at Societe Generale, a French bank, he says, “too proud to invite his friends to join or to pay for it”. In contrast, Mr Serfaty claims, Viadeo signs up branch managers for Societe Generale, who use the site often and are happy to spend €5 ($7.50) a month on a subscription. Local entrepreneurs and provincial civil servants may be less impressive as members than Bill Gates, Microsoft’s co-founder, Mr Serfaty continues, but they are more engaged. (Mr Gates has been on LinkedIn since last year, and so far has made only five connections to other members.) At Xing, too, a hyper-local network which went public in 2006, the typical member is not a senior executive but a middle manager, says Stefan Gross-Selbeck, its boss. ...
LNG expands in Australia: Explosive growth
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:39:49 -0000
Australia is becoming one of the world’s biggest exporters of gasWALLAROOS, bandicoots and other marsupials on Barrow Island off the north-west coast of Australia will watch curiously over coming months as workers start building a huge plant to liquefy natural gas there. The project, called Gorgon after the group of gasfields lying under the seabed nearby, had been on the drawing board for 30 years before a surge in demand for gas from booming Asian countries finally got things moving. Jon Chadwick, an executive vice-president at Royal Dutch Shell, which is involved in Gorgon and several other liquefied natural gas (LNG) schemes nearby, predicts that by 2020 Australia could become the world’s second-biggest exporter of LNG (it is now fifth), surpassed only by Qatar.Australia has long been considered a “lucky country” thanks to its wealth of natural resources. Prodigious exports of iron ore, coal and other commodities have helped it survive the global downturn without a recession. Ken Henry, Australia’s most senior financial bureaucrat, talks of “a period of unprecedented prosperity” ahead. If so, gas will be one of its main drivers, dwarfing even earlier resource booms in its scale. ...
Corporate crime is on the rise: The rot spreads
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:39:49 -0000
A survey reveals that desperate times have led to illegal measuresTHE recession has taken its toll on morals as well as profits. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a consulting and accounting firm, has conducted a biennial survey of economic crime for the past ten years. The most recent, published on November 19th, is not only the most thorough, based on over 3,000 responses from firms in 54 countries. In many ways it is also the most worrying. A third of those responding reported that they had suffered at least one economic crime in the past year. The incidence was particularly high in developing countries, notably Russia; in financial services and communications; in big companies and in state-owned enterprises. ...

Business News - UPI.com

Economic Outlook: Frustrations build
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:00 -0500
By ANTHONY HALLUnited Press International Battles over regulatory change in Washington heated up Thursday, as a House panel approved audits of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
S. Korea says no to FTA renegotiation
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:39:26 -0500
SEOUL, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The June 2007 South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement cannot be renegotiated, a South Korean presidential official said Friday.
Google shows off Chrome
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:40:29 -0500
MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Internet behemoth Google Thursday showed off for the first time the Chrome operating system it intends to debut in late 2010.
Extending unpopular TARP considered
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:38:58 -0500
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Sources close to the government said the Obama administration is leaning toward an extension of the $700 billion bailout fund, in part to pay down U.S. debt.
UPI NewsTrack Business
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:38:23 -0500
U.S. markets slide Thursday ... Report: Corporate crime up in Canada ... Lending up nominally in Britain ... Mid-Atlantic manufacturing up slightly ... News from United Press International.
Crude oil prices drop on demand concerns
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:26:17 -0500
NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices dropped to under $78 per barrel in part because the weather has been nice, industry analysts said.

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