Business

Last week, we re-aired an episode recorded in 2010 with economist Joshua Gans, author of the book Parentonomics. In the episode, Gans' 11-year old daughter, B., told us about his technique for keeping her from spending too much allowance money on candy:

Remember our reports a few months ago on the odd couple who struck an innovative compromise between egg producers and animal welfare activists? (Here's a hint: The deal calls for egg producers to replace their standard cages with new "enriched" accommodations, complete with perches and nest boxes where chickens can lay their eggs.)

The debate is back over what to do with the Bush tax cuts, which are scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

The Obama administration wants to extend them only for families earning less than $250,000 a year. Republicans generally favor extending them for everyone. What hangs in the balance are tax breaks for wealthier Americans.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon predicted this would happen: The bank "plans to reclaim millions of dollars in stock from executives at the center of the trading blunder that shocked Wall Street," The Wall Street Journal reports

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Some other news. Google and the Federal Trade Commission are near a deal that could result the largest fine for privacy violations ever imposed by that agency.

NPR's Steve Henn has the story.

Manchester United is the most famous soccer team in the United Kingdom, and one of the world's most popular sports teams. Now its owners are hoping the team's popularity will translate into big bucks. They're planning to sell Manchester United stock on the New York Stock Exchange. Roger Blitz, of the Financial Times, talks to Renee Montagne about the team's IPO.

The City Council in San Bernardino, Calif., voted Tuesday night to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, making it the third California city in less than two weeks to make the rare move. The city faces a $45 million budget shortfall.

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The ownership of American pro sports got just a little more international. That's our last word in business today.

Pro basketball's Brooklyn Nets, formerly the New Jersey Nets, are owned by a Russian businessman. An Indonesian media owner possesses part of the Philadelphia 76ers. And now, that same Indonesian man is among the new investors in D.C. United, the pro soccer team. His name is Erick Thohir.

The euro touched a two-year low against the dollar Tuesday, as concerns about the eurozone debt crisis continued.

Despite a recession across much of the eurozone and even predictions of the currency's demise, however, the euro has held up relatively well during this crisis.

Over the last 13 year, it has taken on average $1.21 to buy a euro. Now, even in this midst of this crisis, it's worth virtually the same ($1.22).

What used to be a Spanish tradition is now becoming more of an economic necessity.

In Spain, the social safety net that helps people survive the economic crisis has two parts: government benefits and close family ties. The country has the highest rate in Europe of multi-generational families all living together.

With a quarter of Spaniards out of work, more parents pick up their kids from school themselves, in the middle of what would have been a workday.

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This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel. Executives of the company that makes Blackberries faced their shareholders today in Ottawa, Canada, and it was not a happy meeting. Many investors are upset with the way Research in Motion has been run. The value of RIM stock has plummeted 80 percent with growing competition from iPhones and Droids. And now the company's new management team is trying to convince investors it can turn things around.

Back in the day, Madrid's Palace Hotel was Ernest Hemingway's old haunt, or at least the bar was. Now, rooms at the posh hotel just down from the famed Prado Museum go for up to $6,000 a night. And gathering in its lobby these days? An altogether different type of foreigner: the kind in expensive suits.

"Probably they are institutional investors, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds," says Federico Steinberg, an economist at Madrid's Elcano Institute.

There's a lot of cash around the world, he says, and a lot of people looking for bargains.

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This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Heat in the summertime is usually not news, but this year is more than a little out of the ordinary. The first six months of 2012 is already on the books as the warmest half-year on record according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.