Business & Economy

The second of a two-part interview with the writer and political economist. Today, Reich discusses how the U.S. can improve its economic health in light of a shifting global landscape.

The first half of a two part interview with political economist Robert Reich. Reich's new book, "The Work of Nations," examines how new global realities have changed economic conditions for Americans. While many blue collar jobs go overseas, wealth in the U.S. has become concentrated in the top fifth of population.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer is a former Vietnam War correspondent. In his new book "The Next Century," he contends that the 20th century is the end of America's economic dominance in the world. He questions the meaning of a victory in the Gulf when there are so many problems at home that we've delayed and ignored.

Shabalala, who died Feb. 11, fronted of the South African a capella group. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1991 about collaborating with Paul Simon on Graceland and growing up on a farm.

Terry talks with humorist Calvin Trillin and cartoonist Edward Koren from the The New Yorker about the magazine's impending move. The magazine has been at its present location for almost 60 years. Some of the original office's furnishings are going to the Smithsonian.

Christopher Flavin is a senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington-based think tank that monitors the state of the environment. He believes President Bush's new energy policies miss several opportunities for reforms, including taxes which would promote greater conservation of resources.

Economics writer Robert Kuttner returns to discuss his new book, "The End of Laissez Faire." In it, he proposes that the United States give up its roles as world policeman and focus on the type of governmental economic planning that has benefited the Japanese and Germans.

Economist Robert Kuttner joins Fresh Air to talk about how the war affects the economy. Though the stock market has soared, the real economy has suffered, the the national debt grows deeper every day.

Fresh Air producer Amy Salit interviews Joe Stork, the editor-chief of "Middle East Report." He'll discuss the unequal distribution of wealth in the Middle East. Kuwait's has a strong economy tied to their oil production; their reluctance to share it with other, poorer, Arab countries has been cited as one of the motives behind Iraq's invasion.

Sherry Ettleson is a staff attorney for Public Citizen's Congress Watch, and a member of the financial democracy campaign. She did research for the new book, "Who Robbed America?," and joins Fresh Air to discuss current legislation regarding who should bail out the banks.

Daniel Yergi is president of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an international energy consulting firm. He is one of the leading authorities on the oil business, and has a new book called, "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power," which details how European interventions in the Middle East in the wake of World War I shaped the modern petroleum trade.

Callen's new book profiles the longest surviving people with the virus, including himself; he was diagnosed in 1982. Also an AIDS activist, he co-founded the People With AIDS Coalition and the Community Research Initiative.

Television critic David Bianculli examines infomercials -- long commercials that disguise themselves as news or entertainment shows.

Contributing editor to Harper's Magazine L.J Davis recently reported on the history and current crisis of the savings and loans system.

Ellis Island reopens to the public soon. Commentator Maureen Corrigan shares her disappointment that she'll have to pay if she wants her grandparents' names inscribed on the new American Immigrant Wall of Honor.

Coyote was a member of the Digger, a San Francisco-based guerrilla theater collective. After a brief stint as a stockbroker, he's now a movie actor, appearing in Jagged Edge, E.T., and Outrageous Fortune. He wrote the introduction to a new edition of Emmett Grogan's autobiography, Ringolevio, about the 1960s counterculture.

Rooker appears in two recently-released films -- the big budget action flick Days of Thunder, and the independently produced Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. He was born into a poor, predominantly white town in Alabama, and later moved to a black neighborhood in Chicago. After growing up among people working 15-hour days, it took Rooker until his early twenties to believe that acting could be a real job.

The African American film director is best known for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which added a political dimension to the black action movie genre. Van Peebles says that, unlike his own work, the blaxploitation films that came later were apologies for systems of oppression, not critiques of them. Prior to his career in film, he lived in France as a writer. His new book, coauthored by his son Mario, is called No Identity Crisis.

Commentator Leslie Savan says that American corporations have a vested interest in breaking into Soviet Bloc markets -- and they're spreading their capitalist message through TV ads.

Book critic John Leonard says Joseph Wambaugh's police thrillers vary in quality, though they're all enjoyable. The writer's newest book, The Golden Orange, about an ex-cop in Southern California, is a return to form.