Attention Economy – September 30, 2011

• ‘Retirement Heist’: How Firms Trimmed Pensions : NPR 092911
  Companies have claimed for years that old-style pensions were unsustainable. Author Ellen Schultz tells Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep that there’s another explanation. “The main narrative is that [companies] are struggling to pay both their pensions and these unexpectedly high health care costs for the retirees,” Schultz says. “What isn’t known is that companies were well-prepared for this phenomenon. The plans were in fact significantly overfunded. They had more than enough to pay every dime for every person currently employed and already retired.” Schultz investigated the changes in pension plans as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and has written a book called Retirement Heist.
• The ‘Worm’ That Could Bring Down The Internet : NPR 092711
  As many as 12 million computers worldwide have been infected with a highly encrypted computer worm called Conficker. Writer Mark Bowden details how Conficker was discovered, how it works, and the ongoing programming battle to bring down Conficker in his book Worm: The First Digital World War.
• Cheeseheads Take Issue With Anti-Cheese Billboard : NPR 092611
  A billboard went up near the Green Bay Packers’ stadium showing the grim reaper decked out in a cheesehead hat. A physicians group promoting vegan diets says its new ad simply points out that cheese can be unhealthy. Green Bay’s mayor says this is silly. As he put it, “We love our cheeseheads and we love our cheese.”
• Bill O’Reilly: ‘Abraham Lincoln Was Our Best Leader’ : NPR 092611
  BILL O’REILLY: “That’s what the media is today. The media remarkably hasn’t changed since Benjamin Franklin was – written “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” The media is a bunch of guttersnipes and, you know, low – what can I tell you? I mean, look. I’m in the media. I’ve been doing it for 35 years. I know the media as well as anybody in the world knows it. And there are always going to be people who try to make money by slamming other people and by, you know, creating all kinds of stuff that doesn’t really get us anywhere. [STEVE INSKEEP: Do you think you add to that sometimes?] O’REILLY: You know, I try not to do it personally. I think that we bring a robust debate to the nation every night. I think we try to stay away from the personal stuff. We try to back up our opinions with facts. So, yeah. I mean, you can accuse me of anything you want, but, you know, I’m trying to do the right thing.”
• News Corp.’s U.K. Actions Under Scrutiny In U.S. : NPR 092611
  The newest front for News Corp. involves the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law banning American firms from paying bribes to government officials abroad. Columbia University law professor John Coffee, director of the law school’s Center of Corporate Governance, said the company is moving swiftly and powerfully to contain the threat. “The most striking feature of the current standoff is that News Corp. has pretty much assembled a dream team of all-star foreign corrupt practice litigators,” Coffee said. “You don’t put all that investment into this without having some serious concerns about what might happen.”
• Retirement: Reality Not As Rosy As Expectations : NPR 092611
  Americans pride themselves on being optimistic. But Robert Blendon, of the Harvard School of Public Health, says that may not be such a good thing when it comes to planning for retirement. For many Americans, it is proving harder than they imagined, according to a a new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

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