Recovering Madoff's Millions; Extended Foster Care Pays Off; Regulating Risk; Do You Twitter?
Recovering Madoff's Millions
On Thursday Bernard Madoff is expected to plead guilty to 11 felony charges related to his decades-long Ponzi scheme. But for the clients burned by Madoff, the problems continue as many as wonder what they can recover. Prosecutors are pursuing Madoff's assets, though they say that most of the money from investors is gone. Larry Mantle finds out what happens next for those hurt by Madoff with Tom Lauricella of the Wall Street Journal, and Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School.
Extended Foster Care Pays Off
A study released this week shows that the benefits of extending foster care past the age of 18 outweigh the costs. In Illinois, where support extends to age 21, the study finds foster youths three times more likely to enroll in college, 65% less likely to have been arrested and 38% less likely to experience teen pregnancy. Now, a bill has been introduced in Sacramento that would allow California to draw down federal funds to provide continued health, education and other support costs to foster youth through age 21. Larry talks to Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, and John Wagner, Director of the California Department of Social Services.
Regulating Risk
Though many people believe that markets are the best institutions ever invented to ensure the allocation of private sector resources, many also contend that they only work when correctly regulated. Investors must have sufficient information to assess the risks and rewards of what they are buying and the amount of institutional risk underlying those transactions. In the wake of the current financial and economic crisis, economic policy analysts are discussing how they can do a better job in reducing systemic risk in the financial system and create more efficient and safer financial systems that rest on market discipline and sound regulation. Larry and guests Robert Litan of The Brookings Institution, and Alan Reynolds of the Cato Institute talk about how to bring appropriate risk regulation to our financial institutions in order to prevent another crisis.
Do You Twitter?
140 characters is all it takes these days to gain a following, thanks to Twitter. The real-time short messaging service started in 2006 and these days, people are tweeting away from the car to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Besides broadcasting crucial details like what you had for breakfast, Twitter is becoming a vital outlet for people who want their voice to be heard. Larry investigates this new phenomenon. Who is tweeting, what are they tweeting about, and what the future holds for Twitter. This is Twitter 101. Larry talks with Daniel Dumas from Wired, Joellen Easton of Marketplace, and Rachanee Srisvasdi of the Orange County Register.