Last week, President Barack Obama unveiled his strategy for a staged troop withdrawal out of Afghanistan. He followed the announcement with a plan to focus more attention on rebuilding the home front. We asked our listeners how they would put the estimated $10 billion per month that the country currently spends in Afghanistan to better use here at home. We received a ton of great responses, many of them focused on the exploration and development of green technologies.

The crisis in Japan has finally hit home for stock markets around the world. Investors are concerned that electronics manufacturers, who import chips from Japan could be affected by lapses in the supply chain. Two of Japan's top companies, Honda and Toyota have halted production at their Japanese plants and Detroit is highly dependent on parts from Japan. At the same time, the disaster in Japan has raised questions about the energy industry here in the United States. 

Back in 2008, the price of a barrel of oil rose to $133, and prices at the pump topped $4 per gallon. As the economy slowed, and demand for oil dropped, the price did as well. However, the cost of oil has risen to just over $90 a barrel, as confidence in the economic recovery grows stronger and the price of filling up your car is expected to keep rising throughout 2011. What will happen to our economic recovery if we hit the psychological benchmark of $100 per barrel or higher this year?