"Do you Yahoo?" was the web giant's catchphrase, but not enough people are answering in the affirmative these days. Yahoo has announced that it is laying off 2,000 employees in the hopes of turning around the company. Joe Nocera, Op-Ed columnist for our partner The New York Times, says Yahoo should be a cautionary tale for other tech companies like Google and Facebook, who might be next in line.

A new report by Germany's central bank says women at the top of the banking industry spur their male colleagues to take bigger risks. Based on an analysis of German bank executive teams from 1994 to 2010, the Bundesbank study undermines the widely held view of the "calming influence" female staff have on a male-driven industry. The report – which also says the presence of women in senior roles was a contributing factor to the banking crash – has provoked a furious response. Mary Ellen Iskenderian is the President and CEO of Women's World Banking.

Energy independence has the potentitial to completely reshape American foreign policy and the U.S. economy, yet environmental concerns persist. We're joined by Clifford Krauss, oil and gas business reporter for our partner The New York Times, to discuss the possibility of energy independence.

Twenty-five years ago, in 1987, a novel called “The Bonfire of the Vanities” was published. Written by Tom Wolfe, the book touched on issues of class privilege, racism, greed, and politics, and came to define an era in New York City and in America. A quarter century later, the BBC is looking back on “The Bonfire of the Vanities” with journalist and personal finance expert Alvin Hall. How much has changed in New York in the years since it was published, and how much is the same?

After promising a new business tax plan in his State of the Union Address last month, President Obama revealed his corporate tax overhaul on Wednesday. The plan includes fewer tax loopholes, reduces tax rates to from 35 percent to 25 percent for manufacturers, creates a new minimum tax for foreign earnings and simplifies the tax code for small businesses. Critics, like Mitt Romney, argue for even lower taxes for corporations. But what do manufacturers and small business owners have to say about Obama’s plan?

Another positive signal for the economy today as it was revealed that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent. The economy added 243,000 jobs, more than expected. What does this mean for the economic recovery? Joining the program is Kelly Evans from The Wall Street Journal. 

On Wednesday, American Airlines declared that it would lay off 13,000 workers or 15 percent of its workforce. The company is attempting to emerge from bankruptcy, which it filed last November. Along with the layoffs, the company is seeking to cut employee pensions and some health benefits. AA CEO Tom Horton called the decisions "painful" but said in the end, the moves would preserve tens of thousands of jobs that would have otherwise been lost.

Facebook is scheduled to release its initial public offering sometime on Wednesday, and is rumored to be valued at $100 billion. If it turns out to be worth more than $100 billion, Facebook would be the fifteenth-largest IPO in world history, out-valuing Google's 2004 IPO by sixfold. This means big changes for the company itself, which could see many of its chief ideas people and programmers striking out on their own.

Millions of Americans love their Apple products: from iPods to MacBooks to iPads. But there's a story behind the beloved devices. How do they get made and what price is paid? Our partner The New York Times has been investigating and this morning's story is a riveting read, in particular the safely problems at a Chinese factory that makes iPads.

The Federal Reserve announced its plan on Wednesday to keep short-term interest rates near zero through late 2014. The move signals that the Fed does not expect the economy to fully recover over the next three years. With unemployment still running high, the Fed expects the economy to expand between 2.2 and 2.7 percent over this year, instead of at 2.9 percent as originally projected.

A business and tech story that has the ring of the inevitable to it. A company that practically alone, created the modern global high-tech consumer culture has declared bankruptcy. Eastman Kodak, this morning a penny stock on the New York Stock exchange. The company that invented consumer photography, more than a century ago has filed for bankruptcy, taken out a credit lifeline, put it's portfolio of storied patents on the block, and started a clock which may tick down to the total end of an American technology story that is among other things emblematic of the digital age we live in.

China's economy, the world's second-largest, grew at its slowest pace in more than two years, latest government figures show. Gross domestic product expanded by 8.9 percent in the three months to the end of December, from a year earlier. That is down from 9.1 percent in the previous quarter. The statistics bureau data showed that growth for the full year was 9.2 percent, down from 10.3 percent in 2010. Analysts said they expect the economy to slow further this year.

AT&T announced Monday that it would end its attempted takeover of T-Mobile, saying that it could not overcome opposition from the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission. The $39 billion deal would have been the largest corporate merger of the year, and would have created the nation's biggest mobile phone provider. The Obama administration opposed the deal on anti-trust grounds, and the Justice Department sued in August to stop the merger from happening. Michael de la Merced, Dealbook reporter for The New York Times, discusses the latest on the story.

Much has been made of the top one percent of American wage earners in recent headlines. The Occupy movements have made them the living embodiment of the nation’s growing income inequality. But, new federal tax data shows that the story may be slightly more complicated than we originally thought.

One of the bright spots in the American economy right now is coming from the manufacturing sector. According to the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly survey of purchasing and supply executives, activity at U.S. factories has grown at its fastest rate in five months. And in the automobile sector, the growth rate is translating into new jobs.

Despite high gas prices, the U.S. is set to become a net fuel exporter for the first time in 62 years. While the U.S. is still importing 8 to 9 million barrels of crude oil a day, it is exporting a greater amount of refined fuel and petroleum products. The spike in exports is primarily driven by an increased demand for fuel worldwide combined with declining consumption here at home. But is the nation's newfound role as fuel exporter a blip on the map or a sustainable trend?

The Takeaway kicks off a new series today where we talk with voters from each of the key electoral states to see what the political and economic situation feels like on the ground. We begin in Pennsylvania, where President Obama will be spending the day Wednesday discussing his jobs bill, and garnering the support of his base at the same time. Joining the roundtable discussion are Walt Rowen, owner of Susquehanna Glass Company in Columbia, PA, Randy Robertson, owner and president Triple R. Guitar in Lemoyne, PA and Jackie Magaro, owner and operator of Mr. Sandman, a residential restoration service company.

Though it sounds like bad news, some analysts are saying the bankruptcy filing by American Airlines and its parent company could be a good thing. On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings said American Airlines' bankruptcy opens "yet another window for structure change" in the flailing U.S. airline industry. Can an industry facing skyrocketing fuel prices, increasingly complex security procedures, and growing concerns about air traffic control safety find its wings?

A federal judge rejected a $285 million settlement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission, objecting to the practice of allowing banks to settle fraud cases without admitting guilt. Citi may now face a trial over the sale of toxic mortgages which cost investors millions but made the bank profit. The judge said the public has a right to "the transparency of financial markets whose gyrations have so depressed our economy and debilitated our lives."

On Friday, the FDA ruled that cancer drug Avastin should not be used to treat breast cancer because Avastin’s risky side-effects outweigh its benefits for breast cancer patients. "Women who take Avastin for metastatic breast cancer risk potentially life threatening or serious side-effects, such as heart attacks or heart failure, severe high blood pressure, bleeding or hemorrhaging," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg said.