Dan Bobkoff

Several big retailers say the return of the full payroll tax is causing consumers to curtail spending, but so far the evidence is mostly anecdotal. Some analysts argue a variety of factors, and not any specific policy, contributed to slower growth in consumer spending in January.

Going public is typically considered an achievement. But reverting to private ownership — as computer giant Dell plans to do — can have benefits, too, like enabling managers to focus on long-term strategies or conduct shake-ups in private. Still, withdrawing from the stock market also carries some risks.

If you usually wait until April to file your taxes, you might want to hurry up — before identity thieves beat you to it. Using stolen names and Social Security numbers, these criminals file fake tax returns. This generates big, and fraudulent, refunds, before the real taxpayer gets around to filing.

Authorities say they've broken up one of the biggest credit card fraud rings in U.S. history. The group stole more than $200 million by creating fake identities and opening thousands of card accounts.

Tech companies like Google, Facebook and Zynga are on a shopping spree. They're buying small startups with innovative products and apps. But many times the buyers don't care about what the small companies were producing. They just want the engineers.

A growing number of cities are tearing down freeways that have reached the end of their useful lives. Cities as diverse as New Haven, New Orleans and Seattle are either dismantling major roads or considering it to save money and improve the quality of life for residents.

Some people still call it the Steel City, but the soot from a bygone era is gone. It's been replaced by efforts to transform the city into a high-tech center. And with an unemployment rate that's lower than the national average and 1,600 technology companies, the city is well on its way.