The U.S. president rakes in a salary of $400,000 and lives in a 132-room mansion. With a full-time pastry chef and private cinema at his or her disposal, the leader of the free world wants for nothing. Which of the perks are the priciest? See more »

Diamond mining has long been associated with war, death and greed. The Kimberley Process made it possible to regulate the diamond market, but is it on the brink of collapse? See more »

Tax rebates are one trick lawmakers and economists use to prevent a recession. But do they knock the economy back on track or merely delay the inevitable? See more »

Gas prices have been pretty volatile for the past few years. Is there anyone who has any control over how much you'll pay at the pump? Well ... kind of. See more »

Some special interest groups exist solely to level negative attacks at political candidates. How do these groups work? And can they be stopped? See more »

Even with fundraising restrictions, in the 2008 United States presidential election it's estimated that candidates will spend more than $3 billion on advertising. Yet many people argue that campaign finance reform restricts free speech. See more »

It's a pretty simple idea: Whatever revenue wealthy citizens generate will eventually trickle down to the lower classes. But it's tough to find the logic in the theory of trickle-down economics when mainstream America is going hungry and the upper cr See more »

Presidential candidates could raise as much as a billion dollars for the 2012 election. Where does this money come from -- and where does it all go? See more »

We often hear about high-end contract negotiations in the entertainment world, but it's easy to forget that these rich guys are still laborers working under the auspices of a union. But how does the regular working stiff handle these negotiations? See more »

The gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten inside your gadgets are necessary to make them work. But if these elements come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, they may have been mined with forced labor. See more »