Obama's Early Brush With Financial Markets

This is the second of two reports. Morning Edition, July 9, 2008 · By now, it's well known that Democratic Illinois Sen. Barack Obama started his political career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. It's less well-known what Obama did before that: He was a financial researcher and writer in New York City, for a firm that catered to multinational corporations. He wasn't there long — only about a year. But the job at Business International Corporation provided a crash course in market economics. "We definitely learned our ABCs of the financial markets," said Beth Noymer Levine. She was hired shortly before Obama and reported to the same boss. "I like to say Michelle Obama will be first lady, but I will always be first colleague." Levine and Obama worked on a variety of newsletters for companies doing business... [read full story]