welcome to "the wall street journal report." i'm maria bartiromo. the u.s. consumer perks us. does the u.s. need a national sales tax and is alan greenspan to blame for the financial crisis? my intriguing conversation with former labor secretary robert reich, and the day many americans dread, tax day. we've got the tips you need that could save you money this year. what's different and what's changed? and behind the scenes with annents at the same time giant. i'll talk with a man who has seen it all and worked with generations of legends, from sinatra to elvis to clooney and where he sees the next generation going next. "wall street journal report" is next. >> here's a look at what's making news as we head into a

new week on wall street. the american consumer looks to be returning with a vengeance. same-store sales for the month of march increased by 9.1% over the same period a year earlier. that's way ahead of analyst expectations and the biggest hike on record. important because consumers make up 70% of the u.s. economy. well, the news pushed the dow higher on thursday after showing strength earlier in the week. the markets continued up on friday. the federal reserve's open market committee released minutes from the last meeting. the fomc continued to promise that it would keep rates low for, quote, an extended period of time. toyota is facing a record fine by federal officials. the national highway traffic safety administration wants toyota to pay more than $16 million. the agency says toyota failed to notify federal safety officials about that sticky pedal defect in 2.3 million of its cars. and one airline is getting into the spirit of charging more. spirit airlines announcing passengers will soon have to pay for carry-on luggage. it will cost $45 to bring a bag

on board that can't be stowed under a seat. next week, china's president visits the united states, and americans will be paying their taxes, but there is a lot of other things cooking up as well on the calendar. joining me now to talk about it all is former labor secretary robert reich. mr. secretary, good to see you again. thanks so much for joining us. >> hi, maria. >> so let's kick it off here with jobs, obviously the biggest problem facing the economy here in america. you're the former labor secretary. what should the government be doing right now, do you think, to help businesses create those new jobs we're looking for? >> well, small businesses are the major creator of jobs in america, maria, as you know, but they are having a hard time getting credit. one thing that the government can do is simply to help the banks, regional banks, smaller banks, the sort small businesses use, to get credit to the small businesses more efficiently and quickly. also, it is very important that state and local governments get aid. they are right now, as you know, they are hemorrhaging jobs, cutting everybody from teachers

to fire fighters, and that has a negative multiplier effect in the economy. over this year and next year it's expected that states will be cutting or raising taxes to the tune of $250 billion, a major fiscal drag on this economy and the fed ought to help out, at least with say a temporary low interest or no interest loans to the states until the states can pay them back. >> what about tax day coming up next week? obviously a day -- a day most americans dread. there have been rumblings in washington about instituting a value-added tax, a sort of national sales tax to help balance the budget. i guess this comes from paul volcker. good idea in your view? >> no. it's very popular in washington. it's popular with politicians because, as you know, a value-added tax disguise is most of the tax. it's a tax on each stage of production, and, therefore, consumers don't really know how much tax they are paying, so it's been very popular in europe. i don't think it's a good idea here in terms of knowing -- i

think transparency should be the rule. also, it tends to be quite regressive. it is another form of a sales tax, and it does take a much bigger bite proportionally out of the salaries of people who are moderate means and out of people who are very large income earners. >> what about the other news of the week? chinese president hu will be in washington next week. we've got expectations that the president of china will discuss making china's currency more flexible. why is this important, and do you think it will happen? >> well, it's very important over the long term because unless chinese -- the chinese appreciate their currency, move it up relative to the dollar, we are not going to be able to sell very much to them. they will be selling a lot to us. our trade imbalance will continue to be out of whack. americans will not have the jobs that we would otherwise have. that chinese market is growing so fast we want access to it. the problem is that the chinese don't want to do that. they will do the minimal they can and want to do. they will maybe appreciate the

yuan a little bit to appease the united states and some of the other nations around the world that have been yelling at china to do that, but china is willing to bear the cost, and it is a substantial cost for china, of keeping that currency, their currency, low, because you see their currency policy doubles as a social policy in china. they want exports. they need exports because they need jobs. they need jobs because they have got hundreds of millions of peasants and farmers coming in from the countryside looking for work. if they don't get work, there will be social trouble, social upheaval, riots, something that china dreads almost more than anything else. >> there have been hearings on the hill this week, we know on the cause of the financial crisis which include former federal reserve chairman alan greenspan. chuck prince, former ceo of citigroup testified. now on your blog you wrote, quote, if any single person is most responsible for the financial crisis it's alan greenspan. he presided over a fed that

lowered interest rates to zero, adjusted to sero but failed to prevent banks from using essentially tools to speculate wildly. why do you think he's to blame? >> alan greenspan's faith in the free market is in many senses at mirabel, but he rejected regulation. you know, when the fed reduces interest rates to essentially zero for the banks, making money so free, the banks turn around and will lend to anybody who can stand up straight and many who cannot stand up straight. you need regulation and need oversight and the fed and alan greenspan said, no, we don't need enhanced oversight, and that on top of his refusal in the late 1990s to regulate derivatives when the federal -- when the commodity trading corporation came to greenspan and bob rubin and larry summers and said we need regulation and his support for getting rid of glass/steagall in 1999. alan greenspan doesn't think regulation is needed.

he thinks markets work wonderfully well, that they are self-policing, and that whole ideology, that whole outlook in -- in practice led very, very markedly to the problems that we've had. >> professor reich, good to have you on the program as always. thank you. >> thanks very much, maria. >> robert reich joining us today. up next on "the wall street journal report," are you ready for april 15th? we have the tax tips that you need to know that will save you money this year, and then a hollywood mogul who career spans several golden ages with showbiz lessons he's learned from heavy hitters like frank sinatra and george clooney.

welcome back. the deadline for filing your income taxes is fast approaching. what are the changes you should know about this year that could save you money? amy mcanarney is with me. the director of the tax institute of h & r block.

thanks for joining us. >> thanks, maria. >> first up, what's most important for taxpayers to be aware of this year that may be different than last year? >> this year there's 300 federal tax law changes, and there's some really key ones that people need to know about such as, you know, if you brought home a paycheck, you could get the making work way credit and that's $800 back in your pocket. if you're married $400, if you're single. that's a really big one because you have to fill out another tax form, schedule m, to make sure you get that right amount of money. >> okay. that's important. first time and repeat home buyers are also eligible for some credits, right? >> that's a real big one, and there's still time to buy a home so if you're a first-time home buyer or repeat, you have until april 30th, 2010, so still the remaining part of this month, to get into a binding contract. as long as you close by july 1st, can you get a credit of up to $8,000 for that first-time homeowner or $6,500 if you're a repeat so that's really a big one for some people. >> 2009 obviously was a

difficult year for many people who were unemployed. how does receiving unemployment benefits impact things on your tax return? >> yeah. you know, we did a dur va and three out of four people didn't realize unemployment compensation is actually taxable and what's new and only for 2009 is that the first 2,400 is tax-free, so what's key is that people need to exclude that amount before they report it on their tax return. the other thing about being unemployed is a lot of people don't realize if you track your expenses, you know, even mileage, driving to interviews, all that can be tax-deductible so keeping those receipts will put money back in your pocket. >> people forget that, the actual commute for the job interview surrounding the job potential. what are the deductions available for those with higher education expenses, people go back to school and take on new training? >> yeah. there's now some additional higher education credits, called the american opportunity tax

credit and that's actually $2,500 per student per year. so that adds up quickly, and that's a new one this year so that's an easy one to overlook, unless you kind of keep track of these tax law changes, and what's great about that one it's a refundable credit, so even if you don't owe tax, you can get money back for this higher education credit. >> so what about environmentally friendly consumer choices? this also counts for tax credit. a lot of people forget about the energy-efficient home renovation they did, electric cars. >> i know. >> this is all important stuff, right? >> it is. going green is big. i mean, not only can it save you money, you know, from an energy bill or a fuel bill, but it also brings you dollars on your tax return. but what's key here is that you still have about eight more months to make the home energy improvements to get that $1,500 tax credit on your tax bill. because it expires at the end of this year in december. >> are there any things that we should know about as they relate to higher taxes coming in 2011? should we be doing something differently this year because we

know that it's going to be more expensive next year? >> i know. that's a lot -- that's on people's minds a lot, you know, with the higher tax rates coming down the pipe, so thinking about how you invest your dollars. if you hold stock options, converting to a roth i.r.a., those are some of the key items and elements that as people think about the amount of money that they are going to make in 2011, how do those higher tax rates play out, and it can be very complicated and that's what i tell people, you know, just find an expert who can really help plan because you might want to make some certain decisions and choices with the higher tax rates coming into play for 2011. >> all right. we'll leave it there. amy, great advice. appreciate your time today. >> thanks. >> amy mcanarney from the h & r block. his films earned him oceans of dollars at the box office. a hollywood music mogul joins me with stories of the music legends from presley to pitt. i drove my first car from my parent's home

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welcome back. he went on the road with elvis presley and was pranked by george clooney. my next guest is a behind-the-scenes man who has seen it all, concert promoter, producer of the "ocean 11" film series and philanthropist jerry weintraub joins us. his new memoir is "when i stop talking you'll know i'm dead, use full stories from a persuasive man." jerry, wonderful to have you on the program. >> thank you so much. >> congratulations on the book what. a career. i'm so excited to have you because your music and your film

career spans generations. >> yeah. >> and it's really -- the stories in the book are so real and authentic, sinatra, led zeppelin, brad pitt. what made you decide to write this book and tell these stories now? >> well, i'm 72 years old now and it was time. i tried this when i was 40. i got one chapter done. >> and you had to go on the road again. >> i couldn't find a bok. i got calls from a lot of publishers over the years and they wanted the book and i -- i never found anybody when i thought i could work with and real get the story down. i didn't just want to tell the stories. first of all, there are too many stories, volumes of stories, number one, and number two, i wanted it to be like a conversation with me, and i wanted to leave something. i wanted to map my journey from new york, from -- i was born in brooklyn, raised in the bronx and then traveled across the country to hollywood.

>> so fast forward a few years. >> right. >> and you produced a major televised frank sinatra live concert in 1974. tell me about that event. was sinatra a good businessman? >> i don't know if he was a good businessman. he was -- he was smart. he didn't care about the concert business, you know. he and i had a big concert business, but i -- i took care of the business, and he did the singing, but i couldn't sing "my way." but i know i could go in the box office and count the money. >> he's relying on you for the success part of it. >> that concert called sinatra, the main event, was a very important milestone in my life, one of the milestones. >> why? >> well, first of all, frank was like a mentor to me and a great guy and very, very close. he was my idol. i loved the guy. i said we're going to do a live concert from madison square garden around the world and we're going to televise it around the whole word, but he said madison square garden, we've done madison square garden

20 times already. what's different about this, and i said this is the main event. he said what do you mean the main -- what's the main event? i said you are the main event because you're the champ and that's where a heavyweight champ belongs, in the ring. i'm going to put a boxing ring up and i'll put you in the middle of that boxing ring and i'll put 20,000 people around you, and i'm going to have howard cosell, he was the big sportscaster, howard cosell announce it, and i'll have every movie star, the governor, the mayor, i'll have everybody in the world there, and -- and they are going to say now howard cosell will say live from madison square garden, jerry weintraub presents senate race, the main event and that's what we did. >> let me take you back to one of your first successes, running elvis' tour, amazing. >> yeah. >> you were 26 years old. >> you had to move seats from the arena to make elvis think that all the tickets were sold out. >> elvis asked me only two

things when i first made a contract with him to do all of his concerts. i did all of his concerts and that was, number one, every seat has to be full. okay, elvis. number two, i want my fans in the first 20 rows. don't put any big shots in there. i'm not interested in maria bartiromo being in the front. i need to have my fans in the front row >> i love that about him. >> i need the energy, so we got down to miami, florida. i booked him in miami, florida, to do a concert at the convention center of 10,000 seats. it was my first show with him, so i went back to him, and i said do you want to do a matinee? we're sold out, and he said sure, i'll do a matinee so i booked a matinee. i get down to florida, walk in the box office and look at the rack of tickets behind this guy, and -- and there's 5,000 seats

left. >> oh, no. >> the jail was right next door to the miami beach convention center, the miami beach jail or miami jail, and i went into the jail and i made a deal with the warden to let the prisoners come over and work for me, and i brought them into the arena, i took 5,000 seats out of the arena for the matinee show, put them in the parking lot and put a plus tarp over them and then i -- after that shot i had the prisoners come back and put the 5,000 seats back for the night show. when the shows were over i went over to see elvis. we had a sandwich and i said, elvis, how did you like everything? he said, it was great, jerry, it was great, jerry, fantastic. he said we should stick to these night shows, the energy in the audience is much more. they are much louder. >> minus 5,000 seats. >> exactly. >> so "oceans 11," let me fast forward again. "oceans 11," "12" and "13" have

made over $1 billion. congratulations. how do you know it will be a successful series? can you talk to the characteristics about that. >> the ocean series is a very special series because it was an ensemble piece with a lot of big movie stars. >> well, what a cast. >> yeah. so it was pretty hard to miss on that one, you know. if i missed on that one, would i have gone into the laundry business. i would have given up movies, but that's a special situation, and i was just -- i got the right script at the right time. i gave it to the right actors, and -- and they were great, and they -- and they worked for a lot less money than they normally worked for and had a much bigger piece on the back end and made more money than they would have made in the first place, but it was a very good business deal for them and for me, and also an extraordinary series, and it's -- it's going to sell and

be there forever and ever and ever. i mean, my great grandkids will make a lot of money with that. >> what do you think are the critical sort of tools for success in the business today? i mean, show business obviously has changed dramatically with technology. can you talk to us about how things have changed and what you think it will take to actually succeed the way you have in the future. >> well, it's very simple to succeed the way i've succeeded. it's not rocket science. i was told when i was a very young kid in the business by two men, lou wasserman was one of them who ran mca and another was the guy named steve ross who ran time warner, and these two guys said to me stay in the content business. don't go in the hardware business. don't try to build hardware. you are a creative guy. you -- you communicate well with

writers and directors and artists. do that, because no matter what the delivery system becomes, there has to be content. what i suggest to kids when i -- when i lecture at schools is, number one, if you have an idea, you believe in the idea. no matter how many people say no to you go for it. don't give up. be tenacious about it. keep blueinging away. >> doing what you love? >> yeah. >> absolutely. you're a legend. so appreciate your time. thank you very much and thank you for the book. >> thank you. >> up next on "the wall street journal report." a look at the news this upcoming week that will have an impact on your money and as we head to break take a look at the stock market and how they ended the week.

for more on our show and our guests check out website wsjr.cbs.com. you'll also find a link to my blog, investoragenda.cnbc.com. a look at the stories coming up in the week ahead that may move the markets and impact your money this week. first quarter earnings season begins with alcoa report, hear from intel, bank of america, jpmorgan chase and general electric. ge is the parent of the company that produces this broadcast. it will be a busy week for earnings. monday, the white house begins a two-day nuclear security