hi, everybody. welcome to the "the wall street journal report" i'm maria bartiromo. the dow breaks through a milestone them nasdaq not far behind. it is time to buy, sell or hold? super tuesday approaches. will it be the final chapter to crown a republican nominee or just the beginning of a long, drawn out battle? and the freelance economy, hiring, firing and working in the brave new world and how you can make employers want to invest in you "the wall street journal" report begins right now. now maria bartiromo. here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week on wall street.

the first division of the growth domestic product showed 3% for the first quarter of last year. that is increase from 2.8%. the gdp is the broadest measure of the strength and size of america's economy. well, after toying with it for days the dow jones industrial closed above 13,000 on tuesday of this week, for the first time since may of 2008. though it did not hold later in the week. the nasdaq flirted with a milestone reaching 3,000 on wednesday. the highest level since december of 2000. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke testified before congress this week in his semiannual testimony. he made no mention of further easing by ned and said the jobs market is still far from normal. consumers opened their wallets in february. chain store sales up 4.7% over last year, giving retailers a head start on the spring selling season. 80% of retailers beat analyst expectations. auto sales continuing to roar forward,

chrysler up 40% for the month of february. ford up 14%, gm up 1% and toyota up 12.4% higher. that's a pace of 15.1 million annual auto sales the best number since february of 2008. the intersection of politics, economics and business is a crowded corner and it grows more important all the time. one of the smartest guys in the room when it comes to all three is ian bremmer, president of the eurasia group. great to have you on the program. >> good to be here. >> let's start with the economy. fourth quarter gdp stronger than expected in the united states. the dow breaking through 13,000 and here we are talking about records. the nasdaq touching 3,000. is it time to feel better about things in the u.s. >> i think it is and not just because we are starting to see better consumer confidence and unemployment broken through the numbers that six months ago people were saying we weren't going to hit but looking at the global environment, the things concerning ceos at the beginning of the year that could crimp the

united states was the europeans falling apart. i think looking out to europe right now that worst-case scenario is taken off of the agenda. the thing that is worrying us the next six months oil prices. that's where there is potential to have an externality that could have a negative impact on the u.s. economy. >> we got another lending facility for the european central bank and that seems to be stabilizing things. it is creating that perception. >> i think what we are seeing is if the germans in pushing as hard as they have on austerity it is not that they are going to make greece work but they are getting enough support from within germany and the northern europeans as a whole to build toward some kind of fiscal compact. which means europe structurally starts working more effectively and combine that with more lending and you avoid the worse-case scenarios. europe stays together, the euro looks stronger and people are willing to invest again.

>> the wild card for the u.s. has been if europe accelerates to the downside that will spill over here. meanwhile federal reserve ben bernanke, the chairman of the fed, give nothing hint of quantitative easing. a lot of people were trying to parch his words when he spoke to see if we are going to get more stimulus from the fed. doesn't look like we are. >> doesn't feel like it needs it. with the leads you just offered for the top of this segment, there aren't a lot of folks in washington that are clamoring for additional stimulus. >> let's talk about the price of oil. you hit on an important point. you don't think that israel will attack iran. you don't think that that is going to create a problem for oil. tell me how you see the middle east working in the country? >> israel does not want to attack iran. let's be very clear. they want us to think they do. that's a different story. they really want the united states to attack iran, but we don't want to which puts the

israelis in to how do they get america to do their bidding? it is hard with this administration. there is the possibility through escalated tit for tat, the israelis killing iranian scientists, iranians trying to blow up israeli embassies and diplomats, as that continues, you can imagine the iranians start targeting american targets and then the united states gets drawn in. there is a premium around iran. it's because life is getting more dangerous between the israelis and iranians, even though i think it is highly unlikely that the israelis would go after the iranian nuclear capacity. >> what is the negative impact to the u.s. economy? >> i think we are getting close. i think once you get past 120, 125 people are in an environment where they're going to start making different choices in terms of how they feel about the american economy. look, i'm not an economist.

i'm a political scientist. i'm more worried about the spike. what happens if suddenly we actually have a real, belligerent impact that doesn't just hit israel and iran but starts to spill over across the middle east. >> you are just back from asia, any other risks to the global economy? is china slowing down? >> no. china is not slowing down. china is doing well right now. the chinese government is very much filling the gap that exists from the lack of export manufacturers for the chinese to the united states and in to europe. what i see is the u.s./china relationship getting worse. the chinese had no problem vetoing the security council resolution before he came to the united states. i saw u.s. officials feel they have no influence on china on issues that are becoming much more conflicting towards two

countries and and the chinese showing no capacity to shift their production away from state-owned enterprises, labor intensive, inefficient, 62% of the chinese economy today is state owned enterprises. they don't run efficiently, long-term they won't a model for growth for that country but show no willingness or capacity to move away from them. it is an enormous challenge. china for 34 years has been a car with a massive engine driving really fast down a straight road. the road has a big curve coming up. we have no idea if they have a steering wheel. never seen it before. frankly i'm a little skeptical. >> this will take a long time to transition. these are not easy issues when you are talking about an economy that has been driving a certain way for so many years. >> on this issue, i don't see the beginning of transition. i see them talking about it. i don't see them doing anything to prepare for it. a bank had a report that makes

the same sort of point but there's no reason to believe the chinese will do it. this year, next year, i still see strong chinese growth. lord knows we need that in the rest of the world. longer term, no one is kicking a bigger can down the road than the chinese. >> thank you for joining us. up next on "the wall street journal" report, a look ahead at the super tuesday battle. about the course of the 2012 election. and why your next job may be just another gig. surviving and thriving in the new economic normal as an independent worker. take a look at how the stock market finished the week. back in a moment.

the most definitive day yet of the 2012 primary season is coming up this week on super tuesday.

march 6th. voters in ten state goss to the polls. more delegates will be awarded to candidates than any of the contests of the last two months combined. jim vandehei is with us. he is the executive editor of "politico." to talk more about it. good to have you on the program. thanks for joining us. >> great to be here. >> 400 plus republican delegates at stake on tuesday out of 1,144 needed for nomination. how to you think thank things -- think things shake out? >> i think it is a big day for santorum. he has to show he can have more momentum and win more states. particularly ohio. if he can, i think the race goes all the way to the convention. newt gingrich, rick santelli, mitt romney, ron paul will have no incentive whatsoever to get out of this race. however, if mitt romney can win in ohio, can win some other states, nice bucket of states beyond virginia which is a slam dunk for him, on super tuesday, i think it will go a long way to convincing republicans he, indeed, is inevitable, whether

it's going to happen that day or over the course of the next month or so. >> it seems that way. of course governor romney won in arizona and michigan this week. last week by three points in michigan where he had the support of college-educated, wealthier voters and senator rick santelli getting the support of those making under $100,000 a year. what's your take on the class distinctions of the voters in the republican primary bat until how does that impact the general election? >> there's been a pretty clear pattern in every single state so far that mitt romney does well with older voters, wealthy voters. where he struggles are with social conservatives and with those working-class republicans. that's where rick santorum has found his sweet spot, as you just described. i think that is problematic for mitt romney. he can't just be the candidate of the wealthy, the candidate of the old. he has to show that he has some capacity to broaden the appeal of the republican party. remember, his hard-line position on immigration might be a great position to have with conservatives.

it's not a great position to have with the hispanic community, and so many important swing states. so he has a lot of baggage and a lot of liabilities he needs to show he can overcome to really broaden his appeal come the general election. i think that's why so many republicans like jeb bush and others are expressing concern about the tone of this campaign, about the issues that are being discussed at this campaign and the fact the parties seem so narrow. >> ohio and its 66 delegates available on tuesday are getting a lot of attention and more than $3 million in advertising spending from governor romney. the political action committee supporting him. this part of the country has been hit hard economically. what do the working class, rust belt voters want to hear? >> i think this is what rick santorum's initial message, where he is focused on manufacturing and the republican party is committed to helping working-class voters not just republicans could resonate.

early polling suggests he's doing well in ohio. it is pretty narrow. i think it will be a two-person race between rick santorum and mitt romney. and the question is if rick santorum has enough money and enough time to really pull away in that state. if he does, it would be huge for him. he would be able to say i'm a candidate performing well in the midwest, really well in important swing states. i think that will resonate with established republicans who are skeptical of him as a general election candidate. i think if you are going to watch one state for super tuesday, don't pay attention to anything other than ohio. >> what about the jobs creating policies of the candidates. it's frustrating we're not sticking to the issues. where are their plans in terms of creating jobs? >> the truth is, if you put ron paul to the side, because he is a distinct ideology and libertarian, most republicans are in the same place as far as they want to change and simplify the tax code, reduce corporate tax rate to 25%, lower and

simplify individual tax rates. one big distinction has been rick santorum's focus on given preferential tax treatment to manufacturing jobs. in places like ohio, places like his home state of pennsylvania, i think to some extent we even saw this in michigan it is a pretty powerful message and resonates with working-class voter that state after state, particularly in the midwest are saying we like rick santorum more than we like mitt romney. >> the idea of lower taxes as a way to create jobs obviously very much talked about. let's talk about this tax reform speech from governor romney in michigan on tuesday night and across the board 20% tax rate, setting the corporate rate at 25%. can he sell that economic message beyond the corporate world? >> i think so. one, there's not a lot of specificity on what he would do with spending and entitlement programs but the tax policy itself, i think he could sell that. i think most americans are open

to tax reform. something that simplifies the code. i think most americans appreciate the corporate tax rate is higher here than other countries which can hurt the growth of corporations and it hurts job creation. the trick is going to be really finding some definition to mitt romney beyond i'm just a candidate of who's inevitable, i'm a candidate who can win, because i don't think anyone sees him as inevitable and i don't know that any republican thinks he can beat barack obama right now. this race is so much different today than it was a month ago. a month ago, barack obama was very beatable. the economy looked in more trouble a month ago than it does today. mitt romney had more money, had all of this momentum. now suddenly barack obama looks strong. he scares republicans. it's the reason that if you walk around washington everybody's talking about hey, how do we get another candidate in the race? can we get jeb bush or mitch daniels because they don't think

that mitt romney has the winning formula, the winning message and i think most importantly the winning personality. people forget he is essentially a professional presidential candidate. he's been doing this for five years so if he still hasn't figured out how to connect, how do you pitch yourself as part of a narrative of why you should be president and how you would change the direction of the country, it is hard to imagine that he will suddenly find the formula. this is a smart guy who does his homework and is what he is. what you see will be what he is the remainder of the campaign assuming he were to win the republican nomination. >> it is a good point that things change quickly. so we will be watching. jim, good to have you on the program. >> thank you. jim vandehei from politico. up next on the "the wall street journal report," are office cubicles giving way to coffee shops if about

welcome back. working 9:00 to 5:00 maybe a thing of the past as more active american workers leave traditional jobs in favor of freelancing, consulting and being their own bosses. more than one-third of the american work force is considered independent. joining me is sara horowitz, founder and executive editor of the freelancers union representing nontraditional workers in all 50 stateses. one in three workers are what you call contingent. 42 million freelancers or contractors or as you say independents. tell me about the growing trend.

>> you know what it says, we're really in a gig economy. people are working from project to project and job to job and not just one job for 25 years. we know that just by looking at the way we work, our friends, our family, our colleagues. >> i guess you have real independence. what are the benefits and challenges of flexible workers for the companies that hire them and for the workers? >> for the companies, what has often meant is they can make people flexible and not provide benefits which is not always a good thing. what it means is we can have a flexible work force where we have benefits, pension and health insurance and new kind of unemployment system and looking at how we can make it fair for workers the same way we did in the 1930s. every time we see a change with we have to think of how do we go back and start to build a new kind of safety net. >> unemployment right now at 8.3%. it seems like things are improving, jobs market, little

by little. what do you think the numbers indicate right now? >> what i think is the big indicator is the temp jobs. we looked at what happened in the beginning of the recession. and said these are the only jobs being created. what i think we're not going to see is the the temp jobs are going to do down and everyone back but the temp jobs are the independent jobs, people are being leased through different companies, they are part time, self employed and that's the number that i think we need to be looking at. >> what aren't we doing in support of this group? >> one of the things you will find shocking is we don't count this new work force. here we are having this huge number of people working in this way and right now the president has a small piece in his budget to count this work force. the other is it is a very entrepreneurial and interesting work force. let's look at new forms of access to capital. let's start making it if you're going to work in this way, there's going to be ways you can grow your business and it doesn't have to be million and

$2 million amounts per capital but 50,000, 25,000, 5,000. this is the next economy. we first need to recognize it and help to build it. >> you started by saying, look. this is a gig economy. how do you sustain a career with a string of gigs? >> yeah. well you know it's not just a string of gigs. it's really a web, a network of relationships. the most important thing anyone can do is to start to build the network of people, your friends, your family, the people that you worked with. if you are graduating from college, start to recognize you have already started to build the network. if you have been laid off and over 55 that's the same thing. it is different than just thinking of getting a job and a paycheck. >> of course the benefits are so important. you recently were awarded $340 million to create a new non-profit health insurance co-op. talk to us about that. the union has been offering some version of a la carte health insurance? >> we actually have been for freelancers in new york city,

probably the country's model has to do it. the most important thing, freelancers are arc it texting this new way and what's exciting out of health reform now there's significant capital to show how you can have non-profit health insurance and that's where you are containing costs and getting people value and we're trying to show that freelancers, if you design it for them, you design it for the whole country. we will be starting in new york, new jersey and oregon with this. >> really good stuff. good to have you on the program. >> thank you so much. >> sara horowitz joining us. up next on the "the wall street journal report" we will look at the news that will have an impact on your money. and love and luck for less. an iconic american hotel offers a special sale. is and it's 168,000 hours. so just think, if you had an 8-hour job, i'm like a man of 100 and something years old. i've worked very hard to support my family. and i finally reached that point where i'm going to retire. ♪

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for more check out the website wsjr.cnbc.com and hope you follow me on twitter and google plus. look for @maria bartiromo. now look at the stories coming up in the week ahead that may impact your money this week. on monday, the institute for supply management services index gives us a glimpse in to activity in the nonmanufacturing part s of the economy. tuesday is super tuesday. voters head to the polls in ten states to cast ballots in the presidential primary. on friday the latest jobs report including the unemployment rate and the number of jobs the economy lost or gained in the month of february. and finally, how's this for a cheap date? new york's waldorf astore ra hotel is charging a pair of bests about $16 for an overnight stay. isabelle and joan schwartz spent their wedding night at the

waldorf and back then it was $17.10, that was $16.80 for the room and another 30 cents for a phone call. the park avenue landmark has a policy of charging the original room rate to returning guests marking a milestone. so so this weekend the schwartzs celebrate their 60th anniversary like a couple newly woods. rooms today start at $319 a night. you can't put a price on true love, can you? thank you for joining me. my guests next week, sir richard branson, virgin group founder joining us. keep it where wall street meets main street. have a great week. see you again next weekend.