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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Our last word in business is: Don't jack up the Jack. The makers of Jack Daniels are raising their glasses after a tax proposal was voted down this week in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The proposal called for a referendum on a plan to tax Jack Daniels whiskey by the barrel to bring it up to $5 million annually. The drive by some residents was killed after a 10 to five vote by the Moore County Council. The company that owns the distillery currently pays one-and-a-half million dollars in local property taxes.

The Fed wants to ensure the country's largest banks are prepared to weather another recession. The move comes as the debt crisis in Europe threatens to destabilize global markets. Banks will be required to show they have enough capital to continue lending money under severe economic conditions.

Additional students have been charged in an SAT cheating scandal on Long Island, New York. Thirteen students were charged Tuesday with being part of a scheme in which students paid other teens to take college entrance exams on their behalf. So far, 20 current and former students at three high schools have been implicated in the scandal.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning, I'm Steve Inskeep.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

And I'm Linda Wertheimer. In Egypt, a much anticipated speech by the top military ruler failed to address the demands of a growing number of protestors around the country.

HUSSEIN TANTAWI: (Foreign language spoken)

The big theme out of Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate in Washington was Newt Gingrich's compassionate stance toward illegal immigrants who have put down deep roots in the U.S.

That position by Gingrich, who has recently surged to join Mitt Romney at the head of the Republican field according to recent polls, conflicted with the more hardline views of many conservative voters.

Many of those GOP voters who will decide their party's nominee oppose allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S., period.

South Africa's Parliament has passed a highly controversial state information bill that gives a limited number of government officials the authority to classify information and imposes harsh penalties on those who possess or distribute state secrets. Critics say it will allow officials to cover up corruption and greatly restrict the flow of information.

China has made a fortune producing cheap products that sell for low prices around the world.

Yet many high-end goods manufactured in China –- everything from iPads to Coach bags — actually cost more in China than they do in the United States.

To figure out why, I recently visited a luxury shopping mall in Beijing with Professor Nie Huihua, who teaches economics at the People's University.