Inside PBS Blog

Does the market do better under Republican or Democratic administrations?

Who does your hair?

You look like you do a good job of staying in shape are you a runner?

I agree that you are a better anchor than Maria Bartiromo. I watch NBR almost every night.

Dear Susie, I am happy to see that you appear to have recovered from your bike accident. I would like you to ask tougher questions of the issue of oil production and world demand and the difficulty of acquiring reliable statistics from a variety of producers who conceal their true resource numbers from agencies like the IEA.I would also suggest you interview Faith Birol(?) vis a vis his upcoming report in November on Oil statistics for the IEA.I would urge you to listen to and perhaps interview people such as Matt Simmons who says among other things that petroleum production will not likely rise to meet demand for a myriad of political and geological reasons as well as because of a shortage of workers in an aging workforce and a rusting infrastructure of rigs and pipelines well past their designed service life. MY second issue is for you to question the deceptive and essentially useless statistics coming out of the federal government concerning employment, inflation and GDP figures which are widely ridiculed in the world press. And please ask your staff to cease asking every guest on your program if we are in a recession when a majority of your people and assorted politicians have every incentive to minimize or deny that we are in fact in an inflationary recession of growing dimensions. Thanks, Susie. I am very fond of you and Ms Pratt.

Hello,
I live in East Tennessee and we can not receive the PBS signal.
Is there a law that prevents the signal from being transmitted in the North East Tennesse area around Johnson City, Erwin, Elizbethton, and Sullivan County? I ask because it has been over 50 years and we have never gotten a clear signal from PBS here. Does the local laws keep out a repeater tower? What is the problem? We the citizens will get it fixed somehow.

We get a faint signals from up in the southwest Virginia Coal feilds and sometimes one from Ashivlle N.C. area, if you stand on your head and hold you mouth just right, but no volume or way to pick it up very well.

Please ask them if any of the stations would consider imporving the signal in this area.

Please help us keep our kids from being dumbed down by the National News Media!

What is meant by Peak Oil ? Have we reached it ??

WHO ARE THE FEMA CAMPS FOR IN THE USA.

Ultimately, for civilization to be sustainable, we must decrease our impact on the life support systems of this Planet.

Which is more important, Short term economic growth or long-term sustainability?

(Related...) Growth has traditionally always been tied to greater and greater use of natural resources... is indefinite economic growth even possible on a closed planet? If not, what replaces this mantra?

Do you think that it is important that our leaders to have a ratiotional and frank discussion of human population and moral and ethical means to begin limiting its growth in a planned fashion, rather than through catastrophe?

Dear Ms. Gharib:

None of the presidential candidates are discussing our out-of-control defense budget.

Al Qaeda spent around $450,000 to implement 9/11. Mainland China has a moderately sized army and is now talking to Taiwan. The Soviet Union is long gone.

Yet we spend more money on our annual defense budget than the rest of the world COMBINED.

The mortgage industry is in meltdown, gas prices continue to soar, yet over $400 billion of our budget is spent on weapons we don't even need.

We need to focus on our collapsing bridges, roads, and other infrastructure issues.

When will we cut back on the defense budget?

Do you agree with the Federal Reserve that the M3 measurement should not be reported anymore? or Do you think it should be reported again?

Dear Ms. Gharib,

For sometime, the past two years, I have had suspicions about both oil and food prices being driven up by commodity speculators but no one was mentioning it on the news here in the states. Until recently.

I watch the Nightly Business Report every evening and once or twice recently I have heard some guest analyst mention that the current oil prices are not because of supply and demand issues, but because of out of control commodity trading. On DW.TV news from Germany, and on Russia Today News from Moscow their finance commentators have very often and openly spoken of the same thing. Then this past week I finally read a column on the Yahoo finance page written by Rachel Beck, an AP Business Writer titled: Institional Money Drives Up Commodities. This article put me over the top.

Back in '99 or 2000 the SEC changed some of the reporting requirements for stock trading and this effectively brought a lot of day trading to an abrupt halt and reset the market to more realistic valuations for stocks. For the past few years, late night television has been filled with infomercials on commodity trading systems and touting them as the new way to get rich in America.

Can you please discuss the role of rampant commodity trading on the prices of oil and food; the role this trading plays in our current economic problems, and also address why neither the CFTC or Congress has the will to change the trading laws to bring these artificially high prices under control when they are taking such a damaging toll on the economy.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Robin Monroe

Warren Buffett says that the market cap is very important
and must be know at all time. So i think NBR should
also included the Market cap price in it broadcast.

Hi Susie,
How much of the "shortage" of gasoline is directly related to the fact that there is a limited number of refineries in the US? Is the limit self imposed - I.E., are the gas companies deliberately making sure that gasoline is in limited supply so they can continually jack up the prices for greater profits?
Thanks...

Dear Susie,

As a Persian diasphoric anchor how seriously and curiously have you ever investigated Iranian regime's human rights violations.

Yours Truly.

You are beautiful, bright and articulate. I look forward to NBR every night.

Who would look better in a Speedo- Scott Gurvey or Paul Kangas?

What exactly does "Wishing you the best of good-byes," mean?

Peak oil proponents look at the available data and feel world production has peaked in 05 or will by 2015, and there after decline at about 2 to 16% per year (4.5% for 15 years = 50% reduction in volume). This will lead to disaster. However we are viewed as kooks. So why is it that those in "Business" need an SEC verified financial report before investing in a business, but they are willing to bet the future of the industrialized world on unverified estimates of petroleum stock? Current estimates are that only 5% of the world's "Proven" oil reserves have actually been audited and verified by an independent agency.

There is very good evidence that many of OPEC's books are cooked. Saudi Arabia's reserves, for example, are given as unchanged year after year to 1/10 of a decimal point, despite tremendous production. If your controller told you your cash assets were constant even though he was withdrawing large amounts of money, you would assume that he was dishonestly cooking the books. However, when the same practice is brazenly used by OPEC countries its assumed to be honest. Why is this?

See
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3665
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p237/1ace11/sares4.gif

Stanford Univ. Lecture by Amory Lovins shows how U.S. Auto industry can save more oil than Saudi Arabia pumps without raising the cost of cars. See Lecture 3 at http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid231.php

Why when there is documented and demonstrated evidence of massive oil savings without adding to the price of a car, is this important news ignored by the media?

Watch these videos and learn how to do it and see how it is being done. This is exactly the National Initiative we need to go after to break our dependence on Big Oil and Foreign Dictators. Why is this being ignored by the media analysts and reporters?

Rich P.

why is the press not filled with attacks on the real cause of the gas prices and shortage in america. Why are we not drilling all our resources, offshore, continental, and alaska.....why why why.... explain to the american people so they can respond with their votes....we have the resources ..... EXPLAIN it to them... they are not stupid..... I feel the press is holding back the real reasons.... at the hearings on the 21st it was said that 15% went in taxes and 5% went to the oil companies.... that is fine, but I did not hear anybody say that the 5% was taxed also... was it? if so then 40% of that plus or minus goes to govt also..... so what I am saying is disclose to american people what is going on CLEARLY..... We need to Drill, we need to process our oil, We need nuclear power plants, we need to use our coal..... Explain this to the american people.... why is not this being done, instead Congress wants to blame prices on somebody.... Don't they know we are in a free market, at least in US????? DAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

I see and hear daily clinton's two given name's. Why will the news media not use obama's three given names instead if just one?

Dear Susie: You are a journalist, but you're also a citizen. Where do you get your news?

Has the advent of independent blog journalism --- with it's frequently irreverent and casual tone --- caused a notable shift in style in business reporting as it seemingly has in other branches of journalism? Have new mediums changed your approach to reporting, in either style or content?

I watched Nightly Business Report for several years, but finally couldn't stand to watch it anymore, for its vanilla coverage of business, and especially big business.

How do you, as an reporter, report such news as business is good for our country, when it is the cause of poverty, toxic waste, ruination of land by coal companies, blatant criminal business by coal companies which end in the death of miners- without any heart coming from the owners or management on these deaths, their ridiculous advertising, using subliminal psychology, to try to get people to buy their products by using sexual images to get them to go out and buy the product, etc., Nightly Business Report never reports these news items.

Vanilla reporting doesn't do you or your viewers any good.

Do you feel you deserve to be hired as an investigative reporter in other fields- by the work you do in the one you are in now?

Susie,

Based on experience and the comments here, emotions about the role of business in society can run high. While responsible business practices can promote welfare, innovation, and progress, irresponsible businesses can damage the environment, global relations, and public health--some decisions may do both at the same time. As a journalist, how do you balance being approachable to ensure you can get access to the key players with the need as a journalist to ask the tough, probing questions that may cause a guest discomfort?

Hi Susie,
I like your show, and your co-anchor. We made a colossal effort to gain access to Iraq's oil fields by accusing them of harboring "Weapons of mass destruction"and promptly sent in UN investigators to "find" these elusive WMD's. The world runs on "cheap, accessible oil" for all of its needs and has become indespensable as a resource. Of course it is a finite resource that must be managed globally with global oversight to remaining reserves. SA and other non-transparant countries within OPEC are now having the same effect as a Weapon of mass destruction on the global economy by not increasing their output to meet global demand. 87mbd demand/ 85mbd supply with the 2mbd difference depleting our above ground inventories.
My question- Why do you guys not talk about who is upping production and who is declining production? This should be a huge part of your show considering it is oil that makes all business work.
And finally, why are we not forming a unilateral task force to physically check all oil fields remaining capacity and all future fields potential capacity no matter where they lie geographically. Full Disclosure and Best practices.

Why does the business news not cover the giveback, manufacturers rebate, volume discount systems that has limited competition and created legal bribery ?

Of course you'll blow this off.

You should look at the examples of Collins & Aikman and Intel/AMD.

The system works like this:

A supplier "buys" the business of its customers via a system of rebates. The IRS considers these givebacks legal. And in the end the old manufacturing mantra of better faster cheaper is thrown out the window. The real driver for business is "How much is my rebate"

Why were the Car companies caught so flat footed by the oil price increase? They claim to need some 5 years to develop more fuel efficient autos.

But clearly since 1999 when oil was very cheap and oil men were telling everyone that this could not be sustained as drilling collapsed worldwide. It was obvious that oil prices had to take off sometime in the not too distant future.

Yet the auto makers made ever bigger SUVs with no apparent contingency for a sudden spike in prices such as we had in 73' and 79'

There has been a real market for a 4 cyl diesel engine for a mid-sized pickup that is capable of doing 30 + mpg. A fuel efficient pickup that could tow 6000# or so and get 15 mpg should have been easy to build or at least have the thing on ice for just such a price spike as we have seen. The diesel pickups of the mid-80's could get 24 mpg. Now many won't top 12 mpg.

My old 86 Jeep Wrangler got close to 25 mpg. Today, most Wranglers get no better than 18 mpg....Makes no sense. My ex drove a standard shifting mid-80's Ford compact that topped 30 mpg.

Yet Detroit tells us they are incapable of producing engines and cars that can get over 30 mpg....Don't they have an economists on their staff who could have predicted they needed to be nimble and produce a high efficient auto in 18 mo. or less???

Hello Susie,

I am amazed to see the old news stories about the U.S. sponsored "Atoms For Peace" program under President Eisenhower where we encouraged third-world countries like Iran to embark on a nuclear energy program because we understood the connection between nuclear energy and a higher standard of living for almost everyone concerned when their country moves forward with each new level and type of of infrastructure that large-scale generation of electricity makes possible. Contrast this with the current Bush administration's policy of forbidding the same thing. What gives?

Shouldn't we be encouraging Iran to press forward with the latest generation of nuclear energy so that a more extensive consumer culture can thrive and become the most immediate deterrent to the influence of a minority of Islamic extremists?

I applaud your most recent series of programs about the nuclear energy industry although I had to work and missed viewing them.

The new helium-cooled "pebble bed" reactors are just the ticket for countries like Japan, China, and Iran that are in zones of high seismic activity.

Please do more programming that involves the nuclear industry worldwide as well as the high-speed maglev rail technology that is the perfect complement to the electricity generated by these cheaper, more modular nuclear power plants.

Fact: the poorest workers have the least consistent start and end times at their jobs. Not just those who are employed in low paying retail jobs but many other part-time and seasonal jobs give no other choice to those who have the least amount of employment options. These people clearly have limited transportation choices. Those who live densely populated areas can only use the bus during the hours that the buses run. Van pools can only be used by those who have regular start and finish times where they work. White collar workers also have the option of doing at least part of their job functions at home. Is there relief for those of us who are the least prepared for the limited trade-offs (mostly negative) created petroleum price speculation? If the transit systems of this country expanded their van pool service (employing non-Class A or Class B drivers), it would not only open up employment opportunities, it would also help auto companies through fleet expansion.

I have been reading Mish Shedlocks Global Econonmic Trend Analaysis for about two years now . This guy speaks an economic truth that is never seen on the Nightly Bussiness Report. He has been way ahead of the curve yet you have never interviewed him ( that I know of). I remember PBS during the Vietnam War and how there insightfull hard hitting coverage helped educate an ignorant American Public as to what was going on. It seems to me that PBS has become nothing more than another Corporate Big Bussiness entity that only promotes the agenda of Goverment and Corporations never asking the tough questions and therfore never educating the American Public that it is supposed to serve. You regularly quote statistics that have absolutley no grounding in reality CPI /Job numbers to name a couple and never attempt to educate the public about how miss calculated these stats are. I have to laugh about your penultimate statement you have been asking tough questions.If you really wanted to ask tough questions you would have been way ahead of the curve a long time ago and would be educating the American public about probable negative future that we now find ourselves facing. You will never be a balanced news reporter by being pro bussiness all the time.Tough Questions not since Vietnam!

Do you really think it is fair to have the price of oil controlled by traders and speculators? Shouldn't it be separate from the stock frenzy on Wall Street and more in line with actual real demand on Main Street? Sometimes I feel as if regular people are being punished with ridiculous prices because of the hyped up speculation of the traders. I can say with confidence that my family has lowered its usage of gasoline and I'm sure many other families have done so as well. But the problem is not usage demand, the problem is that the prices are tied to speculators' demand.

I just want a reference to your report on the Bilderberg meeting. You will be reporting on the most important meeting of the year, right?

Hello Susie,

I do really wonder why it is that we have chosen a crop such as corn, (a much needed food) to produce ethanol when it is well known that industrial hemp not only produces several times the amount of ethanol per acre, it can be grown in the poorest of soils and is environmentally far superior, as it's by products can be used for biodegradable paper, fabrics, plastics, food and many other products and it is good for the environment as it absorbs more carbon dioxide than any plant currently known and unlike corn replenishes the soil.
I could go on and on about the benefits of growing industrial hemp, however, a little research by anyone reading this will support a current and long held view that industrial hemp could not only reboot our economy but also get us away from dependence of foreign oil.
So my question is: Why are we not growing industrial hemp? Who is preventing us? Is it the oil companies and oil company investors?

Thank you.
Prema

Dear Susie,

Am I dreaming this: Is it true our national debt is approximately the same total amount as our wealthiest citizens increased their wealth by over the last eight years?
Our past few administrations have legalized through various legislations, tax and law changes the most rapid transfer of wealth from middle America to the top two percent of our wealthiest in our history.
With 58 cents of each tax dollar we pay going toward the Industrial military complex and quite possibly one quarter and rising of an average working persons income going to oil and it's effect on all products we use daily, how can we possibly be expected to survive as a nation when so much of our taxes are paying for military ventures instead of education and sustainable living, instead of health and our environment, not even to mention how greed and oil are driving up the cost of living to where we can all recognize that as a nation we are much worse of today than we were yesterday.
In the sixties our wealthiest paid a much higher proportion of our tax burden, around 78% and we all prospered as a nation, now greed has reduced that to practically nothing when one considers all the legal loopholes that have been created.
I am both disgusted and amazed that our news media has become nothing more than a pawn of "party policies" and speaks on behalf of the affluent, the robber barons and the current administration that should have been impeached and removed for failing to protect the American peoples interests by lining the pockets of a few to excess whilst leaving the remainder in a deep financial debt of several trillion dollars and an increasingly worsening economic and environmental condition that bodes very ill for our children and grandchildren.
If Bush was CEO of any company he would have been removed and investigated a long time ago with a probable outcome, that he, Cheney and all the other neocons, weapons and oil lobbyists would be sitting behind bars and be ordered to pay back the trillions they have put on the backs of you and me.
My question: How can such destruction of a democratic society happen without the aid and complicity of our news media?

Thank you,

Prema Rachel

How much is Russian monitary unit ( Rupel?) worth in dollars ?
and do they have a stock excange? thanks best regards Al Bacon
PS we watch every night.