May 25, 2012
Viewer Nancy writes to economics correspondent Paul Solman, asking: "What happens to long-term care insurance in the new health care? I have paid for long-term care for over 10 years. My Board Certified Elder Law Attorney told me it was my 'best decision.' Was it?"
May 24, 2012
Viewer Sam Katz asks: "Even though government bond prices fluctuate daily, wouldn't you get back your original investment if held to maturity plus interest along the way?"
May 23, 2012
Economics correspondent writes a pair of responses to his austerity/stimulus post of a few days ago, which he notes illustrates the current conflict in economic ideology quite nicely.
May 22, 2012
"If an emergency situation arises, does it ever make sense to pull money from a retirement fund such as a 401(k) rather than going into credit card debt to keep from going into the red? The fear of short-sightedness is paralyzing," writes a viewer in a Q&A for economics correspondent Paul Solman.
May 21, 2012
A meditation from economics correspondent Paul Solman on the center-stage question facing the U.S. and Europe: stimulus or austerity? In economic jargon, Keynesian or the Austrian School? In plainer terms, save or spend? But which is the right answer?
May 18, 2012
A viewer writes in, asking when inflation comes around, why not raise taxes instead of interest rates, which could be used to reduce/eliminate the deficit, which would help the economy so you could raise taxes even more in what appears to be a positive feedback loop?
Man vs. Machine: Will Human Workers Become Obsolete?
Stand-Up Comedian Baratunde Thurston on 'How To Be Black' Baratunde Thurston seemed like something of a wonder: a stand-up comedian via Sidwell Friends and Harvard. And when you read Thurston's new book, "How to Be Black," or note that he works for The Onion, you realize that he's so gregarious and funny, a stand-up career appears not just apposite but almost unavoidable.
Do You Live in a Bubble? A Quiz The new upper class, according to author Charles Murray, live in a social and cultural bubble. And so he includes this 25-question quiz, covering beer to politics to Avon to "The Big Bang Theory," to help readers determine how thick their own bubble may be. You can take it here.
Bein' Green: Easier Than You Think "It's not that easy, bein' green," Kermit the Frog first lamented in 1970. We became interested in greenness during research for a story on B Corps: given companies that are interested in becoming certified as a B Corp are already socially and environmentally minded, a good number of them work in various types of "green" spaces.
The Financial Answer Man: Carl Richards Takes Your Questions A while back we asked you to submit your most pressing personal finance questions so that I could put them to Carl Richards, the sketching, New York Times-blogging, financial literacy-teaching author of the excellent money manual, "The Behavior Gap." The questions poured in.
Leather Muppet to Stephen Colbert: You Are What You Eat Business and economics correspondent Paul Solman had a 'transformative' experience after Stephen Colbert poked fun at him during a recent episode of 'The Colbert Report.'
