Economy Feb 08 Tool$ Tuesday: Currency Conversion and Haydn’s Messiah Name: Roland Weiser Question: I would appreciate the name of the site where you can obtain today's value for currency in the past. I'm writing a family memoir: my father worked in Cairo, Egypt as a pharmacist in 1906 and…
Economy Feb 07 How Can My Family Protect Itself in Case of Total Economic Meltdown? Name: Kimberly Foster Question: I am scared. My impression of our country's economic situation now is that we are bumping along the bottom of the ocean. Neither my husband nor I have any faith in this economy. What is also…
Economy Feb 04 A Disjointed Jobs Report and U-7, Month Two Today's unemployment data are a muddle. The two surveys - of individuals and of employers - seem to say very different things. Unemployment dropped - to 9 percent, according to the "household survey." Three cheers. But the "payroll survey" reports…
Economy Feb 03 AIG and Credit Default Swaps: A Clarification Name: Merritt Dunn Question: Since the Treasury Department bailed out AIG and AIG had underwritten a large number of credit default swaps (that I understand pay up if a certain percentage of mortgages in a portfolio go into foreclosure), then…
Economy Feb 02 One-Million Car March? A warning to those expecting EVs (electric vehicles) to clog the roadways anytime soon, or even to meet President Obama's stated goal of one million by 2015: it's not likely to happen, despite the fact that the U.S. has as…
Economy Feb 01 Tool$ Tuesday: What’s Your Vehicle’s Carbon ‘Tire-Print’? Today's Tool$ We Use features three on the carbon emissions you generate by driving, with a bonus Global Warming video attached for your viewing discomfort. On the broadcast Monday: a story about electric cars, with a focus on GM's…
Economy Jan 31 ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’ Director Paine Discusses Renewed Optimism for Vehicle Filmmaker Chris Paine achieved notoriety with his 2006 documentary, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Now he's back -- with a more sanguine sequel, "The Revenge of the Electric Car." Producing two stories about the electric car myself,…
Economy Jan 30 How Funny is the Chevy Volt? The Washington Post’s Professional Skeptic Gives It a Going Over As a preview to our Tool$ Tuesday feature (spoiler alert: we'll be looking at your car's carbon emissions), here's a truly surprising "review" of the Chevy Volt, the electric darling of the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month and…
Economy Jan 27 Ode to Germany: Merle Hazard, Backed by Beethoven Today's post introduces the fourth of country singer Merle Hazard's Euro-shanties, this one taking off on the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th. Teutonic C&W. Merle (if not Beethoven) will do anything to educationally amuse. So will we.
Economy Jan 26 Paul Solman on the Economics of the Union What a relief: a SOTU address without the traditional partisan whack-a-mole standing ovations. "Date night's" civility - or, if you prefer, lack of passion - had the virtue of keeping Democrats and Republicans mostly in their seats. (Sitting…