Economy Dec 03 Unemployment Verdict: Worse Than it Appears The verdict on today's unemployment numbers is unequivocal. Conservative economist Peter Morici writes: "Terrible! Only 39,000 new jobs created is awful. After we back out health care and social services, which are largely government funded, the private sector…
Economy Dec 03 Breaking Down the November Unemployment Numbers Unemployment rose little in November, with the official rate edging up slightly from 9.6 percent to 9.8 percent. The government's broadest measure of unemployment stayed steady at 17 percent. This figure includes the unemployed plus all who are only marginally…
Economy Dec 02 Tips and Where to Go For Help With Your Home Loan Modification Name: Ben Roman Question: I am having a problem with trying to get a modification loan for my home which may soon be going into foreclosure. Where and to whom should I go to ask for assistance? Paul Solman: For…
Economy Dec 01 Million Dollar Questions: Who’s Bailing Who Out? I'm OK, EuroK? Maybe not. Here's an Australian parody video of what you might call "EuroK thinking." It's making the rounds in Europe at the moment. (The link was sent by a friend in Spain.)…
Economy Nov 30 Tool$ Tuesday | The Bush Tax Cuts Today's Tool$ Tuesday is another look at how the tax cuts might be implemented. This Bush Tax Cut tool comes by way of the Tax Policy Center, a much-appreciated think tank in today's hyper-polarized environment.
Economy Nov 29 Doesn’t Social Security Pay For Itself, Since it’s Taken Out of My Paycheck? The following email comes via the PBS Ombudsman: Name: Phyllis Koch Question: I am constantly frustrated as I listen to your interviewers and commentators talk about deficits/budgets/where to cut and always including Social Security. Social Security is always mentioned…
Nation Nov 25 Economic Justice for Struggling Homeowners – And The Rest Of Us? Is it just to bail out homeowners? Mortgage modifications help homeowners stay put. But is that fair to those of us who bought when the market was high, and yet continue to meet our contractual obligations? Paul Solman…
Economy Nov 25 Economic Justice for Struggling Homeowners – And The Rest Of Us? Editor's Note: Is it JUST to bail out homeowners? Mortgage modifications help homeowners stay put. But is that fair to those of us who bought when the market was high, and yet continue to meet our contractual obligations? Paul Solman…
Economy Nov 24 What Does Justice in the Foreclosure Crisis Look Like? An amended answer today to a question answered imperfectly (or worse) last month. The email, from Bruce Temple, was in response to one of our stories on the foreclosure crisis and read as follows: In tonight's episode you asked…
Economy Nov 23 Introducing Tool$ Tuesday: A New Feature UPDATE NOV. 25, 2010 | Editor's Note: See update at end of post. Today we present Tool$ Tuesday- the first in a series of online calculators and tools that I or others on the Making Sen$e team have actually used.