Making Sen$e Apr 25 In Louisiana, are billions of dollars in corporate tax exemptions paying off? Louisiana’s abundant natural resources represent enormous wealth, yet the state consistently ranks at or near the bottom nationally for many quality-of-life indicators. Like other states, Louisiana grants tax exemptions to businesses it wants to attract, but some are questioning whether…
Health Apr 04 Seriously ill children often resist treatment. Can offering simple rewards change that? Few scenarios are harder to witness than the suffering of a seriously ill child. For kids with life-threatening diseases, survival often requires procedures that are painful and scary. But a Washington nonprofit is encouraging kids to be active in their…
Making Sen$e Mar 28 Anxious about debt, Generation Z makes college choice a financial one The amount of student loan debt Americans hold is at a record high, and much of it is shouldered by Millennials--people in their late 20s and 30s. Now, children in Generation Z, the group born after 1996, are facing their…
Politics Mar 21 Why Louisianans blame government, not corporations, for pollution problems UC Berkeley sociologist Arlie Hochschild traveled to Louisiana, the second-poorest state, to explore why its neediest populations simultaneously rely on federal aid and reject the concept of “big government.” As Paul Solman reports, the author and professor discovered many residents…
Making Sen$e Mar 14 This free program trains people how to start a business —but without debt It’s commonly believed that you need money to start a company, but a pair of British entrepreneurs are spreading a different message. Through their initiative PopUp Business School, Alan Donegan and his team train people with little capital, but a…
Making Sen$e Mar 07 How kids are adapting to a cashless culture A quarter of the U.S. population is made up of people born from the mid-1990s to around 2010, known as Generation Z. When it comes to making purchases, this group is accustomed to buying online and using credit cards, but…
Making Sen$e Feb 28 How economic inequality might affect a society’s well-being Economic inequality is a major theme in the American political dialogue. As the country’s wealthiest people continually become richer at the expense of the poor, some research suggests they may actually become less happy and healthy. Economics correspondent Paul Solman…
Making Sen$e Feb 21 Who holds the power in potential U.S.-China trade war? With trade negotiations between the U.S. and China now in high gear, President Trump has suggested he might delay the latest round of tariffs on Chinese goods, currently scheduled to take effect March 1. Paul Solman reports on the disadvantages…
Making Sen$e Feb 07 How an economist’s idea to create kidney transplant chains has saved lives What happens if you need a kidney transplant and don’t know someone who is a biological match? A Nobel prize-winning economist has a solution: transplant chains. Donors agree to give to a stranger in exchange for a kidney for their…
Making Sen$e Jan 31 Why former NFL tight end Martellus Bennett now creates children’s books Super Bowl LIII is just days away. For some players, it will be the pinnacle of their professional football careers. But after the glory and glamour of the NFL spotlight are past, these former athletes face a major challenge: What…