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Paul Solman

About Paul

Paul Solman has been a correspondent for the PBS News Hour since 1985, mainly covering business and economics.

While attending Brandeis University, Solman joined the Brandeis newspaper, The Justice, and eventually became its editor. He got his first journalism job in 1970 at the alternative weekly Boston After Dark.

Solman became founding editor of the rival alternative weekly The Real Paper in 1972 and went on to become a feature writer and investigative reporter.

Solman received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1978.

After a few years of local PBS reporting, he inaugurated the PBS business documentary series, ENTERPRISE with fellow Nieman Fellow Zvi Dor-Ner.

In the 1980s, Solman produced documentaries, returned to local reporting, and joined the Harvard Business School faculty, teaching media, finance and business history in the school's Advanced Management Program. He also co-authored “Life and Death on the Corporate Battlefield” in 1983, which appeared in Japanese, German and Taiwanese editions. He joined the MacNeil/Lehrer Report in 1985.

In the '90s, with sociologist Morrie Schwartz, a teacher of his at Brandeis, Solman helped create -- and wrote the introduction to the book "Morrie: In His Own Words," which preceded "Tuesdays with Morrie.” In 2015, Solman co-authored “Get What's Yours: the Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security.”

Solman has lectured on college campuses since the '80s and has written for numerous publications, including the Journal of Economic Education. As a one-time cab driver, kindergarten teacher, crafts store co-owner and management consultant, he was also the author and presenter of "Discovering Economics with Paul Solman," a series of videos to accompany introductory economics textbooks.

In 2007, he joined the faculty at Yale, where he contributed to the university's Grand Strategy course for a decade. In 2011, he was the Richman Distinguished Visiting Professor at his alma mater, Brandeis, where he taught a seminar, "Economic Grand Strategies: From Chimps to Champs? Or Chumps?" He has taught regularly at West Point, the Naval War College and was an adjunct faculty member at Gateway Community College in New Haven, CT, where he created the evening program, “Yale@Gateway.” In 2016, he was a Visiting Fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford University.

Since 2019, Solman has chaired the board of the anti-polarization American Exchange Project, a nonpolitical nonprofit domestic "foreign exchange" program that introduces high school seniors from everywhere in America to each other, sends and embeds them, for free, in communities unlike their own.

Solman took up tennis at 50. His father was the American expressionist artist Joseph Solman. He is married with two children and seven grandchildren.

Full Bio

Paul’s Recent Stories

Economy May 03

Measuring Worth, $1 at a Time

Photo by Flickr user borman818 Paul Solman frequently answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and economic news on his Making Sen$e page. Here is Thursday's query: Name: Ed Question: Exactly how much is $1 worth today? Paul…

Economy Mar 30

The Mega Millions Lottery: to Play or Not to Play?

Tammy Redlen and Sierra Luchien walk into Bluebird liquor store in Hawthorne, Calif., after waiting in line for nearly three hours to purchase their Mega Millions ticket. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images. When a lottery pot gets as big…

Economy Mar 14

Do you live in a bubble? Take this quiz to find out

Paul Solman interviews author Charles Murray about his book "Coming Apart" at a local diner near Murray's hometown of Burkittsville, Md. By Paul Solman and Elizabeth Shell Editor's Note: This post has been updated to include the 'share…

Economy Mar 14

Do You Live in a Bubble? A Quiz

Paul Solman interviews author Charles Murray about his book "Coming Apart" at a local diner near Murray's hometown of Burkittsville, Md. Note: A newly updated Bubble Quiz can be found here. White America is coming apart at the seams.

Economy Mar 02

Can Family-Owned Firms Compete?

Hundreds of Marshmallow Peeps move down the conveyor belt to be boxed up at Just Born, Inc., a family-owned and operated confections business. Photo by Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images. Paul Solman frequently answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and…

Economy Feb 24

Viewer Gives Paul Solman a ‘Hat Tip’

Paul Solman frequently answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and economic news on his http://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/makingsense/ ">Making Sen$e page. Here is Friday's "query": Name: Bob Comment: Ditch the stupid hat -- spoils your serious image!…

Economy Feb 22

Why Banks Are Getting Haircuts

Home foreclosure in Greeley, Colo. Photo by Flickr user david_shankbone under a Creative Commons license. Paul Solman frequently answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and economic news on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Wednesday's query: Name: Gordon…

Economy Jan 30

Does the U.S. Actually Benefit From Free Trade?

Image by Yagi Studio/Getty Images. Paul Solman frequently answers questions from the NewsHour audience on business and economic news on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Monday's query: Doug Clymer asks: What is the benefit -- if any -- of…

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