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…
Economy Feb 03 AIG and Credit Default Swaps: A Clarification Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Thursday's query: Name: Merritt Dunn Question: Since the Treasury Department bailed out AIG and…
Arts Feb 02 One-Million Car March? A warning to those expecting EVs (electric vehicles) to clog the roadways anytime soon, or even to meet President Obama's stated goal of one million by 2015: It's not likely to happen, despite the fact that the U.S. has as…
Arts Feb 01 Tool$ 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…
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…
Arts Jan 31 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…
Arts Jan 28 From the Pain in Spain to Taxes in Naxos: Merle Hazard’s Euro-Serenades All this week we've featured investment advisor Jon Shayne, aka Country-and-Western economist Merle Hazard, warbling his way through the European debt debacle. He started with the pain in Spain and moved on through Erin Go Broke…
Arts 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. Merle (if not Beethoven) will do anything to educationally amuse. So will we. But given the gravity…
Economy Jan 27 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. (…
Arts Jan 26 The ‘Hits’ Just Keep On Coming By "hits," I mean Merle Hazard's Golden Newbie Euro-crisis Euro-tunes, as well as the Internet views that they've been garnering. Monday's post: The Pain in Spain Falls Plainly from Merle's Brain. Yesterday's: Erin Go Broke. And…