Apr 25 Should Banks Modify Home Loans to Today’s Home Values? By Paul Solman Photo: Getty Images. Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and readers on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Monday's query: Name: Charles Robertson Question: The media estimate 5 to 8 million houses… Continue reading
Apr 25 Should Banks Modify Home Loans to Today’s Home Values? Name: Charles Robertson Question: The media estimates 5 to 8 million houses are currently underwater or at some point in the foreclosure process, and housing values have declined 25 percent. If one million homes were put on the market in… Continue reading
Apr 22 Our National Debt: Political Gamesmanship or a Game of Chicken? By Paul Solman A graphic chronicle of debt ceiling hikes from Bloomberg Businessweek. For the record, it doesn't seem like either 'political gamesmanship' or a game of chicken, so much as a vivid illustration of how and why the national… Continue reading
Apr 22 Our National Debt: Political Gamesmanship or a Game of Chicken? A graphic chronicle of debt ceiling hikes from Bloomberg Businessweek. For the record, it doesn't seem like either 'political gamesmanship' or a game of chicken, so much as a vivid illustration of how and why the national debt has… Continue reading
Apr 21 Budget Showdown: What’s In the Obama and Ryan Plans? By Paul Solman Editor's Note: This week President Obama has been crisscrossing the country, selling his budget plan to the American people. Meanwhile, Republican Representative Paul Ryan has been pitching his budget proposal to constituents in Wisconsin. We wanted… Continue reading
Apr 21 Budget Showdown: What’s In the Obama and Ryan Plans? By Elizabeth Shell Editor's Note: This week President Obama has been crisscrossing the country selling his budget plan to the American people. Meanwhile, Republican Representative Paul Ryan has been pitching his budget proposal to constituents in Wisconsin. We wanted to take… Continue reading
Apr 20 What Happens to Us Codgers if the Debt Limit Isn’t Raised? By Elizabeth Shell We reported last week on the fear and trembling of bond vigilantism, real or imagined -- that the bond market would punish the country for profligacy by raising the interest it demanded to lend us money, thus making everything… Continue reading
Apr 20 What Happens to Us Codgers if the Debt Limit Isn’t Raised? By Paul Solman We reported last week on the fear and trembling of bond vigilantism, real or imagined -- that the bond market would punish the country for profligacy by raising the interest it demanded to lend us money, thus making everything… Continue reading
Apr 19 S&P’s Dire Warning: Of Any Significance At All? Call me a contrarian -- or just your garden-variety journalist/skeptic -- but when I read the much-ballyhooed Standard & Poor's announcement yesterday, I shook my shiny head. "Because the U.S. has, relative to its AAA peers, what we consider… Continue reading
Apr 18 Making Sen$e: How Much Did President Obama Make in 2010? By Paul Solman Editor's Note: The First Family's 2010 tax return was released today. We've pulled out some of the more interesting numbers in a graphic. Here's the snapshot: the Obamas reported an adjusted gross income of $1,728,096, about $3.78… Continue reading