May 17 Can You Make it Through the Month? Financial Decisions of the Poor Here's an online "game" found for us by one of our most trusted advisors, Boston University Finance Professor Zvi Bodie. It gives a sense of what it means to be poor in America these days. Eye-opening, if dispiriting:… Continue reading
May 16 Watch Strauss-Kahn Arrest Drops ‘Bomb’ on French Politics; IMF Faces Leadership Vacuum How Will IMF Turmoil Affect Global Markets?… Continue watching
May 16 Watch How Does the U.S. Debt Ceiling Work and Why Does it Matter? The United States government hit the legal limit for the amount of money it can borrow Monday, but Treasury officials say they can take other measures to pay the bills. Ray Suarez discusses questions about how the debt ceiling works… Continue watching
May 16 Q&A: New York Times Reporter on Next Steps in Government Debt Limit Debate The United States government is expected to officially hit its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit Monday, even though the Treasury Department says that it can now meet its obligations until at least early August. The extension was due to… Continue reading
May 16 Political Checklist: We’ve Hit the Debt Ceiling, Now What? EmbedVideo(574, 482, 304); In this week's edition of the Political Checklist, Gwen Ifill and David Chalian examine why, if the nation has hit its limit for borrowing, has there been no outcry from the markets or the… Continue reading
May 16 ‘Demand’ Driving Inflation? A Viewer Begs to Differ By Paul Solman A complaint lodged with the PBS Ombudsman that was passed along after Friday's broadcast and seemed worth answering in a public forum. "I do not understand why Paul Solman did not challenge Roberto Rigobon when he said… Continue reading
May 16 ‘Demand’ Driving Inflation? A Viewer Begs to Differ A complaint lodged with the PBS Ombudsman was passed along after Friday's broadcast and seemed worth answering in a public forum. "I do not understand why Paul Solman did not challenge Roberto Rigobon when he said rising prices… Continue reading
May 13 Watch Tracking Inflation: How Fast Are Prices Rising? As part of his continuing coverage of Making Sense of financial news, Paul Solman reports on the growing rate of inflation and how Americans are dealing with the extra costs. According to the government's latest figures, prices made the biggest… Continue watching
May 13 Medicare, Social Security May Exhaust Funds Sooner Than Expected The trustees who oversee the finances of Medicare and Social Security said Friday that both programs will exhaust their trust funds sooner than previously expected. The Medicare Trustees report projected funds for the Medicare hospital insurance fund… Continue reading
May 13 Extremist Economics and Printing Dollars By Paul Solman John Williams is an economic extremist. He thinks a collapse of the U.S. dollar and hyperinflation are just around the corner and that gold is therefore the best bet around. He thinks the government manipulates the economic data to… Continue reading