Apr 29 The Budget Battle: WWHD? (What Would Hayek Do?) AK? (And Keynes?) Cut taxes? Hike them? Cut government? Save the safety net? These economic questions are dominating debate in DC. So we thought we'd consult two of the greatest economists of all time: What would YOU do about today's budget deficit?… Continue reading
Apr 29 Why Gas Prices Are Such an (Economic) Drag Are the hopes for an economic recovery disappearing into our gas tanks? On Thursday the Commerce Department reported economic growth had slowed to an annual rate of 1.8 percent. It had been projected to be as high as 4… Continue reading
Apr 28 Keynes vs. Hayek: Round Two By Paul Solman "We've been going back and forth for a century." So began an economics rap between two long-dead English economists, interventionist John Maynard Keynes and governmentophobe Friedrich Hayek that went viral. The rap's dress rehearsal debuted on the NewsHour back in… Continue reading
Apr 28 Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two "We've been going back and forth for a century." So began an economics rap between two long-dead English economists, interventionist John Maynard Keynes and governmentophobe Friedrich Hayek that went viral. The rap's dress rehearsal debuted on the NewsHour back in… Continue reading
Apr 28 Coming Soon: Keynes vs. Hayek, Round Two By Elizabeth Shell Today marks the release of a second Keynes versus Hayek video. We'll be linking to it and channeling Lord Keynes on the subject of the budget later this afternoon. Stay tuned. Continue reading
Apr 27 Watch Bernanke Spotlights Political, Economic Challenges in Historic News Conference In hopes of further revamping the Fed's secretive image, Chairman Ben Bernanke held the first-ever regularly scheduled news conference in its 98-year history. Jeffrey Brown discusses his remarks with Columbia University's Joseph Stiglitz and Matthew Slaughter, who served on the… Continue watching
Apr 27 The Obamas Gave $131,000 to Fisher House Foundation in 2010; What Is It? By Paul Solman Photo of President Obama by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Editor's Note: The Obama document du jour may be the President's birth certificate, but here on the Business Desk we've been looking into another document: the First Family's tax return. Last… Continue reading
Apr 27 The Obamas Gave $131,000 to the Fisher House Foundation Last Year. What Is It? By Elizabeth Shell Editor's Note: The Obama document du jour may be the President's birth certificate but here on the Business Desk we've been looking into another document: the First Family's tax return. Last week we ran an infographic illustrating their… Continue reading
Apr 27 5 Questions About the Federal Reserve and Bernanke’s News Conference File photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images Updated 6:24 p.m. | OK, we did get answers to the questions our experts raised earlier, some more interesting than others. What was perhaps most compelling during this first news conference was the… Continue reading
Apr 26 Suppose You Want to Pay Down the National Debt, All by Yourself? By Paul Solman Photo by Flickr user CarbonNYC Slate, the online magazine, has a fascinating explainer of an oft-asked question: can individuals help pay down the debt and if so, how? From Slate's Brian Palmer: There are several ways for… Continue reading