Aug 17 Watch Are Fundamental Changes for Mortgage Giants Fannie, Freddie Ahead? The Obama administration is calling for some fundamental changes at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Jim Lehrer discusses the possible changes with William Poole, former Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis president, and John Taylor of the National… Continue watching
Aug 17 More on 99ers: Reactions and Stories Paul Solman: With our story on the 99ers still up there among the "most watched" NewsHour stories more than a week after it ran, it seemed fitting to share another set of reactions to the story and the issue. After… Continue reading
Aug 17 China's War on Illegal Buildings By Travis Daub In an effort to rid the country of unsafe, illegal and aging structures, the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development plans to demolish more than half of the country's residential buildings in the next 20 years. Illegal structures… Continue reading
Aug 17 Oil Well Is Almost Dead, but Legal Wrangling Just Beginning for BP In the coming years, BP will face a complex stew of litigation, fines and penalties stemming from the Gulf oil spill. Continue reading
Aug 17 We're Looking for Stories of Worker Burnout Paul Solman: We’re doing a story on worker burnout and are having trouble finding case studies. Can you or someone you know, or even know of, direct us to a worker or several who are suffering from being worked too… Continue reading
Aug 16 Why Can't the Fed Refuse to Loan Money to Banks That Pay Lavish Salaries? Question: Why can’t the Federal Reserve refuse to loan money — at practically no interest — to banks that give their executives lavish salaries and bonuses? Paul Solman: You tell me. I think they’d say it wasn’t allowed. But as… Continue reading
Aug 16 New Political Groups Face Few Spending and Donation Limits In the wake of the landmark Citizens United v. FEC campaign finance ruling, unions and corporations are now allowed to spend unlimited amounts of their own money to support candidates via advertising. But those are not the only changes… Continue reading
Aug 16 Monday: Karzai Sets Exit Deadline for Contractors; Gulf Shrimp Season Opens Afghan President Hamid Karzai is setting a four-month deadline for private security companies to cease operations in the country, a government spokesman said Monday. The Associated Press reports that the Interior Ministry has 52 security firms licensed, but some… Continue reading
Aug 13 Watch Gulf Fishermen Debate Whether to Risk Selling Seafood Again No oil has leaked from the broken Gulf well since July, and the federal government is reopening some waters for fishing. But some fishermen are split over whether to start trawling the waters again when there may be a risk… Continue watching
Aug 13 More from 99ers: An Update on Gregg Rosen, and Why Some Companies Say They Still Can't Find Employees Paul Solman: The last few days, we’ve been running outtakes from last Friday’s long-term unemployment story, including two featuring pony-tailed 40-year-old former marketing manager and cell phone store owner Gregg Rosen. Today, a response from Mr. Rosen,… Continue reading