Mar 24 Report Slams Obama Effort to Stem Foreclosures By Jason Breslow The Obama administration's $50 billion effort to plug the nation's home foreclosure crisis has fallen short of expectations and may ultimately prove to "be of questionable value." That's the conclusion of a scathing report released late Tuesday by the… Continue reading
Mar 24 Debate Over Value of Yuan Heats Up in Washington The long-running debate over the value of China's currency is heating up in Washington. Last week, senators from both parties introduced a bill that would compel the Obama administration to confront China over the undervalued yuan, which many… Continue reading
Mar 24 Patchwork Nation: Healthcare Aside, Economy Still Dominant By Dante Chinni The headlines may be all about health care reform this week, but throughout the United States, the biggest story continues to be the sputtering economy. Poll after poll shows that the economy and unemployment are the top issue with… Continue reading
Mar 24 Watch Michael Lewis Tackles the Mortgage Crisis in 'The Big Short' Jeffrey Brown takes a look inside the doomsday machine of the subprime lending crisis with author Michael Lewis in a conversation about his new book, "The Big Short."… Continue watching
Mar 24 Watch Pay Czar Imposes New Caps on Executive Salaries The Obama administration's pay czar Kenneth Feinberg has announced more cuts to executive pay for several large companies still receiving government funds. Judy Woodruff spoke with him about those salary decisions. Continue watching
Mar 24 Watch News Wrap: Euro Tumbles in Response to Debt Crisis In other news Wednesday, diplomats in the European Union worked on policies to quash the spreading debt crisis and Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of an Irish bishop embroiled in the child sex abuse scandal. Continue watching
Mar 23 Why Haven't Agricultural Land Prices Also Crashed? Question: I have a question about agricultural land prices. I have seen my home, apartment building, and stock values drop. In addition, there are rumors in the press about potential drops in commercial office and retail space. But agricultural lands… Continue reading
Mar 23 Pay Czar Caps Compensation at Five Bailed-Out Firms Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration's pay czar, announced Tuesday that he will cut 2010 salaries for top executives at five companies that received extraordinary bailout assistance from the government at the height of the financial crisis. The highest-paid… Continue reading
Mar 23 Coming Soon to Hollywood: Movie Derivatives Moviegoers will soon be able to decide which films to see based not on stars or tomatoes, but on how well they're being traded by investors. Two investment firms are working to develop a futures market for movie derivatives that… Continue reading
Mar 22 Why Don't We Have More Tech Education Programs in Schools? Question: As a nation of technology, why do public schools continue to eliminate technology education programs? Doesn’t this curriculum (see iteaconnect.org for standards) lead to more high-knowledge-high-skills jobs? Paul Solman: I don’t know the answer, so I asked my… Continue reading