Mar 03 Should the Government Encourage More Americans to Purchases Treasuries? Question: I have a question about servicing the national debt. Would it make economic sense for the federal government to encourage more Americans to purchase Treasury instruments, thereby returning huge interest payments to our economy instead of paying foreign governments?… Continue reading
Mar 03 Watch Incumbent Texas Gov. Perry Rides High in GOP Primary In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry edged out Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to win the state's three-way Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. Gwen Ifill talks to a political expert from the University of Texas at Austin about the general election ahead. Continue watching
Mar 03 Watch News Wrap: Iraq Bombings Kill 32, Days Ahead of Vote In other news Wednesday, three suicide bombings in Iraq killed at least 32 people, just four days before national elections, and President Obama signed a stop-gap extension of jobless benefits after a budget impasse in the Senate. Continue watching
Mar 02 Postal Service Moves to End Saturday Delivery Neither snow nor rain will stop the mail, but red ink might. Facing as much as $238 billion in losses over the next decade, the Postal Service announced Tuesday it will move to scale back its delivery schedule to five… Continue reading
Mar 02 Ford Outsells GM for the First Time Since 1998 Ford Motor Company announced Tuesday a 43 percent increase in U.S. sales of light-vehicles for February versus a year ago, edging out rival GM, which posted a 12 percent gain for the month. It is the first time Ford… Continue reading
Mar 02 Was Social Security Doomed From Its Inception? Question: Was Social Security doomed from its inception as it began by paying benefits to a generation that had never put anything into the fund? Paul Solman: No. It is a pay-as-you-go system, meaning future generations pay for current retirees. Continue reading
Mar 02 Watch Is the U.S. the Latest World Power in Decline? As part of his continuing series of reports examining the country's economic future, Paul Solman sits down with Yale historian Paul Kennedy to discuss the rise and fall of the U.S. and other great economic powers. Continue watching
Mar 01 Judge Decides Some Madoff Investors Not Entitled to Recovered Funds By Carolyn O'Hara A federal bankruptcy judge in Manhattan has sided with a trustee appointed by the court that investors with Bernard Madoff who took out more money from Madoff's investment firm than they put in over the years are not eligible… Continue reading
Mar 01 Congress Turns to Jobs and Finds a Frustrated Public It is hard to find a place in America where times are not harder than they were last year. Across all of the 12 community types in Patchwork Nation, unemployment has spiked dramatically in the last year. Tensions are high. Continue reading
Mar 01 Why Can't We Simply Add to the U.S. Debt Indefinitely? Question: I am told over and over that the federal debt will lead to inflation and that our children and grandchildren will have to pay it back. I have heard this so often that I am starting to doubt it. Continue reading