Dec 17 Debating the Legacy of John Maynard Keynes By Business Desk Editor’s note: Last night on the NewsHour, we had a look at the legacy of economist John Maynard Keynes, using as our vehicle an amusing rap song about the legendary economist and thinker. We’d hoped to have the full-fledged… Continue reading
Dec 17 Samuelson on Consumer Surplus Paul Solman: Today’s Paul Samuelson excerpt explains the concept of “consumer surplus.” See the other transcripts we posted this week on the basics of economics here and here.) To Samuelson, it was the justification for the market system. Continue reading
Dec 17 Making Sen$e of 2010: Indicators to Watch By Carolyn O'Hara As the end of a tumultuous economic year approaches, the PBS NewsHour asked several economists and financial experts to look ahead to 2010 and answer one question: What is the economic indicator to watch and why?… Continue reading
Dec 16 Wealthier Counties Drove Off With More 'Clunkers' Cash By Hari Sreenivasan The government's $3 billion "cash for clunkers" program encouraged consumers this summer to trade in their gas-guzzling vehicles for more fuel-efficient ones. A county-by-county breakdown of the government's "clunkers" spending reveals that residents of wealthier counties took more advantage… Continue reading
Dec 16 FTC Accuses Intel of Stifling Competition The Federal Trade Commission sued Intel* Wednesday, accusing the world's biggest chipmaker of using illegal tactics to stifle its competition. The FTC accused Intel, which supplies about 80 percent of the world's microprocessors, of waging "a systematic campaign… Continue reading
Dec 16 The Year Ahead: Conventional Wisdoms that Get It Wrong Paul Solman: Next up in our week-long series on The Economic Year Ahead: conventional wisdoms economists think are wrong. After asking economists to weigh in on the next crisis and what would surprise them most about the… Continue reading
Dec 16 Fed to Keep Interest Rates 'Exceptionally Low' The Federal Reserve wrapped up its final policy meeting of the year on Wednesday, and, as expected, announced it would keep rates near zero "for an extended period." Following two-days of meetings, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee… Continue reading
Dec 16 Excerpts from 'Keynes: The Return of the Master' By Carolyn O'Hara Lord Robert Skidelsky has written a celebrated biography of economist John Maynard Keynes, which he recently discussed with economics correspondent Paul Solman in an interview. Listen to Skidelsky read a portion of an excerpt of the biography below. Continue reading
Dec 16 More Basics of Economics with Paul Samuelson Paul Solman: On Tuesday, we posted the first transcript from a series of interviews I’ve done with Paul Samuelson over the years. This installment picks up where the last left off, explaining the most basic ideas of economics —… Continue reading
Dec 16 Watch Other News: FTC Accuses Intel of Antitrust Violations In other news, the Federal Trade Commission filed suit against Intel for allegedly trying to unfairly stifle competition, and the House voted to let the government borrow another $290 billion over six weeks. Continue watching