Oct 09 Why Is the Price of Gold So High? Question: Why is the price of gold at a record high? And how does that affect the dollar? Paul Solman: Gold is denominated in dollars. So if gold goes up, it means the dollar has gone down, because it takes… Continue reading
Oct 08 Senate Committee Set for Health Reform Vote The Senate Finance Committee will vote Tuesday on a sweeping revamp of the U.S. health care system as the debate over President Barack Obama's top domestic policy enters a new stage. Continue reading
Oct 08 Will the New G-20 Eclipse the United Nations? Question: Your exuberance the other day in discussing the addition of several countries to the G-8 — now G-20 — led me to speculate whether the new G-20 could, in a real sense, eclipse the United Nations. Can the… Continue reading
Oct 08 The Personalities and Priorities of Obama's Economic Team By Carolyn O'Hara Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent for The New Yorker magazine, has penned a new account of how the main players on the White House economic team negotiate their different backgrounds and priorities in crafting high-stakes economic policies. Continue reading
Oct 08 How Much Will the H1N1 Flu Cost the U.S.? By Travis Daub Distribution centers around the country began receiving shipments of the much anticipated H1N1 flu vaccine this week. Those costs, as well as the economic blow of closed schools and lost productivity, could set back the fragile U.S. economy. Continue reading
Oct 07 How Does Global Financial Regulation Affect the Doha Round? Question: World leaders at the G-20 Summit issued plans for reregulating the financial industry to help solve the economic crisis. Yet, bizarrely those same leaders will push for completion of the current WTO negotiations… Continue reading
Oct 06 Is the High Jobless Rate Due to the Return of Discouraged Workers to the Pool? Question: Is there any [truth to the] idea that the jobless rate might have increased due to return of discouraged workers to the pool vs actual lost jobs? Paul Solman: None. Not in the data. “Discouraged workers” come in… Continue reading
Oct 06 Recession Grads Not Afraid to Turn Down Jobs A recent survey has found just 45 percent of college students offered a job this past spring accepted a position, begging the question, are recent graduates grasping the severity of the financial crisis?… Continue reading
Oct 06 Watch Commercial Real Estate May Be Next Victim of Recession Just two years ago an office space in midtown Manhattan could fetch close to $1.7 billion. Today, the same property trades for about $600 million. A sign the commercial real estate market will be the next shoe to drop in… Continue watching
Oct 05 The Great Recession Through an Economist's Walk to Work By Business Desk Editor’s note: Harvard economist Richard Freeman recently sent us a fascinating slide show he’d created of empty storefronts around the Boston area. We liked it so much that Paul sat down with Freeman a few days ago for an… Continue reading