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June 4, 2013
In "The Great Deformation," David Stockman, former budget director under President Reagan, makes an argument against government economic intervention. Economics correspondent Paul Solman interviews Stockman on why he believes the U.S. bailout of banks after the 2008 financial meltdown perpetuates an unfair economic system.
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May 24, 2013
A look at the jobs data for African-Americans reveals a story of deep distress, especially for the young. Paul Solman answers a reader’s question about unemployment for blacks and offers some chilling statistics.
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May 8, 2013
In a conversation with economics correspondent Paul Solman, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew addresses jobs and economic growth -- issues paramount to most Americans -- as well the political fight over automatic spending cuts, the implementation of Dodd-Frank and reform on Wall Street.
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May 3, 2013
With only a slight improvement in April job numbers, Paul Solman talks with one of the 4 million Americans still unemployed, 55-year-old software developer and single dad Geoffrey Weglarz.
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April 22, 2013
Are mature entrepreneurs on the rise? Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks to older workers who decided to pursue their own business dreams later in life.
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April 9, 2013
Rikers Island prison houses 88,000 inmates a year, many of whom are repeat offenders. In an effort to decrease the teen recidivism rate, high finance and do-good innovation have made an unlikely partnership. Economics correspondent Paul Solman explores a new way to fund government social services through private investment.
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March 21, 2013
Economic correspondent Paul Solman reports on an American-born product hit hard by globalization: the surfboard. In Southern California, U.S.-based manufacturers fear they will soon be wiped out by competing, foreign companies due to discrepancies in labor costs and duty taxes.
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March 18, 2013
In academia, many professors remain working and teaching long past traditional retirement age, leaving younger potential professors shut out from highly coveted full-time, tenured positions. As part of a series on older workers, economics correspondent Paul Solman reports on how institutions are negotiating with aging faculty.
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March 4, 2013
Paul Solman remembers John Neu, a businessman who took chances on convicted criminals by hiring them at his recycling company, WeRecycle.
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Jan. 16, 2013
Social Security expert “Ask Larry” Kotlikoff thinks America is broke, and Social Security is one of the key reasons. Vice President Biden’s former economic advisor, Jared Bernstein, disagrees. Bernstein offers a menu of options that could fully close the 75-year Social Security solvency gap and do so in a balanced way.
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Jan. 3, 2013
In an exit interview that aired Dec. 26, economic correspondent Paul Solman spoke with Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who retired from Congress at the end of his term in January 2013. In the last of our series of interview outtakes with Frank, Paul Solman asks him what he plans to do in the future.
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Jan. 2, 2013
The average age of Vita Needle's workers is 74 years old, and that's no accident. The manufacturing company has intentionally hired seniors -- a decision that has increased profits and benefited older workers who often have a harder time finding a job. Paul Solman reports on their unique model for doing business.
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Jan. 2, 2013
While reporting on needle and tubing manufacturing firm Vita Needle in Needham, Mass., the NewsHour team met longtime manufacturing worker Rosa Finnegan, who, at 100 years old, still punches in five days a week and has no plans to retire.
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Jan. 2, 2013
In an exit interview that aired on PBS NewsHour Dec. 26, economic correspondent Paul Solman spoke with Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who plans to retire from Congress at the end of his term in January 2013.Watch this outtake in which Solman asks Rep. Frank about the intelligence of Congress members.
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Dec. 20, 2012
Is saving money during the holidays smart or Scrooge-ish? Is shopping a way of forging social bonds and expressing your freedom or is it giving in to crass commercialism? Following the lessons of some "economist Christmas carols," economics correspondent Paul Solman weighs the economic and social theories of both sides.
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Dec. 10, 2012
While tax breaks are popular, their future may be limited. Congressional leaders are deliberating on how they can increase revenue in order to bring down the deficit, and deductions may be on the chopping block. Paul Solman explores write-offs for charitable donations, mortgage interest and state and local taxes.
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Nov. 28, 2012
Cell phone bills are up 30 percent since 2009. So are cable television bills. Big companies are inserting tiny fees that add up to a lot and their profits do not reflect market competition. In fact, quite the opposite. Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks to David Cay Johnston about what's in the fine print on your bills.
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Nov. 28, 2012
Paul Solman talks to David Cay Johnston about his book, "The Fine Print." Here is an extra clip about a tax trick Johnston calls "one of the biggest scandals in America." It involves how giant companies are pocketing state income taxes withheld from your paycheck.
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Nov. 27, 2012
Between paying now or paying later, Americans have just about always preferred debt to taxes. Paul Solman talks to Simon Johnson of the MIT Sloan School of Management about his new book "White House Burning," which chronicles the history -- including the whys and whererfores, virtues and vices -- of U.S. debt.
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Nov. 22, 2012
Lee Buchheit, a lawyer who helped mastermind Greece's debt restructuring earlier this year, and investor Hans Humes explain the wrangling behind-the-scenes of Europe's debt crises to economics correspondent Paul Solman, all with a little help from some cartoonists.
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Nov. 21, 2012
The insurance industry looks at historical data, old and new, in order to assess the risk for potential disasters and put a price on premiums. But when Sandy hit the Northeast, some insurance companies reconsidered if they priced insurance high enough for the greater risks brought on by climate change. Paul Solman reports.
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Nov. 19, 2012
Despite a history of hurricanes, there were many storm victims in New York without flood insurance thinking the risk for damage was low. But after Sandy hit, many residents are faced now with huge damage bills and no idea how they'll recover. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports from New York's Long Island.
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Oct. 25, 2012
With a federal budget of $3.6 trillion, a deficit of $1 trillion and a total debt of $16 trillion, it can be difficult to fully comprehend where all this money comes from and what the U.S. government spends it on. Paul Solman talks to The Wall Street Journal's David Wessel about his new book "Red Ink," a primer to the budget.
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Oct. 16, 2012
Economic correspondent Paul Solman talks to the authors of "The Betrayal of the American Dream," Donald Barlett and James Steele, who say the drive for free trade has exported so many jobs to China, Brazil and India that American workers may become irrelevant to their own economy, just as other countries gain a middle class.
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Oct. 12, 2012
With such a close presidential race, many would like to look to pollsters and their political crystal balls for predictions. But what stats are the most reliable and accurate for predicting what will happen come Election Day? Paul Solman examines how polls and election markets parse data to come up with a winner.
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Sept. 25, 2012
With a bad economy and nearly everyone on the internet, one job opening promoted online can receive thousands of applications. So with competition fierce and many firms using software rather than human beings to hire, Paul Solman explores whether it is worth it to apply online or if there are better strategies to get employed.
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Sept. 11, 2012
Paul Solman compares and contrasts "Obamacare" policy with health care reform proposals from Mitt Romney. Economists on both sides of the political debate discuss increasing efficiency, technological innovation, market competition and vouchers.
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Aug. 31, 2012
Democrats plan for the economy is twofold: provide entrepreneurs and business owners with the tools and resources they need, and ensure the growth of a strong middle class. Paul Solman reports from Charlotte, N.C., on the Democratic Party's economic platform in before the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
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Aug. 24, 2012
Ahead of the Republican National Convention, Paul Solman goes to Tampa, Fla., to talk to Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, as well as some conservative business owners about their economic priorities going into the 2012 Election, which include tax cuts and deregulation.
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Aug. 17, 2012
Since the 1960s, the State Department has sponsored young foreigners for temporary, low-wage summer jobs in the U.S. But with high youth unemployment, some believe the program takes summer jobs away from American youth. So is the program's motivation truly 'good will' or a source of cheap labor? Paul Solman reports.