Nov 13 Watch Paulson Defends Federal Financial Rescue Effort Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson defended the changes made to the $700 billion rescue plan aimed at helping consumers. He told the NewsHour he never expected it to lead to a quick recovery of bank lending. Continue watching
Nov 13 New Jobless Claims Nearly Hit Post-Sept. 11 Level By PBS News Hour After skyrocketing in recent months, the number of newly laid-off U.S. workers seeking unemployment benefits jumped last week to the highest level since just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Continue reading
Nov 12 Paulson Says Bailout Funds May Not Be Used to Buy Troubled Assets By PBS News Hour Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced a major shift in the government's bailout program Wednesday, saying the $700 billion rescue package will not be used to purchase troubled assets as originally planned. Continue reading
Nov 12 Democrats Press for Billions in Aid to Auto Industry By PBS News Hour Democrats continued to push for aid for struggling U.S. automakers, calling for Congress to act during its lame-duck session next week to give the industry a much-needed financial boost as it confronts weak sales and plummeting stock prices. Continue reading
Nov 11 Watch Despite Bailout, Budget Strains Worsen for Fannie, AIG Ailing financial giants Fannie Mae and American International Group will need additional government help, despite rescue measures extended by the federal recovery package. Two financial experts examine the prudence of the bailouts and their shortcomings. Continue watching
Nov 11 Global, U.S. Markets Struggle as Worries Persist for Automakers By Admin, PBS News Hour Global financial troubles worsened Tuesday as stocks fell in many markets and analysts grew more concerned that the worldwide economic downturn is deepening. Continue reading
Oct 24 Watch Infrastructure Success in Boston Raises Prospect of Future Urban Spending The success of Boston's Big Dig infrastructure program raises the prospect of future large state expenditures on similar programs. A fiscal policy analyst and urban planner lay out their respective positions on the benefit of such an investment. Continue watching
Oct 22 Watch New AIG CEO Discusses Company Spending, Troubles Government-appointed AIG CEO Edward Liddy discusses how the financial sector shake-up led to insurer AIG's problems and what measures he intends to take in order to return to successful business strategy. Continue watching
Oct 21 Watch Attempts to Ease Credit Crunch Reveal Mixed Results Several plans have been enacted in recent weeks to loosen the flow of credit and ease the financial crisis. An expert panel evaluates the efforts and the state of the credit sector. Continue watching
Oct 21 Why are we not focusing on stimulating consumer spending? Question/Comment: Hello, Paul. I am certainly no economist (as my question will show), but I learned in business school (to my surprise at the time) that two-thirds of GDP is the result of consumer… Continue reading