Apr 08 Weekonomics: Budget Negotiations Edition Just hours away from a potential government shutdown, Paul Solman Skypes with two economists on the financial implications of the budget impasse in this week's edition of 'Weekonomics: Our Friday Roundup'. Continue reading
Apr 07 The Need for a Long-Term Budget Fix By Elizabeth Shell I wrote yesterday about a chat with the former head of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, Martin Baily, now of the Brookings Institution. Most striking to me, was his suggestion that there could conceivably be an upside to… Continue reading
Apr 05 A Young Vet and His Dog Returning from tours in Iraq or Afghanistan (and sometimes both), American veterans struggle to adjust to civilian life: many are still grappling with what they experienced in combat and, as we recently reported, 11 percent were unemployed in March. Continue reading
Apr 01 March Unemployment: Barely Budging One brief comment on the jobs numbers. The net addition of 216,000 jobs, from the so-called payroll survey, is respectable. But the "household survey" reports roughly the same number of unemployed Americans: 13.5 million. You can't tell a lot from… Continue reading
Mar 30 The Madness of Sports Betting By Elizabeth Shell Editor's Note | If you're one of the millions of Americans who filled out a college basketball national championship bracket this year, odds are you're out of luck. ESPN reports that only two brackets out of over 5.9 million… Continue reading
Mar 25 100 Years After the Shirtwaist Factory Fire Name: Richard R. Palmer, MD Question: I hope that prior to the 25th of March you will note on the show that March 25 is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. (Perhaps you agree with me that after… Continue reading
Mar 22 Tool$ Tuesday: How the Government Spends Your Money By Elizabeth Shell By Elizabeth Shell Just in time for tax season: a tax receipt calculator that shows you how the U.S. federal government spends your taxes. It's easy to use: just enter your federal tax amount for 2010 and press 'calculate… Continue reading
Mar 21 Why Weaken the Japanese Yen? The Conflicting Claims of Economics By Elizabeth Shell From Thursday's NewsHour: "The Japanese yen settled near record highs against the U.S. dollar today, which make Japanese exports more expensive. Banks and finance ministers of the G7 are considering measures to decrease its value in order to help… Continue reading
Mar 14 A Snapshot of Economic Inequality Across our ‘Patchwork Nation’ By Elizabeth Shell EDITOR'S NOTE: Paul Solman and Dante Chinni of Patchwork Nation recently traveled to Ohio's Crawford and Delaware counties to examine economic inequality. In a preview of the upcoming story, which is slated to air on Tuesday's broadcast, we're… Continue reading
Mar 11 What We’re Reading: Economic Impact of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan By Elizabeth Shell EDITOR'S NOTE: Paul Solman is traveling today but we here at Making Sen$e wanted to share a list of reports we've been following on the financial impact of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Though it's too soon to say… Continue reading