Mar 10 ProPublica’s Mortgage Mod Squad: HAMP’S a Flop By Diane Lincoln Estes, Paul Solman As you've probably heard by now either on our program or elsewhere, the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP for short) has been a disappointment -- to put it generously. The program, announced back in February 2009, aimed to… Continue reading
Feb 22 Tool$ Tuesday: YOU Cut the Deficit As the President and Congress wrestle over the particulars of a trimmed-down federal budget, the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, funded by longtime budget nudge Pete Peterson, offers this tool for lowering the debt load -- all… Continue reading
Feb 17 The Machine Breakers We Have Always With Us A long and interesting email arrived recently from one Jean Maier. I've been responding to its various points, a post at a time. Today, it's time for item three. Here is the relevant excerpt from Ms. Maier's massive… Continue reading
Feb 16 Merle Hazard and You: And the Winner Is… Today, an update on our country-country lyric contest, inspired by the econo-crooner Merle Hazard. Those of you who frequent these pages often will remember our series late last month where Merle lyricized about the financial crises in Spain,… Continue reading
Feb 10 Degrowth?! Paul Solman: The last post began to answer Jane Maier's epic email by discussing "heterodoxy" in economics. Today's takes up her second issue: "degrowth." Following her point about the disinclination of economics to invite alternative views, Ms. Maier… Continue reading
Feb 09 Holy Email, Batwoman! Is Economics Stuck in the Mud? By Elizabeth Shell Name: Jean Maier Question: Hello Mr. Solman, I enjoy your economic reports on the NewsHour often. I imagine that you will be attending the AEA meeting this January. I'll have to say that I question a lot of what I… Continue reading
Feb 08 Tool$ Tuesday: Currency Conversion and Haydn’s Messiah By Elizabeth Shell Name: Roland Weiser Question: I would appreciate the name of the site where you can obtain today's value for currency in the past. I'm writing a family memoir: my father worked in Cairo, Egypt as a pharmacist in 1906 and… Continue reading
Feb 07 How Can My Family Protect Itself in Case of Total Economic Meltdown? By Elizabeth Shell Name: Kimberly Foster Question: I am scared. My impression of our country's economic situation now is that we are bumping along the bottom of the ocean. Neither my husband nor I have any faith in this economy. What is also… Continue reading
Feb 02 One-Million Car March? By Elizabeth Shell A warning to those expecting EVs (electric vehicles) to clog the roadways anytime soon, or even to meet President Obama's stated goal of one million by 2015: it's not likely to happen, despite the fact that the U.S. has as… Continue reading
Feb 01 Tool$ Tuesday: What’s Your Vehicle’s Carbon ‘Tire-Print’? By Elizabeth Shell Today's Tool$ We Use features three on the carbon emissions you generate by driving, with a bonus Global Warming video attached for your viewing discomfort. On the broadcast Monday: a story about electric cars, with a focus on GM's… Continue reading