Nov 22 Watch In Mozambique, Signs of Growth Seen Amid Rampant Poverty New international investment and steady growth have made Mozambique a promising African economy, but little of that change has trickled down to the citizens, many of whom still struggle to afford staple foods.In the first of three reports, Ray Suarez… Continue watching
Apr 22 Watch Summers: Bank Reforms Would Halt ‘Too Big to Fail’ Mentality As the Senate prepares to consider new financial regulations, Jeffrey Brown talks to White House financial adviser Larry Summers about whether reform efforts could prevent another financial meltdown. Continue watching
Feb 19 Do We Need a Consumer Protection Agency? As the Senate continues to debate financial reform, the issue of whether to create an independent consumer protection agency has become a key point of contention. In a special roundtable, experts weigh in on whether a new agency should be… Continue reading
Aug 20 Watch Tougher Credit Card Rules Offer New Consumer Guards New rules for credit card companies took effect Thursday, the first in a series of measures designed to protect consumers from changes to the terms of their card agreements. Jeffrey Brown gets perspective from a consumer advocate and a banking… Continue watching
Jul 02 Why Does Your Refrigerator Have a Light, But Not Your Freezer? Robert Frank: Today’s question was posed by my former student Karim Abdallah. “Why,” he asked, “does a light come on when you open the refrigerator but not when you open the freezer?” The cost-benefit principle offers a promising framework… Continue reading
Jun 25 How Regulatory Reforms Will Affect Consumers (Cont.) By Business Desk Paul Solman: Last week, we featured a number of economists (and a journalist) responding to the new financial regulations proposed by the Obama administration. But no economic historians were among them. We’ve remedied that omission by asking Eugene… Continue reading
Jun 02 Geithner in China: How Is China Weathering the Economic Crisis? By Business Desk Question: How is China weathering the economic crisis? And does China want to remain the United States’ largest creditor? Paul Solman: With Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in Beijing for the past few days, the financial world has been watching and… Continue reading
Apr 29 Economy Shrank by 6.1% in First Quarter By Admin, PBS News Hour The Commerce Department released numbers Wednesday estimating the economy contracted during the first three months of the year at nearly the same rate as the final quarter of 2008, marking the third straight quarter of decline since the late 1950s. Continue reading
Mar 31 New GM CEO Predicts ‘Deeper’ Restructuring By PBS News Hour The new chief of General Motors Corp. said Tuesday that the struggling automaker will likely shutter more U.S. plants and cut jobs as it embarks on a "deeper" company restructuring. Continue reading
Mar 27 Was Depression-Era Debt as High as It Is Now? Question: When we hear comparisons between today’s economy and that of the Great Depression, I wonder: Had as many people and institutions been as highly leveraged then as now? Were personal and institutional debt as high then as they are… Continue reading