Feb 25 The Economics of a World Run Riot By Paul Solman Are there any economic explanations for the world running riot, especially in North Africa? Maybe, says investment adviser Ed Yardeni, an otherwise pretty consistently conservative economist. He cites distinguished Brandeis University historian David Hackett Fischer and Fischer's 1996… Continue reading
Feb 24 Making Sen$e: Paying For Public Pensions By Paul Solman Editor's Note: As the fire over collective bargaining and public worker benefits burns across the country, on Thursday's broadcast we're looking at perhaps the issue behind it all: public pensions and how to pay for them. Our story… Continue reading
Feb 23 The Pain in Spain: How Hard Is the Rain Gonna Fall on the Plains? By Paul Solman The specter of Euro-debt default is again roiling the markets. "Worries Over Europe Pose Risks for Euro," read a headline in Monday's Wall Street Journal. "Spain Pegs Cajas' Possible Problem Debt," warned another. (Cajas are the… Continue reading
Feb 22 Tool$ Tuesday: You Cut the Deficit By Paul Solman 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… Continue reading
Feb 16 Merle Hazard and You: And the Winner Is… By Paul Solman We have 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… Continue reading
Feb 15 How-To Economics: Irrational Assurance Tips for Valentine’s Day, Part II By Paul Solman In our efforts to maximize your utility in this 'Material World' via behavioral economics, we're unilaterally extending Valentine's Day for 24 hours with a second video tip from Duke's Dan Ariely, who joined us on Making… Continue reading
Feb 14 How-To Economics: Irrational Assurance Tips for Valentine’s Day By Paul Solman Our friend Dan Ariely, of behavioral psychology and economics fame, returns to Making Sen$e as a regular presence, starting today. The book that made him famous is called "Predictably Irrational," but we think of Dan as… Continue reading
Feb 11 Introducing How-To Economics: Living in a Material World By Paul Solman Today, we inaugurate a new feature here on Making Sen$e: How-to Economics: Living in a Material World. And to explain the good works we're up to, I talked to Duke's Dan Ariely, who'll be one of our prime… Continue reading
Feb 10 Making Sen$e: ‘Degrowth’?! By Paul Solman Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Thursday's query: Paul Solman: The last post began to answer Jane Maier's epic email by… Continue reading
Feb 09 Holy E-mail, Batwoman! Is Economics Stuck in the Mud? By Paul Solman Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Wednesday's query: Name: Jean Maier Question: Hello Mr. Solman, I enjoy your economic reports… Continue reading