May 23 Making Sense: Is it Dumb to Play the Lottery? By Paul Solman Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Monday's query: We received a fascinating email in response to last week's installment of… Continue reading
May 20 Furry Robots, Foldable Cars and More Innovations from MIT’s Media Lab By Elizabeth Shell We recently visited the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for our story on George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen's ebook, "The Great Stagnation." Cowen argues that our economy is slowing down because the… Continue reading
May 19 Foodie Economist: How to Find Great Eats By Elizabeth Shell When economist Tyler Cowen finishes his day job at George Mason University and dinner time rolls around, he sinks his teeth into his hobby: blogging about -- and eating -- ethnic food in and around Washington, D.C. Continue reading
May 18 Watch The Great Stagnation: Why Hasn’t Recent Technology Created More Jobs? As part of his continuing coverage of Making Sen$e of financial news, Paul Solman reports on why more good jobs haven't been created in recent years. Can new technological innovations create widespread job growth as past generations have seen?… Continue watching
May 18 Making Sense: The Two Faces of Dominique Strauss-Kahn By Paul Solman Paul interviewed Strauss-Kahn in September of 2009. Watch the interview here. Dominique Strauss-Kahn was as urbane and well-mannered an interviewee as ever you'll meet. Sensible and clear, as in a NewsHour interview during the heat of… Continue reading
May 17 Can You Make it Through the Month? Financial Decisions of the Poor By Paul Solman Here's an online "game" found for us by one of our most trusted advisers, Boston University Finance Professor Zvi Bodie. "Spent" was created through a collaboration between Urban Ministries of Durham in North Carolina and the advertising firm… Continue reading
May 16 Watch Strauss-Kahn Arrest Drops ‘Bomb’ on French Politics; IMF Faces Leadership Vacuum How Will IMF Turmoil Affect Global Markets?… Continue watching
May 16 Watch How Does the U.S. Debt Ceiling Work and Why Does it Matter? The United States government hit the legal limit for the amount of money it can borrow Monday, but Treasury officials say they can take other measures to pay the bills. Ray Suarez discusses questions about how the debt ceiling works… Continue watching
May 16 ‘Demand’ Driving Inflation? A Viewer Begs to Differ By Paul Solman A complaint lodged with the PBS Ombudsman that was passed along after Friday's broadcast and seemed worth answering in a public forum. "I do not understand why Paul Solman did not challenge Roberto Rigobon when he said… Continue reading
May 13 Watch Tracking Inflation: How Fast Are Prices Rising? As part of his continuing coverage of Making Sense of financial news, Paul Solman reports on the growing rate of inflation and how Americans are dealing with the extra costs. According to the government's latest figures, prices made the biggest… Continue watching