Apr 08 Weekonomics: Budget Negotiations Edition By Elizabeth Shell // Just hours away from a potential government shutdown, Paul Solman speaks via Skype 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 Making Sen$e: The Need for a Long-Term Budget Fix By Paul Solman Alice Rivlin (seated in green) with Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, during a meeting of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in late 2010. (Photo By Tom… Continue reading
Apr 06 Government Shutdown: Rx of the Devil or Just What the Doctor Ordered? By Diane Lincoln Estes A conversation this morning with a centrist Democrat from the Brookings Institution who lived through the shutdown of 1995, economist Martin Baily. "In terms of the economy, it had a surprisingly small effect," he said. "On the other hand, when… Continue reading
Apr 05 A Young Veteran and His Dog By Elizabeth Shell // Video shot and produced by Elizabeth Shell. Returning from tours in Iraq or Afghanistan (and sometimes both), American veterans struggle to adjust to civilian life: many are still grappling with what they experienced in combat and, as… Continue reading
Apr 04 Can U.S. Product Makers Manufacture a Profit? By Paul Solman Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here's Monday's query: Name: Paul Menzel Question: I understand that it is more profitable for… Continue reading
Apr 01 Watch Returning Vets Face a New Battle: The Job Market Returning War Vets Face New Domestic Battle: The Job Market… Continue watching
Apr 01 Watch Unemployment Rate Drops in March, but Economic Recovery Remains Fragile Unemployment Rate Drops, but Long-Term Jobless See 'Troubling' Stagnation… Continue watching
Apr 01 March Unemployment: Barely Budging By Paul Solman 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
Apr 01 Unemployment Falls to 8.8 Percent, Employers Add 216K Jobs The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data showing that unemployment dropped again to 8.8 percent in March, with employers adding 216,000 new jobs. The manufacturing sector showed especially strong growth, increasing at its fastest pace in seven years. Continue reading
Mar 31 The Madness of Sports Betting: Economics Edition By Paul Solman 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… Continue reading