Feb 18 After Losing Its Bookstore, Laredo Tries to Write the Next Chapter By Tom LeGro The last bookstore in Laredo, Texas, closed its doors for good one month ago this week. This bilingual and bicultural border town, long challenged by high illiteracy rates, is now adjusting to its new reality. Continue reading
Feb 17 Watch One Year Later, Stimulus Appears to Yield Mixed Results President Barack Obama touted the one-year-old stimulus legislation for continuing to create jobs, even as many Americans question the potency of the recovery. Jeffrey Brown speaks with John Cochrane of the University of Chicago and Lawrence Mishel, president of the… Continue watching
Feb 05 Unemployment Rate Drops to 9.7%, but 2009 Was Worse Than Reported Employers cut 20,000 jobs in January, but the unemployment rate surprisingly fell to a five-month low of 9.7 percent, according to the Labor Department's monthly report on Friday. The jobless rate was 10 percent in November and December. The… Continue reading
Feb 05 Watch Jobless Rate Drops, but Fuller Recovery Still Appears Distant The economy shed 20,000 jobs in January, but there were new hopes of economic growth as the nation's unemployment rate ticked down to 9.7 percent. Jim Lehrer speaks with a pair of experts about the latest numbers, as well as… Continue watching
Feb 04 Watch Stand-up Economist Finds the Light Side of a 'Dismal Science' Economics isn't exactly a side-splitting discipline, but at a recent economics convention in Atlanta, self-proclaimed "stand-up economist" Yoram Bauman showed it's possible to infuse the sober science with monetary mirth. Continue watching
Feb 03 Watch Obama Jobs Push Focusing on Small Business President Obama is looking to cut the nation's unemployment rate by offering more aid for small business, but a plan to borrow from TARP has some lawmakers balking. Continue watching
Feb 02 Tuesday's Headlines: Budget Hearings; 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal Underway By Tom LeGro One day after the Obama administration released its $3.8 trillion budget plan, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the president's budget director, Peter Orszag, are set to explain it Tuesday before congressional committees. Also on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Robert Gates… Continue reading
Feb 02 Watch Are Big Banks Good for the Economy? The Obama administration is trying to rein in big banks, but Robert Kelly, chief executive officer of Bank of New York, says that's a big mistake. Continue watching
Feb 01 Monday's Headlines: Obama to Submit $3.83 Trillion Budget By Tom LeGro President Barack Obama plans to send Congress a $3.83 trillion budget that calls for more money to fight high unemployment and cuts in spending for government programs to reduce a projected record deficit this year. President Obama's plan would raise… Continue reading
Jan 29 U.S. Economy Expands at Fastest Rate in Six Years A better-than-expected GDP report Friday indicated that the U.S. economy grew at 5.7 percent in the quarter October through December 2009, the largest increase since the third quarter of 2003. The report, which is a broad measure of… Continue reading