Jul 27 China's Communism and Capitalism: The New Yin Yang? By Paul Solman The short third installment of Yoram Bauman's vlog from China is well worth the watching, highlighting the tension between the "official" China and what's really going on there. Communist Party founder Mao AND $300,000 Porsches? Yoram asks. "Do… Continue reading
Jul 26 The 'Bond Vigilantes' and the Debt Ceiling Crisis: No Need to Panic or Lying in Wait? By Paul Solman Harvard's eminent trade economist, Robert Lawrence, gave a talk in Greece this month. Among his slides was this image with the headline: "The Vigilantes are Asleep!" Slide image courtesy of Robert Lawrence. That would be the so-called "bond vigilantes"… Continue reading
Jul 25 Should You Stash Cash if the Debt Ceiling Isn't Lifted? By Paul Solman Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama wait before a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House July 10, 2011 in Washington, D.C. to negotiate increasing the debt ceiling in order to avoid defaulting… Continue reading
Jul 18 Were We Too Easy on Lincoln Electric? By Paul Solman Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here are a few queries: // We received a flurry of worried responses to our… Continue reading
Jul 15 Stand-up Economist: Is China Asia's Ecuador? By Paul Solman // Stand-up economist Yoram Bauman has now made it to China and filed the second of his vlogs for us from Beijing. We found his comparison of China to Ecuador fascinating. For those who crave a… Continue reading
Jul 14 The Not-So-Golden Years: Are You Better Prepared Than Other Americans? By Paul Solman Explore a compendium of facts on Americans' shortfalls in retirement savings, presented in graphic form. As should always be your habit with poll data, don't try to take the actual numbers to the bank. But as rough approximations,… Continue reading
Jul 13 The No-Layoff Company -- in Ohio By Paul Solman // Editor's Note: On Wednesday's program, a look at an improbable Rust Belt success story. With a guaranteed no-layoff policy and average pay of almost $70,000 this year, Lincoln Electric is atypical of U.S. companies. We last visited the… Continue reading
Jul 12 Smacking Into the Debt Ceiling: the Day-by-Day Consequences By Paul Solman Daily U.S. Government Income and Expenditures: Use the slide bar to see how Treasury's cash deficit is projected to grow if the debt ceiling is reached, starting with Aug. 3. Mouse over the red points to see the running deficit… Continue reading
Jul 11 'Have Wit, Will Travel' By Paul Solman Economics was dubbed "the dismal science" by 19th century English intellectual Thomas Carlyle. The reason: the Reverend Thomas Malthus' grim prediction, around 1800, that population would inevitably outstrip food supply, since the former grows geometrically (1,2,4,8...), the latter, arithmetically (1,2,3,4...). Continue reading
Jul 11 'Have Wit, Will Travel': The Life of an Economist And Stand-Up Comic By Paul Solman Economics was dubbed "the dismal science" by 19th century English intellectual Thomas Carlyle. The reason: the Reverend Thomas Malthus' grim prediction, around 1800, that population would inevitably outstrip food supply, since the former grows geometrically (1,2,4,8...), the latter, arithmetically (1,2,3,4...). Continue reading