Mar 20 Watch Americans Feel Impact of Shaky Economy, Reflect on Race Relations In recent weeks, economic turmoil and the role of race in politics have emerged as top national issues. In the second part of the NewsHour's Big Picture discussion, a group of citizens share their views on the economy and reflect… Continue watching
Mar 18 Watch Fed Cuts Key Interest Rate in Latest Bold Move As fears of a recession intensified, the Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate 0.75 percent Tuesday. A finance journalist from the Wall Street Journal discusses the rate cut and the markets' response. Continue watching
Feb 12 Watch GM Offers Employee Buyouts After $38.7 Billion in Losses After announcing record annual losses Tuesday, General Motors said that it would offer buyouts for all 74,000 of its union employees -- allowing GM to hire lower-wage workers -- to help reduce costs. New York Times business reporter Micheline Maynard… Continue watching
Feb 11 Where is the Fed rate cut felt in the economy? Question/Comment: A Fed rate cut presumably has a cost; where is that felt? Paul Solman: Encouraging folks who made bad decisions before – invested stupidly, say, in mortgage-backed securities – to invest stupidly again, since the Fed will bail them… Continue reading
Jan 30 Should we have a central registry of mortgage lending so that trading can be more transparent? Question/Comment: As it is with all financial crisis, I guess, a lot of the damage stems from uncertainty. No one knows how much bad debt is out there and who’s holding it. My question is: why is it not possible… Continue reading
Jan 28 New Home Sales Drop by Record Amount By PBS News Hour New home sales plummeted last year by the largest amount on record while home prices fell sharply in December. Analysts foresee more trouble this year as the housing market tries to emerge from its worst slump in 20 years. Continue reading
Jan 17 Watch Amid Economic Woes, Push Intensifies for Stimulus Package President Bush spoke with congressional leaders Thursday about an economic rescue package as Fed chief Ben Bernanke testified on Capitol Hill that it is "critically important" that a stimulus effort take effect quickly. Members of the House budget panel detail… Continue watching
Jan 11 Bank of America to Buy Mortgage Lender for $4B By PBS News Hour Bank of America Corp. said Friday that it has agreed to pay $4 billion in stock for Countrywide Financial -- rescuing the battered lender that has come to represent the excesses of the subprime mortgage market. Continue reading
Dec 26 Home Prices Suffer 6.7 Percent Slide By PBS News Hour U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th consecutive month, posting their largest monthly drop since early 1991, the widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index showed Wednesday. Continue reading
Dec 20 My understanding is that it takes .75 gallons of fuel to make one gallon of ethanol. If this is true, why is this fuel source so widely acclaimed as a great idea? Question/Comment: There are two issues I’d like to see you tackle that I have not seen anyone in the media deal with. The first has to do with the sensibility of ethanol as a renewable fuel source. My understanding is… Continue reading