Oct 28 Watch Crackdown Targets Banks Deemed ‘Too Big to Fail’ The head of a key House committee unveiled legislation Wednesday that would grant the federal government sweeping new powers to police giant financial firms. Jim Lehrer talks to two financial analysts about the debate over "too big to fail" institutions. Continue watching
Oct 28 Bill: Biggest Firms Would Fund Future Rescues By Dave Gustafson The U.S. government would be given broad new powers to shrink financial firms deemed "too big to fail" and shift the cost of rescuing troubled companies from taxpayers to other large firms, according to draft legislation released Tuesday. Continue reading
Oct 27 Paul Solman Answers Students’ Economic Questions By PBS News Hour Economics correspondent Paul Solman takes his Business Desk blog inside classrooms across the United States to respond to high school students' most pressing questions about Wall Street, the recession and unemployment. Continue reading
Oct 27 Watch Labor’s ‘Bulldog’ Trumka Challenged by Dwindling Ranks, Public Perception As AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka works to protect organized labor from the excesses of big business, he faces dwindling ranks, splits among union groups, and diminished public support. Paul Solman reports. Continue watching
Oct 23 What Can We Do About “Too Big to Fail”? Question: What needs to happen so that we will have no companies “too big to fail”? Paul Solman: Come up with incentives that induce big companies to slim down, or disincentives that punish them if they don’t. What’s startling… Continue reading
Oct 22 Pay Slashed for Bailed-out Firms’ Executives The government has ordered seven firms that received billions in bailout money to dramatically cut compensation to their highest-paid employees. Continue reading
Oct 22 Watch Feinberg Hopes More Companies Adopt Executive Pay Rules The Federal Reserve curbed pay packages for executives of companies that received bailout money in an effort to discourage risky business practices. Jeffrey Brown speaks with executive pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. Continue watching
Oct 21 Obama: Small Businesses to Be Offered TARP Help By Carolyn O'Hara President Barack Obama unveiled plans Wednesday to shift government bailout efforts from Wall Street's banks to Main Street's small businesses by increasing lending and access to credit. Continue reading
Oct 21 Watch Barofsky: TARP Program Fueled Public Distrust The biggest cost of the TARP program might be the public's distrust of the government, according to inspector general Neil Barofsky. Ray Suarez reports. Continue watching
Oct 19 Arrests, Scrutiny Put Hedge Fund Sector on Edge The arrests of a prominent Wall Street hedge fund founder and five others on Friday have unsettled the hedge fund world and could spur calls for new rules governing the largely unregulated financial sector. Continue reading