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Inside Job – Unveiling Economists’ Ties to the Financial Sector

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America and the world are still recovering from the global economic crisis of 2008. And with unemployment rates above 9 percent, many wonder if the market turmoil will ever end.

PBS NewsHour Economics Correspondent Paul Solman talks to Charles Ferguson, director of Academy Award winning documentary, Inside Job, a film that raises red flags about the world of finance. Paul examines how the film – which raises concerns about conflicts of interest for economists in academics – is influencing some leading economic thinkers.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation provided funding for this project.

The Great Stagnation: Why Hasn’t Recent Technology Created More Jobs?

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Why is it that the American economic recovery is moving so slowly and new job creation is low? PBS NewsHour Economics Correspondent Paul Solman takes a critical look at whether America is experiencing an innovation lull, as George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen claims in his new book, The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will(Eventually) Feel Better. Solman spoke with Cowen and to those who say he couldn’t be more wrong – that the nation is brimming with new innovations that will advance our quality of life.

Cowen claims we’ve picked all the ‘low-hanging fruit’ and that current innovations do not produce the same kind of new jobs, advancements and efficiencies in our everyday lives as, say, the washing machine or stove. “This is our central economic problem today,” he said.

Not so, counters MIT’s Andrew McAfee, Erik Brynjolfsson and others, who insist that the advancements in innovation and technology are making big contributions to markets, businesses, and job functions. “If anything, the rate of change is not slowing down,” Brynjolfsson told Solman. “It’s increasing.”

Economists’ Ties to the Financial Sector

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The Financial Crisis of 2008 shook the very foundations of the global economy. In this PBS Newshour video, Business and Economics Correspondent Paul Solman talks to Charles Ferguson, director of the Academy Award winning documentary, Inside Job, a film that raises concerns about conflicts of interest for economists in academics and their work within the financial sector. Solman goes on to explore how this film is influencing some leading economic thinkers today.

Click here to access a full transcript and mp3 audio file of this video.

The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

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From Wall Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, everyone involved in the Financial Crisis of 2008 seems to blame everyone else but themselves for the devastation that has impaired the American economy and that of the world. In this PBS Newshour video, Business and Economics Correspondent Paul Solman meets with Bethany McLean (famous for breaking the Enron story) and Joe Nocera, co-authors of All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis, to discuss the events leading up to the financial crisis and each participants contribution to making it happen.

Click here to access a full transcript and mp3 audio file of this video.