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EconomyBeat Podcast #16: Remembering

roman — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:07:14 +0000

As we wrap up here at the EconomyBeat Podcast, I thought we could take a long view and look back the the last great depression, the one in the 20th century. Over the next five minutes or so, feel free to reflect and do a little comparing and contrasting for yourself. Fewer than 1 in every 50 Americans is old enough to remember the Great Depression. This short audio collage produced by PRX’s own Emily Corwin, features three residents of Providence House, an assisted living home in Brighton, MA, who recall for us that difficult decade. Features Sigmund Ettleman, Yvonne Levelly, and Kay McGilbrey.

Check out this story on PRX, and then, write a review.

EconomyBeat Podcast #14: Shifting Gears

roman — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:34:44 +0000

The blog ends, but the podcast continues! For a short while, anyway. Thanks Jon, for doing such an awesome job.

I love this (most likely, apocryphal) story: So, Henry Ford one day was taking Walter Reuther, the United Auto Workers president, on a tour of a newly automated Ford plant that had replaced many of the workers with mechanical robots. And as he’s showing off, Ford says to Reuther, “Well Walter, how are you going to collect union dues from these robots?” And Reuther laughs and says, “Well Henry, how are you going to get these robots to buy Fords?”

When it comes to the U.S. auto industry, I don’t think robots even rate in the top 10 concerns of either the manufacturers or workers. There have been so many problems and ground shaking changes over the years that it’s almost impossible for any one radio piece or producer to take it all on, so PRX, WDET in Detroit and a whole consortium of editorial partners at stations around the country collaborated on two remarkable one-hour specials that try to break it all down for us. Shifting Gears lead producers are Kate Hinds from WNYC, and Ron Jones and primary host Craig Fahle, who are both from WDET in Detroit. This is hour #2 of the special—Shifting Gears: The Retooling of the U.S. Auto Industry. You can (and should!) listen to hour #1 at PRX.

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.

EconomyBeat Podcast #13: It’s Not Funny Anymore

roman — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:09:14 +0000

The one rule of performing improv comedy is “yes ,and…” When someone presents a comedic scenario, you don’t contradict the premise and start acting something else out, you build upon what last performer hands off to you, you effectively say “yes, and…” You continue the scene and forward the action and refine the characters. But how do you continue to say “yes, and…” when everyone…the bank, the public, the whole economy…is telling you “no”? In this EconomyBeat episode we see the inside of running a comedy club, which is probably a tough row to hoe in good times. But in bad times, with the downturn that’s affecting De Pere, WI, it’s proving to be impossible. ComedyCity, the long running improv club in the Green Bay area is facing foreclosure. Independent producer Maria Bartholdi documents the struggle of the resident troupe as they try make an audience laugh while they’re devastated at the loss of their comedy home.

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.

EconomyBeat Podcast #12: No One Would Listen

roman — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:43:37 +0000

Harry Markopolos, the man who tried futilely for 10 years to expose the largest Ponzi scheme in history, has written a book about his failed crusade called “No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller.” In it, Markopolos relives his tragic tale, how he discovered Bernard Madoff was a fraud, how he tried for years to get the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate, how no one would listen. Curt Nickisch, from WBUR in Boston, got the first radio interview with the man who’s still coming to terms with the fact he’d always been right about Madoff, but it didn’t do any good.

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.

Sub-prime the Musical

Jon Brooks — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:32:14 +0000

Tip o’ the hat to Laura at EconomyStory for sending us Sub-prime the Musical. The site consists of a series of podcasts by a college student named Madison Koshy, who created them from research she did on the causes of the credit crisis. Naturally, she then wrote song parodies to illustrate the concepts she had learned. From the About page:

I was extremely upset about the state of the economy, but I found it very difficult to understand what was happening. So this summer, I pursued an independent project where I read and researched about what was going on, and then I attempted to re-explain it through podcasts as a means of better understanding the information. Wanting to make my blog a little more interesting, I incorporated song parodies that tied into the material.

Here is Act I, Scene I, called “How it All Began.”

And here is a song parody, based on “The Brady Bunch” theme, called accompanying song, called “The Credit Crunch.”

You can also follow “Sub-prime the Musical” on Twitter.

EconTalk – Libertarian perspectives

Jon Brooks — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:33:26 +0000

Some of you have no doubt seen the “Fear the Boom and Bust” video featuring the rap stylings of economists John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich von Hayek, two economic theorists with diametrically opposed views. To put the dispute in its most simplistic terms, Keynes thought government intervention was the only way out of economic downturns, and Hayek…not so much. (Think Paul Krugman vs. Ron Paul to get a picture of two contemporary acolytes of these schools of thought.)

In Wikipedia’s entry on Keynes, the section “Economics: out of favour 1979–2007” is followed by “Economics: the Keynesian resurgence of 2008–2009.”

The Financial crisis of 2007–2010 led to public skepticism about the free market consensus even from some on the economic right. In March 2008, Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, announced the death of the dream of global free-market capitalism, and quoted Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, as saying “I no longer believe in the market’s self-healing power.” In the same month macroeconomist James K. Galbraith used the 25th Annual Milton Friedman Distinguished Lecture to launch a sweeping attack against the consensus for monetarist economics and argued that Keynesian economics were far more relevant for tackling the emerging crises.

So, with governments desperately trying to manage the fall-out from the recent capitalist implosion with courses of action anathema to free-market types, what’s a libertarian to do?

Well, for one, the dream still lives on at the EconTalk podcast, which hosts discussions on all types of economic, business, and financial topics, from a libertarian perspective. A sampling:

Barry Ritzholtz on Bailouts, the Fed, and the Crisis – The CEO, author, and blogger discusses the history of bailouts in recent times, beginning with Lockheed and Chrysler in the 1970s. What is the role of the Fed in discouraging prudence through its efforts to keep asset prices and the stock market at high levels?

Larry White on Hayek – The George Mason economics professor discusses the business cycle theory of Friedrich von Hayek of the Austrian School of economics and his intellectual battle with economist John Maynard Keynes.

Clifford Winston on Market Failure and Government Failure -The Brookings Institution scholar posits that government regulation often fails to meet its objectives and that “idealized theories of government intervention based on textbook theories of market failure are not the way regulation turns out in practice.”

Michael Belongia on the Fed – The former St. Louis Federal Reserve economist discusses the inner workings, politics, and economics of the Fed, how “power and politics play in Federal Reserve decision-making,” and how “various Fed chairs used their power to suppress dissent.”

All you Ron Paul renegades and von Mises votaries — check out the archive here.

EconomyBeat Podcast #11: Finding Our Bootstraps

roman — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:32:08 +0000

Others may be cutting back, but the EconomyBeat Podcast is growing! On this episode we have a full hour of economy stories from independent and station based producers compiled, curated and constructed by the fine folks at Michigan Radio. From a story about a family living on a beach, to a former GM employee looking to downsize his life, to a teenager weighing options for after high school, this one hour documentary explores how people are finding the strength to get them through economic hard times. It’s a great mix of personal stories and intimate portraits alongside contextual interviews and reports. Check it out.

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.

EconomyBeat Podcast #10: Odd Job- Sound Healer

roman — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:28:53 +0000

In this episode of EconomyBeat, we have stories from people who have a very specific niche jobs, which is often a good game plan in tough times. Do something you love and something unique, and you’re probably better off than most of us. The person you will hear from in this story is KellyAnne, and she’s a sound healer. But I also want to highlight the person you won’t hear, the producer Evan Roberts. He has also found an interesting niche vocation. Evan’s company Audio Heirlooms creates custom made, intimate, NPR-style audio portraits for private individuals and businesses. Families pay him to chronicle a birth or a wedding so their story is preserved. It’s pretty brilliant and, it turns out, very successful. Anyway, so this piece is not an Audio Heirloom, it’s actually from another series Evan made for the website SFist about San Francisco Odd Jobs. And it’s amazing, and not because it’s about a sound healing, I generally don’t truck with any of that stuff, but this piece is so great because listening to KellyAnne do her sound healing will chill you out. So be prepared to relax into this one.

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.

EconomyBeat Podcast #9: Nuke Pills

roman — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:18:50 +0000

Today on the podcast: be afraid! Fear turns out be a very good thing for certain businesses. When the Weather Service warns of a hurricane, there’s a run on plywood and water. A crime spree sends people to the gun store. And when North Korea or Iran starts making nuclear noise, the orders pour in to a website in North Carolina. Our story today, from WFAE‘s Julie Rose, is one of those awesome news reports that takes you on a journey as the perspective changes. You go from disgust, to understanding, to a slightly different form of disgust, all in under three and a half minutes. Duck and cover, class.

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.

EconomyBeat Podcast #8: Keep Your Eye on the Ball

roman — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:58:36 +0000

In this episode of the EconomyBeat Podcast, I thought we’d take a break from the banker, broker, speculator type of con man who torpedoed the economy and focus on the much more charming street con man who provides such rich grist for our Hollywood movies.

In three-card monte, con artists use swift hand moves and constant patter to convince a sucker there’s a way to win. Producer Sally Herships talks with a magician, a theater professor, and a real-life grifter and each describe how the monte isn’t just a crime; it’s street theater designed to keep its losers entertained.

Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.