February 09, 2010
Reactions to consumer recalls
Periodically the government's consumer watchdog, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, will issue recalls for certain products. Do consumers seem to pay attention and react to these recalls? Listen
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February 08, 2010
Deals in real estate
By many measures the real estate market has taken the biggest hit during the recession. Most people know about the problems owners have had selling homes, but have the problems in real estate extended to other parts of the market? Listen
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February 05, 2010
Don't forget inflation
When comparing economic numbers, it's important to adjust for inflation. Why is this important? And is there a particular market where controlling for inflation is sometimes forgotten? Listen
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February 04, 2010
Is the housing market back to normal?
Most economists agree the recession started in the housing market. We had unsustainable increases in housing prices followed by a steep drop in those prices. Recently housing prices seem to have stabilized. Does this mean the market is back to, as economists say, equilibrium? Listen
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February 03, 2010
Update on the state's budget
With the economy appearing to improve, will North Carolina's leaders still have a budget struggle this year? Specifically, will they be looking at a gap between planned expenditures and expected revenues?
Listen
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February 02, 2010
North Carolina's gains
With the devastating recession that has occurred in the past two years, some are saying the decade of the 2000s was, economically speaking, a lost decade. Is that true, especially for North Carolina? Listen
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February 01, 2010
Will the Jobs Start Returning?
We've had some good news about the economy in terms of production. The nation's gross domestic product has been rising, as have factory output and factory orders. But the big question everyone is asking is, When will this good news translate to jobs? Listen
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January 29, 2010
The Worldwide Service Economy
U.S. jobs have been moving away from manufacturing to services for several decades. Is this trend unique to our country?Listen
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January 27, 2010
Losing Jobs to Overseas
One of the most frequent questions economists get is about losing jobs to overseas competitors. Some people are pessimistic about our country's ability to keep good paying jobs. Is this a legitimate concern? Listen
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Reducing the national debt
The problem of the national debt seems to be getting worse. Many say that we must address the debt in some meaningful way -- and soon. Are there any new ideas about how this might be done?
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January 26, 2010
Are we working less?
Each generation seems to believe it works harder than previous ones, but today there appear to be more ways for people to use their leisure time. Does this mean that people have more free time? Is it safe to assume we are working less today than our predecessors? Listen
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January 25, 2010
Holding Our Debt
Foreign countries hold a large percentage of our national debt, and there are two common worries about this: first, that the countries will someday say they want their money back and, second, that they will sell our debt and stop buying more. How real are these worries? Listen
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January 22, 2010
The Military's Weight in North Carolina
When we think of economic industries in North Carolina, we think of traditional industries like tobacco and textiles and new ones such as technology and banking. But if we were thinking of industries, wouldn't the military also be high on the list? Listen
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January 21, 2010
Deficits and Inflation
The Federal Government has been running enormous budget deficits during the recession. Some worry that these deficits will lead to much higher price inflation. Is this worry well-founded? Listen
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January 20, 2010
Person of the Year
Time magazine recently named Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke as their person of the year for 2009. What do you think of this choice? Listen
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January 19, 2010
Tax cuts versus spending
There seems to have been two competing viewpoints over how best to revive the economy: On one side are those who said tax cuts were the best remedy. In the other corner are those advocating more government spending. Is there any evidence to suggest which side is correct? Listen
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January 18, 2010
Where Will the Jobs Be?
Many economists think the recession is finally coming to an end and jobs will start to come back next year. But if true, this raises other questions such as "What kinds of jobs will be available?" and "What will they pay?" Can you give us any ideas? Listen
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January 15, 2010
The Rebound in Wealth
Wealth is an important part of the household's economic status. Typically wealth declines during recessions, and it has big time during our current downturn. But is there any good news to report about household wealth changes recently? Listen
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January 14, 2010
Who owns stocks?
The stock market has been on a roller coaster for the last year. However, many investment experts still say stocks should be a part of any comprehensive investment portfolio. Have people taken this advice? That is, do a higher percentage of households today own stocks than in the past? Listen
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January 13, 2010
The Fed's twin jobs
The Federal Reserve has been under fire from many angles. Some have criticized the Fed for being too lax with the economy, while others think the Fed didn't do enough to contain last year's financial problems. Does the criticism the Fed is receiving have anything to do with its role in the economy? Listen
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January 12, 2010
Creating jobs
Although there was some progress made recently in reducing the unemployment rate, it still remains stubbornly high. Disappointment has been expressed with the federal stimulus plan's success - or lack of success - in reducing unemployment. Consequently, ideas are being floated about what more the government could do to stimulate job creation. Any ideas? Listen
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January 11, 2010
Travel and tourism take a hit
When recessions appear, consumers become more frugal. They particularly reduce so-called discretionary spending, that is, spending they don't have to do to survive. Does this mean that an industry like travel and tourism has really had a hard time during the recession? Listen
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