If you’ve Googled anything in the past week, you know that today is the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. So in honor of the occasion, here’s The Count, talking about a few feelings (including frustration and love) that resonate with EconomyStory. Enjoy!
Now that health care reform has passed the House and is on its way to becoming reality, what are the choices that legislators are having to make to get the deal done? A game from American Public Media, Budget Hero, was designed for the 2008 election cycle, but has added elements that include more options for health care reform and other current issues. What would you add or cut to lower the national deficit?
Your Web browser software doesn’t support frames, but you can visit The Budget Hero at http://budgethero.publicradio.org/widget/widget.php?refid=apm.
For some background on the debate to help you make your choices, check out today’s health care debrief conversation with Newsweek editor Jonathan Alter on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show.
With the highest unemployment rate nationally since 1983, it’s hard to believe the economists when they talk about the recession being over. This week’s station roundup takes a look at a program in Mississippi that’s targeting new opportunities across the state, a homelessness relief project in Florida, and a job plan from an unlikely industry in Alabama.
State officials in Mississippi are hoping that a new Economic Tour of various towns will help identify where jobs and other opportunities are needed most, The Clarion-Ledger reported this week. Some areas of the state are already making strides on their own. Mississippi Public Broadcasting profiles how the Gulf Coast town of Ocean Springs is helping small businesses keep insurance costs down.
In Tallahassee, Florida, stimulus funds are being used to help the homeless. Gina Jordan of WFSU reports on how three agencies in the state plan to distribute the funds to those who are on the street, as well as people who are at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure.
In Alabama, there was a bright spot this week for both an area of the country and an industry that have been hit hard by the economic crisis. Kia plans to expand suppliers to its car assembly plant near the Alabama/Georgia state line is , creating more than 3,600 jobs in the state.
From stock market charts to music parodies, the economy definitely has some rhythm, and maybe that’s why a few new projects that are taking music as an inspiration, both literally and figuratively, as public media covers the economy.
A big “ewww!” was my first reaction to this week’s PRX EconomyBeat podcast, which takes us dumpster diving behind an organic grocery store in Detroit, Michigan. But hearing from a woman who says she’s only spent $50 in the past five years on food? Priceless.
At The American Prospect, the Beat the Press blog is taking a critical look at how various media outlets are reporting on economic issues. One recent post from Dean Baker, co-director of the http://www.cepr.net/ Center for Economic and Policy Research, asks tough questions about the coverage of the homebuyer tax credit:
Remarkably, no one even wants to talk about the issue. The $8,000 tax credit is equal to just under 5 percent of the median house price. This certainly was one of the factors in the recent turnaround of house prices. Is it a good policy for the government to temporarily prop up prices so that people buying now are likely to sell at lower real prices in the future?
For some real musical stylings about the economy, the latest installment from In the Loop at Minnesota Public Radio has Jeff Horwich crooning about how it feels to be on top of the financial world as a CEO.
PBS has just launched a new economy video widget, featuring full episodes of NewsHour, Frontline, Bill Moyers Journal and more. Curated by PBS editors to find the best economy-related content from across public media, the player also includes historical pieces, like the American Experience series on the 1930s. You can embed the code below and add the player to your own site or Facebook page (like we’ve done over on the EconomyStory fan site).