SUMMARY: Many Americans plan to save for retirement in their 50s. But what happens if you're laid off at that age instead? According to researchers, the situation is common, and older workers have a harder time finding a new job -- especially one that pays their previous salary. Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks to 59-year-old Jaye Crist, who works three jobs for 70 percent of his former income.
SUMMARY: Numerous Democrats have already announced or hinted at their candidacy in the 2020 presidential election. For many of them, tax policy, and specifically, increasing how much the very wealthy pay, is a platform priority. Lisa Desjardins reports on their proposals and talks to the Washington Post's Philip Bump about why taxes are in the spotlight now and how American voters are likely to respond.
SUMMARY: How have Trump’s economic policies fared during the first two years of his term? Paul Solman sits down with the President’s top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, to discuss recent stock market volatility, the Federal Reserve, tariffs, trade, and whether the tax cut has delivered as much as was promised.
SUMMARY: How are President Trump's tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum affecting manufacturers and workers? At two different Missouri factories, there are two very different stories. Mid Continent Steel and Wire, which makes nails, has already eliminated 100 jobs. But about 60 miles away at Magnitude 7 Metals, the reopened aluminum smelter is back up and running with hundreds of jobs. John Yang reports.
SUMMARY: If President Trump has had one consistent message since the beginning of his campaign, it's that America is getting a raw deal in the global economy. Policy changes like import tariffs and reworking NAFTA, and the people who support them, are all part of a rising wave of populism. What’s fueling the fire? Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.
SUMMARY: Chief economic adviser Gary Cohn is stepping down -- another major White House resignation, this time over trade policy. As President Trump pushes ahead with his plan for tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, Republicans are increasingly sounding their concerns about starting trade wars, and urging the president to take a more ”targeted” approach. Lisa Desjardins joins Judy Woodruff for more.
SUMMARY: President Trump's promised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports have drawn mixed reaction from Washington, as well as American businesses. Hari Sreenivasan talks to Paul Czachor, CEO of the American Keg Company, the only domestic manufacturer of steel beer kegs in the country, about his company’s concerns that kegs made from low-cost steel from abroad will gain an even greater advantage.
SUMMARY: Peter Navarro is one of the key White House figures who has made a case for imposing stiff new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. What ideas and philosophy drive Navarro? Economics correspondent Paul Solman revisits his profile of Trump's right-hand man on trade to consider what President Trump’s tariff announcement means for the global economy.
SUMMARY: Congress' first bipartisan deal of the Trump era is a massive spending deal that keeps government running through the fall and boosts funding for the Pentagon and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But to get needed Democratic votes on board, a number of President Trump's top priorities were cast aside. Lisa Desjardins joins William Brangham for a closer look.
SUMMARY: Congress was able to agree on a compromise deal to avert a government shutdown, but a bigger fight may come in the fall when the current spending bill runs out. Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report and Tamara Keith of NPR join William Brangham to discuss the spending deal, plus the current state of Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare and President Trump’s 100-day rally.
SUMMARY: Unveiled today, President Trump's first federal budget embodies stark changes in federal spending priorities. The more-than $1.1 trillion proposal would cut funding to the EPA and the State Department by almost a third, while boosting spending for the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs. John Yang takes a closer look.
SUMMARY: From strong support to condemnation, President Trump's new budget proposal has garnered an array of reactions on Capitol Hill. Judy Woodruff gets two views from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md), and Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind), who both sit on congressional budget committees.
SUMMARY: At Zappos, an engaging work culture comes first; the company lavishly invests in morale. But what's the business rationale for spending generously to make employees happy? Economics correspondent Paul Solman visits the eccentric Las Vegas headquarters of Zappos, a company that's known for its devoted customer service and philosophy of self-management rather than hierarchy.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): You might know retailer Zappos for the shoes it sells and its emphasis on customer service. What you may not know about is its quirky corporate culture, and why the company is banking on that for its long-term success.
Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, reports, as part of his weekly series, Making Sen$e, which airs every Thursday.
WOMAN: Definitely the best port-a-potty experience I have ever had.
PAUL SOLMAN (NewsHour): From its Porta Party P.R. to its campus in downtown Vegas, Zappos, the online shoe monger, is devoted to different.
JASON BROWN, Zappos: Let me give you these three rules about wearing wallflowers, as we like to call them.
PAUL SOLMAN: Wallflowers?
JASON BROWN: Wallflowers, because you see we have got the wall? And we call them wallflowers.
PAUL SOLMAN: Front desk dress code enforcer Jason Brown gives visitors three options.
JASON BROWN: First one is to take it off if it holds sentimental value to you. The next one is to wear it around your head in a bandana, John Rambo-style. And then the last one is to cut, and it becomes part of the collection.
SUMMARY: The Dow Jones and other indexes were already doing well when Donald Trump won the presidential election. And the overall jump of recent weeks has accelerated mightily, rising from just above 18,000 on election day to breaking 21,000 this week. For analysis of what's happening with the markets, William Brangham speaks with Neil Irwin of The New York Times.
SUMMARY: In the coal towns of West Virginia, President Trump made economic promises that helped him win the election. Around 12,000 mining jobs have been eliminated in the last few years in that state alone while production remains at its lowest since the 1980s. In collaboration with the NewsHour and Marketplace, Frontline offers a look at the hopes and realities for some of the Americans who voted Trump.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Now a special series this week on the hopes and economic realities of many of those Americans who voted for President Trump.
Three reports will take us to Erie County, Pennsylvania, Central Valley, California, and the coal towns of West Virginia. The President made economic promises in each of these places that helped him win.
Filmmakers with PBS' Frontline went to those areas looking for personal stories.
Our first report is set in coal country in West Virginia, and profiles two miners we spoke with after the election.
It is part of How the Deck Is Stacked, NewsHour's collaboration with Frontline and Marketplace, in conjunction with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
WATCH THE FULL (VIDEO) DOCUMENTARY
DAVE BOUNDS, Retired Coal Miner: I have been registered Democrat all my life, but I crossed over this year. I voted for Donald Trump, because he promised to help the coal miner. And, for this region, we need help.
There's good men out here just walking the streets. Their families are getting desperate. Welfare can't keep people forever. These men need to go back to work.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So I just left parts of Virginia, and West Virginia.
And the coal industry is decimated. The miners are out of work. They are totally out of work. I mean, there's — there will be no such thing as coal in this country pretty soon. What we're going to do, folks, is going to be so special. We're going to bring back our jobs.
We are going to be America first. We are going to make America great again.
DAKOTA HALL, Coal Miner: I really want to be a coal miner, always have been, ever since I was in high school. Everybody had their dreams about being a basketball player, football player. I always just wanted to be a coal miner.
The only thing that I really have given thought about is Trump getting in office and going back to work. My American dream would just be to watch my kids grow up happy and healthy. That's the only thing I could ever ask for.
I didn't have anything very long, you know, not a whole lot anyway. Didn't make enough. Didn't work long enough. They said that things went dry. It made it really, really hard to take care of a baby and a wife.
ROGER BALL, Owner, B&B Mine Safety: Since the election, a lot of lights have came on in mining.
Most of them have a job waiting on them, or they wouldn't be here to spend that money.
Getting outside with nobody hurt, now that's what pays the bills, and pays it the right way. We don't want no blood on that coal. Nobody does.
