SUMMARY: The idea of a basic guaranteed income is getting a trial run in a Canadian province for three years. Four thousand randomly selected Ontario residents will get thousands of dollars a year, and in exchange, they give up some social supports, while the government gets back some money. Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks with some participants, as well as some skeptics.
SUMMARY: Can Bitcoin be a currency if you never know its value? Living outside the traditional banking network by design, its fluctuating value makes it too cumbersome for petty transactions. Yet despite the hurdles, Bitcoin and its underlying technology is seen as a kind of "digital gold." Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.
SUMMARY: What’s the beef with beef? As plant-based meat startups try to chop the meat from our diets, beef is seen as bad for the land, air and the body. But that’s not the full story. Economics correspondent Paul Solman takes a closer look at the costs, pros and cons of our obsession with the mighty bovine.
SUMMARY: The pitches have been quirky, some might even say desperate. City officials across North America are trying to get Amazon's attention in hopes that the fourth-largest company in the U.S. will build its next big tech hub in their community. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports on what they stand to gain -- and pay -- for the chance.
Judy Woodruff (NewsHour): But first, Amazon is searching for a place to build a second headquarters.
The scale of the project is massive. It comes with a proposed eight-million-square-foot campus that would cost $5 billion, and promise up to 50,000 new jobs.
As economics correspondent Paul Solman reports, that’s created an unprecedented bidding war between cities and states.
SUMMARY: Is geographic mobility the key to moving up the economic ladder? Economists are finding that the odds no longer favor American kids in doing better than their parents, but some hope that uprooting their families and moving to safer streets with better schools will guarantee a brighter economic future. Economics correspondent Paul Solman explores the link between location and inequality.
SUMMARY: Each year, superbugs -- viral bacterial infections resistant to common antibiotics -- infect more than two million Americans, killing at least 38,000. As the list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grows, so have the extraordinary efforts to prevent the spread of infection from patient to patient. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien and economics correspondent Paul Solman team up for a report.
SUMMARY: As current antibiotics begin to lose their punch, there's an economic reality putting a damper on development. Since every use of an antibiotic drives resistance, and doctors are reluctant to use a drug until there's no alternative, why would a drug company spend a fortune? Economics correspondent Paul Solman and science correspondent Miles O'Brien continue their look at the hunt for new drugs.
SUMMARY: As drug-resistant infections proliferate, financial barriers are preventing the pharmaceutical industry from investing in new drugs to fight off superbugs. Economics correspondent Paul Solman, in a series of reports with science correspondent Miles O'Brien, explores how researchers could be incentivized to develop new antibiotics.
SUMMARY: Attract members of the "creative class" to a city and they will create jobs and spur urban renewal. But that idea, championed by noted urbanologist Richard Florida, has a double-edged downside: increased economic segregation and less affordable housing. Economics correspondent reports on how Florida wrestles with that tension in his latest book, "The New Urban Crisis."
SUMMARY: Personal finance guru Beth Kobliner thinks kids should be learning about money and key economic concepts early. She hopes to break the taboo of talking money with your kids with her new book, "Make Your Kid a Money Genius." Economics correspondent Paul Solman gets lessons on how to instill economic lessons in young people from Kobliner, as well as some actual kids.
