logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2019
2m 40s

Low interest rates have cost savers roug...

American Public Media
About this episode
Historically low rates of interest have helped the U.S. economy recover from the Great Recession. But there have been casualties. Savers — and the wider economy — have lost interest income from deposits and investments that could total $500 billion. This probably hurt those who are retired, or on a fixed income, the most.Click the audio player above to hear ... Show More
Up next
May 2019
Schools struggle to address rising student homelessness
Cecilia Sirianni's small office at Massabesic High School can sometimes get a bit messy. Piles of donated clothes and boxes of snacks fill cabinets and shelves — all for students at the rural district in York County, Maine. For more than a decade, a big part of Sirianni's job has ... Show More
2m 56s
Jun 2016
Welfare's role in alternative to abortion programs.
This August will present a milestone: 20 years since welfare reform. The federal government overhauled the cash assistance program for poor families, replacing it with a new system called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF.Among the biggest changes, states now contr ... Show More
10m 24s
May 2019
Research says collaboration is needed to address Houston's "food deserts"
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says more than 50 million people across the country live in “food deserts” – low-income communities where it can be hard to find healthy food. According to the last census, in 2010, almost 2 million of those people live in the Houston area alone ... Show More
2m 24s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2023
Profits at US banks boosted by higher rates
We're back into earnings season, and, unsurprisingly it's the banks that are attracting most attention - they, are after all, the beneficiaries of the higher interest rates that have come with the Federal Reserve's bid to curb inflation. The first big headline profit result is fr ... Show More
27m 20s
Mar 2024
Inflation has slowed. At what cost?
Canada's inflation numbers have once again come in lower than expected, and are nearing where our central bank wants them. But to get here, the Bank of Canada has kept interest rates high to slow the economy. So was it actually the Bank's rate hikes that brought inflation down? I ... Show More
22m 13s
Jan 2023
Japan warns of severe finances
The finance minister of Japan, Shunichi Suzuki, warns that the country faces dire finances as debt and inflation continue to rise while the population keeps declining. The government can still borrow cheaply as the central bank keeps interest rates at ultra-low levels. But what d ... Show More
27m 54s
Nov 2023
THIS Will Show You Where Interest Rates Are Going Next
#recession #money #recession2023 #money  #inflation #deflation #interestrates #dollar #economy  The mainstream emphasis on Treasury auctions is, like so many of these things, completely misplaced. It's not just misplaced, even the worst Treasury auctions don't actually matter. In ... Show More
18m 10s
Apr 2023
The life and possible death of low interest rates
Right now, the economy is running hot. Inflation is high, and central banks are pushing up interest rates to fight it. But before the pandemic, economies around the world were stuck in a different rut: low inflation, low interest rates, low growth. In 2013, Larry Summers unearthe ... Show More
25m 56s
Jul 2022
Getting more interesting: the Fed raises rates
America’s central bank has raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point—its fourth rise this year. It is walking a fine line between cooling the economy and tipping the country into recession. Scientific results fundamental to more than a decade’s-worth of Alzhei ... Show More
24m 35s
Mar 2024
Wages have been outpacing inflation — but there’s a catch
While the purchasing power of earnings started to catch up to inflation last year, lower- and middle-income workers have been playing catch-up and are trying to dig out of debt. Meanwhile, Americans are working fewer hours on average, and fewer hours can cause total earnings to t ... Show More
7m 34s
Oct 2023
The Fed's Tom Barkin On the Impact of Higher Interest Rates
The US economy has so far withstood the effects of higher interest rates a lot better than expected. Unemployment is still at historic lows, even while inflation has cooled and the Federal Reserve has hiked rates for about 18 months. That's not how things are supposed to work acc ... Show More
43m 43s
Jan 2022
Why everything is so expensive right now
Inflation has hit a 40-year high in the U.S., driving up the cost of everything from groceries to housing. As the Fed prepares to raise interest rates, here’s what to watch out for. Read more: In December, inflation hit a staggering 7 percent. That’s far above the Federal Reserve ... Show More
19m 22s