American Economy

Economics correspondent for CBS This Morning Robert Krulwich discusses President Clinton's economic plan. A former NPR correspondent, he's best known for making money matters interesting and accessible.

Journalist Phillip Longman specializes in politics and public policy. He'll talk with Terry about President Clinton's proposal to a impose higher-income tax on Social Security benefits for individuals with incomes over $25,000 and couples over $32,000. Longman is the author of "Born to Pay: The New Politics of Aging in America."

Co-founder of the working women's advocacy group, "9 to 5," Karen Nussbaum. She helped found the group 20 years ago. Guest host Marty Moss-Coane will talk with her about the the changing role of women in the workplace in the last twenty years, and concerns like childcare.

Sociologist and research associate at the Institute for the Study of Social Change, Elliott Currie. He has a new book, "Reckoning: Drugs, the Cities, and the American Future." He believes that effective drug control depends on curtailing poverty and improving the economy in inner cities.

NPR commentator and political analyst Kevin Phillips. He's known for his ability to tap into the mood of American voters and forecast what's to come: in 1969 he predicted the conservative era with his book, "The Emerging Republican Majority." His 1992 book, "The Politics of Rich and Poor," was described as the "founding document" of the 1992 Presidential campaign. He has a new book, "Boiling Point: Democrats, Republicans, and The Decline of Middle-Class Prosperity."

The poet, essayist and fiction writer's new book is "Fidelity," a collection of stories about birth, life, death and nature in a small Kentucky town. He's worked as both a college professor and a farmer. Berry is concerned with the widespread development of undeveloped lands.

Harvard political economist Robert Reich. He advised his good friend President-elect Bill Clinton on economic issues. He talks about the economic challenges facing Clinton.

New York Times correspondent Martin Tolchin and his wife Susan wrote "Selling Our Security." It examines the ways U.S. political leaders, especially during the Reagan-Bush years, have pursued laissez-faire policies to the extent that most of America's valuable technological secrets have been sold to other countries.

Professor of Political Science John Schwarz of the University of Arizona has just co-written a new book called "The Forgotten Americans: Thirty Million Working Poor in the Land of Opportunity." The authors challenge conventional wisdom: they found that the working poor are neither uneducated nor unskilled, that they encompass all age, ethnic, and racial groups in the U.S.; and that the situation can't necessarily be blamed on declines in domestic manufacturing or decreases in industrial productivity.

Economist Robert Heilbroner (rhymes with "runner"). He'll discuss the current recession, and our long-standing obsession with the deficit. He'll also give some suggestions about how to end the recession, and he'll tell us why sometimes a deficit isn't a bad thing.