Joe Nocera

Most economic indicators point to America being on the upswing in 2012. The stock market is up. Unemployment is down. And the strains in the global financial markets have eased. Yet 59 percent of voters rate President Obama negatively when it comes to the economy, according to a new Washington Post/ABC poll.

Could it be because of the one economic indicator that’s stubbornly not improving: gas prices?

The Federal Reserve released the results of “stress tests” for 19 financial institutions Tuesday — two days ahead of schedule — after J.P. Morgan Chase announced it successfully passed the test and was boosting dividends.

It’s still officially winter… but we're all about “Summertime” today. As “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” continues its run on Broadway, we look at the oft-covered popular song from the opera, “Summertime.” New York Times columnist Joe Nocera joins us to talk about some of the many versions of the song that have been released since the opera was first performed in 1935. Plus, singer Kat Edmonson joins us to perform her recent take on the classic.

As voters in Michigan prepared to head to the ballots Tuesday, President Obama delivered a rousing speech to the United Auto Workers Union in Washington D.C., taking the opportunity to campaign on the success of the auto-bailout. Three years and some $80 billion later, the rescue of Chrysler and GM has remained fresh in the minds of voters in Michigan. However, the significance of the bank and auto bail-outs may mean something else — or perhaps nothing at all — to voters in other parts of the country.

Greece has once again narrowly avoided defaulting on their $172 billion debt by agreeing to more austerity measures and selling off profits to euro zone countries. However, it's unlikely this development will ease the dire situation of its population: nearly 20,000 Greeks are homeless and 21 percent are unemployed. Stateside, there were signs of recovery when on Tuesday the Dow hit 13,000 for the first time since 2008. But if the last four years have proved nothing else, it's that what happens across the globe can directly impact a market at home.

The theme of last night's State of the Union was "an economy built to last." Vowing to protect the middle class and correct economic inequality, President Obama laid out his plans for financial reform: regulating home prices, penalizing banks that participated in the housing crash, imposing the "Buffet rule," and tightening regulations on private equity and Wall Street.

The issue of how to keep big banks in check is the topic of national conversation as the country slowly climbs out of the recession. Questions on how to prevent another economic recession and regulate the financial sector are part of the heated debate. Joe Nocera, Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times explains how "complexity risk" — what results when there are too many regulations — could pose a threat to the financial system.

New York Times op-ed columnist Joe Nocera discusses news about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and explains what private equity firms actually do--all in the context of the GOP race.

Director Cyril Tuschi; Pavel Khodorkovsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s son; and New York Times business writer Joe Nocera, discuss Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was once the richest man in Russia and is now one of the world’s most famous political prisoners. In the documentary “Khodorkovsky,” filmmaker Tuschi shows that Khodorkovsky’s tax embezzlement charges are bogus, and that his real crime was challenging Vladimir Putin. The film opens November 30 at Film Forum.

New York Times op ed columnist Joe Nocera discusses how Penn State can recover from the recent sex abuse scandal, and what the case means for college football.

On the Brian Lehrer Show today at 10:06. Audio and a recap of this conversation will be posted here by 1pm.

Joe Nocera, New York Times op-ed columnist, discusses the dip and surge in the market yesterday and the connections between the American economy and the turmoil in European economies.

Joe Nocera, New York Times op-ed columnist, discusses the dip and surge in the market yesterday and the connections between the American economy and the turmoil in European economies.

→Add Your Comments, Listen and Read a Recap at It's A Free Country

New York Times columnist Joe Nocera discusses his first op-ed column which was published this past weekend.

Got a suggestion for Joe Nocera's next column? Post it below or tweet it using the hashtag #noceratips

Joe Nocera, New York Times business columnist and author of the Executive Suite blog, previews the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission press conference taking place this morning.

→ Read A Primer on the Findings, Watch Live Video of the Panel, And Add Your Thoughts at It's A Free Country

Business journalists Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera discuss the many problems that helped bring down the economy. The full story is like the legend of the blind men and the elephant—almost everyone has missed the big picture, and almost no one has put all the pieces together. Their book All the Devils are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis goes back several decades to explore the complex, hidden history of the financial crisis.

Dana Stevens, film critic for Slate.com and co-host of their Culture Gabfest, discusses the film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," the sequel to the "greed is good" original. Also, Joe Nocera, New York Times business columnist and author of their Executive Suite blog, offers his take on "Wall Street," the movie vs. Wall Street, the reality.

The Obama administration plans to cut executives' pay at companies that received taxpayer money as part of the financial bailout. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve says it will monitor b...

A year ago today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury bailed out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. By the end of the week, financial behemoth Lehman Brothers had filed for b...

Joe Nocera, New York Times business columnist and author of the Executive Suite blog, Tom Braithwaite, business and politics correspondent for the Financial Times, and Diane Brady, senior writer at Business Week, discuss what the President's new financial overhaul plan may mean for the future of the US ...

Joe Nocera, New York Times business columnist and author of the Executive Suite blog, talks about nationalizing the banks and other ways to save the financial industry.