PBS NewsHour - Making Sen$e

Billionaire Tom Barrack, who made his fortune as a real estate investor, is a long-standing business associate and friend of Donald Trump, and now he's also an economic adviser and fundraiser to the Trump campaign. Economics correspondent Paul Solman sits down with Barrack to discuss why he sees the Republican presidential candidate as the right person to revive the economy.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is the rare high-tech billionaire who is defying Donald Trump publicly. He's even bankrolled a snarky parlor game that mocks the Republican presidential candidate mercilessly. Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks with Hoffman about why he’s stepping up despite possible retaliation.

Farmville, Virginia, has a population of just over 8,000. But that number swelled on Tuesday when the first and only vice presidential debate of 2016 was held at Longwood University. Hosting a nationally televised debate is a huge investment in time and resources, but it also garners sizable returns. Special correspondent Roben Farzad reports.

Having declined to release his tax returns, Donald Trump made an offhand remark at the first presidential debate that made people wonder if the real estate tycoon pays any tax at all. But that’s just one part of the equation. David Cay Johnston joins economics correspondent Paul Solman to make sense of Trump's taxes and why it matters.

Asking for someone’s phone number in front of a flower shop will be more successful because the flowers prime us to think about romance. Small, subliminal cues change our willingness to be sold on a product, on ideas or even a date. Economics correspondent Paul Solman speaks with psychology professor Robert Cialdini about his book, “Pre-Suasion,” the crucial step before persuasion.

Big companies today aren't creating nearly as many middle-class jobs. Instead they're hiring out much of the work to contractors around the world. But what if we could reverse engineer our technology to bring about a new era of local manufacturing in the U.S.? Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks with Jerry Davis, author of the new book “The Vanishing American Corporation.”

Trade has become a major theme of this year’s presidential race -- how it affects jobs, wages and manufacturing in the United States. Economics correspondent Paul Solman takes a look at one California-based surfboard company that has been bruised by its Chinese competition, and how the effects of foreign trade have impacted politics.

Hillary Clinton, long associated with free trade agreements, has made a big switch this election. Economics correspondent Paul Solman sits down with Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a leading progressive lawmaker and one of Clinton’s supporters, for a discussion of her views on America’s role in the global economy.

This year’s presidential election has emphasized the trio of trade, globalization and jobs. For the next three weeks, Making Sen$e’s Paul Solman will dive into the candidates’ perspectives on these issues. He starts with Donald Trump, whose trade rhetoric tends to focus on China. We speak with one of his economic advisers about “unfair trade practices” and China's influence on the U.S. economy.

Sam Polk was making millions on Wall Street when he had a life-changing revelation: he wanted to help those in need. His focus became so-called "food deserts," regions with limited access to healthy food. Polk founded Everytable to serve nutritious meals at minimal prices for low-income populations, but higher prices for customers who can afford them. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.

When Sree Sreenivasan found himself out of a job, he did what he knows how to do best: broadcast the news on social media. The former Chief Digital Officer at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art filled his schedule with networking meetings. Special correspondent Roben Farzad looks at what Sreenivasan's experience can teach us about finding employment in the digital age.

A project to turn a depressed Vermont ski slope into a bustling year-round resort has become a cautionary tale for foreign investors hoping to get U.S. green cards through the EB-5 cash-for-visas program. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports on charges of massive fraud filed by the SEC against the developers of Jay Peak, who allegedly misused $200 million in investments.

There’s a growing movement to restrict, or even ban, employee noncompete agreements. Nearly 40 percent of all American workers have, at some point, signed such contracts, which critics say do something decidedly un-American: stifle competition. The NewsHour reveals that even lampshade makers and licensed foster care parents are asked to sign them. Special correspondent Duarte Geraldino reports.

When it comes to luxury items, consumer minds are likely to think about some of the world’s fashion meccas. Think Paris. Milan. New York. But Detroit? One growing company would like to think so. With its line of watches, bikes, bags and other items, Shinola is aiming to have the Motor City known for more than its cars and financial woes. Special correspondent Roben Farzad reports.

According to a new report, more than 40 million American households are spending a third of their income on rent, and housing shortages in major cities such as New York and San Francisco may ultimately lead to billions of dollars in lost economic productivity. Special correspondent Duarte Geraldino reports on the origins of the problem and why it has progressed to such a drastic level.