PBS NewsHour - Making Sen$e

Pikeville is a small city of 6,700 nestled in the mountains of eastern Kentucky--a rural area that has struggled to survive the decline of the coal industry. Now, local residents are pinning their futures on health care, which is desperately needed for a population whose life expectancy lags years behind the national average. Amna Nawaz reports for our new series, the Future of Work.

Technological advancement often brings the promise of increased efficiency in the workplace. But it also means apprehension about humans potentially being replaced by automation and artificial intelligence. In a new series, "The Future of Work," Paul Solman explores the concept of "creative destruction" and how innovation is poised to affect jobs, income inequality, mental health and more.

Similar to today’s immigrants, the pilgrims journeyed to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in search of reprieve from the economic, political and religious hardship they faced in Europe. In order to survive, these settlers worked the land and sent profits back to investors in London. Paul Solman travels back to the 17th century to explore this early version of capitalism.

It began with just 10 electric scooters in Santa Monica, California, but soon sidewalks and streets were flooded with thousands of them. Essentially skateboards with handles that can be picked up and dropped off anywhere, they've been rolled out in scores of U.S. cities, where local officials have struggled to cope and residents have mixed feelings. Special correspondent Catherine Rampell reports.

For over a year, cities across North America have competed to lure Amazon's next headquarters, which the company said would bring up to 50,000 jobs to the chosen site. But as Paul Solman explains, new reports indicate the company may choose two smaller locations instead of one. John Yang speaks to the University of Toronto's Richard Florida, who has been critical of the bid process, for analysis.

On November 6, Maine voters will consider a proposal to provide free home care to people 65 and older and those with disabilities. The plan, “Question 1” on the ballot, would be funded by an additional 3.8 percent tax on income over $128,400. While the program would serve populations in need, critics fear the tax increase would stall the state economy. Paul Solman talks to Mainers for more.

Eschewing consumer culture, Pete Adeney, also known as Mr. Money Mustache, practices an extreme frugality that allowed him to retire at age 30. Avoiding car use, DIYing and investing in stock market index funds are among the tactics he and his fellow F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence Retire Early) devotees espouse. Paul Solman reports from Colorado in this installment of “Making Sense.”

The Trump administration has proposed reinterpreting a piece of immigration law intended to screen whether legal immigrants are likely to be self-supporting or end up consuming public benefits. Known as the “public charge” rule, it’s sowing concern even among green card holders and permanent residents, who fear that signing up for social services may jeopardize their ability to stay in the U.S.

China’s decision to buy less recyclable material from the U.S. has prompted major questions about how we handle waste in America. What will we do with our abundance of plastic bottles and pizza boxes, if exporting them is no longer an option? As Paul Solman discovers, some local governments and businesses have devised innovative ways to reuse these items--and to educate consumers.

Until this year, China had been America's -- and the world's -- number one recycling market. But China has shut its doors to plastic waste, which could result by 2030 in more than 100 million tons of trash with nowhere to go. So how did our recycling become so reliant on a country half a world away? Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.

Researcher Walter Mischel’s most famous contribution was the marshmallow test, a widely replicated experiment that explored the connection between saving and psychology. Economics correspondent Paul Solman remembers Mischel, who died last week at the age of 88.

Ten years ago this week, the collapse of Lehman Brothers became the signal event of the 2008 financial crisis. Its effects and the recession that followed, on income, wealth, disparity and politics are still with us. Economics correspondent Paul Solman walks through those events and consequences with historian Adam Tooze, author of "Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World."

In Wisconsin, "Help Wanted" is on virtually every restaurant window, store front and city bus. With an aging population and few immigrants, the state could have a shortage of 45,000 workers by 2024, which could pose a threat to business. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.

At a special startup incubator, the credo is that it's better to make money than war. At Brandeis University, an equal number of Israeli and Palestinian aspiring entrepreneurs team up to write business plans and create bridges to the future. Economics correspondent Paul Solman looks at how the program helps promote cross-border collaboration.

This week has marked the longest uninterrupted stock market gains in U.S. history, thanks in part to a steady economic recovery now nine years old. But another driver is the growth of stock buybacks: companies purchasing their own shares. Whether this practice benefits the larger economy is very much in question. Economics correspondent Paul Solman has more in his weekly series, Making Sense.