brown: and the relevance in our time of john maynard keynes: "newshour" economics correspondent paul solman has a somewhat off-beat explanation. ♪ my general theory made quite an impression i transformed the econ profession, you know me, modesty say it loud and say it clear, we're all keynesians now. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "pbs newshour."

paul solman's report on the country's older job-seekers.d the latest ray suarez "patchwork nation" story comes from one of america's boom towns. that's all ahead but now, for some of the day's other stories, over to hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: the president faced new questions today about leaving afghanistan. he told reporters in oslo he's sticking to his plan to start u.s. troop withdrawals in july of 2011. but he promised the pull-out will be gradual. >> i think it's very important to understand that we're not going to see some sharp cliff, some precipitous drawdown. our whole concept here is to train and partner with afghan forces and to transfer to them even as our troops are fighting alongside each other. >> sreenivasan: meanwhile, general mcchrsytal the u.s. commander in afghanistan, played down concerns about the timetable. he told a house hearing that insurgents will see the u.s. commitment and realize: "a date doesn't change anything". defense secretary gates has arrived in iraq from afghanistan. he met today

> thank you. >> suarez: now, we take a second look at a report from our economics correspondent paul solman. in january paul went to san francisco to ask some of the nation's leading economists why they failed to predict the economic meltdown. it's part of his ongoing reporting on making sense of financial news. financial -- warned for a decade of irrational exuberance, and eventual bust to the housing and stock markets. >> so, prices were going up, up, up. and it seemed like it would never end, right? >> it must have seemed that way. i don't know how people can believe that. they just can't go up, up, up, and end up in the strat sphere. >> this was a ground tour of san francisco with bob schiller and a nobel laureate bob ackeroff taking a break from some 10,000 colleagues in town for the yearly economics convention to which we had come to ask one question. why didn't you, the economics profession, warn us? why didn't the fed tell us? >> why didn't we warn you. >> yes. >> we collectively or me personally. >> well, either one. >> reporter: many said they had sounded the alarm but that in goo

on paul solman's "making sense" page, our series on the economic year ahead continues. tonight, what will be most surprising in 2010? and there's an update on the drug war in mexico from a reporter who was embedded with the mexican military. that's part of our collaboration with global post, an international news web site. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. jeff? >> brown: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm jeffrey brown. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thank you, and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: chevron, human energy. and by toyota. and monsanto. grant thornton. the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions ca

brown: and the relevance in our time of john maynard keynes: "newshour" economics correspondent paul solman has a somewhat off-beat explanation. ♪ my general theory made quite an impression i transformed the econ profession, you know me, modesty say it loud and say it clear, we're all keynesians now. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "pbs newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> this is the engine that connects abundant grain from the american heartland to haran's best selling whole wheat, while keeping 60 billion pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere every year. bnsf, the engine that connects us. monsanto. producing more. conserving more. improving farmers' lives. that's sustainable agriculture. more at producemoreconservemore.com. >> chevron. this is the power of human energy. and by toyota. vestas. grant thornton. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made

hari. >> sreenivasan: all this week on paul solman's making sense page. we're asking leading economists to make predictions for 2010. tonight: where will the economic crisis strike next? also, you'll find paul's personal rememberance of economist paul samuelson. and before he left for copenhagen, ray suarez joined me at the rundown to talk about the h1n1 flu documentary that's airing tonight on pbs. we've launched an "anatomy of a pandemic" web site, where you can ask questions to the head of flu response at the cdc. dr. anne schuchat and flu expert dr. michael osterholm. you can visit us at newshour.pbs.org. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. we'll see you on-line. and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> what the world needs now is energy. the energy to get the economy humming again. the energy to tackle challenges like climate change. what is that energy came from an energy company? everyday, chevron invests $62 millio

lehrer: paul solman has a convertion about the coection between human health anbiodiversity. >> the only -- anywherin the world at raise their young -- are nowxtinct and the mpounds that these make to keep themselves -- that information igone rever. >> brown: and the weekly analysis of mark shids and david broo. >> lehrer: thas all ahead on night's pbs newshour. major funding for thpbs newshour is provided by: >> chevron this is the poweof human energy. d by toyota. and monsanto. grant thornton. >> and by the bi and melinda gatefoundation. dedited to the idea that all people deserve the chae to live a healthy productivlife. and with the ongoi support of thesinstitutions and foundations. and... this program was made ssible by the corration for public broadcasting. and by contributions tyour pbs station om viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: the clima change summit wnd down today, and president obama claimed "an unprecedented breakthrou". it did not inclu legally nding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissio. instd, the president said nations will set out goalsith a way to verify th

our economics correspondent paul solman has spent much of this year trying to make sense of the currentncial news of our day. but tonight he has a holiday story connected with the economic conditions of another era. >> 1, 2, 3. ♪ >> reporter: the handel and haydn society rehearsing the messiah at boston symphony hall. >> it's become the holiday piece hasn't it? every major city, in fact village, small town in the states all do messiah just as the same in england. everybody does it. >> reporter: everybody does it, because everybody else buys tickets. the messiah is a sort of savior of cash-strapped classical music. >> ♪ rejoice! rejoice! ♪ rejoice greatly! >> reporter: in fact, the link between the messiah and money goes back a long ways. it turns out composer george fridrick handel, which means "market in german, was not only a musical whiz, but an entrepreneurial one. >> the dominant pattern in the 17th century as handel got started was you either worked for the church or you worked for the nobility. >> reporter: harvard's mike scherer has written a classic on classical music and econo

our economics correspondent paul solman intervwed pa samuelson a number of times over the yearsnd begins with his own look back. >> reporter: paul saelson, america's firsnobel laureate in economics i1970, and about as celebrated and twining a member of e discipline as ever there was. an mit professor f 69 years, his emphasis on mathrove economics down aath that has madet more scientific, more technical, more abruse. but his breakthrough, plainspoken tebook of 1948 also made economs accessible to millions and sold the ias of england's johmaynard keynes that government ays a key role in managing the ecomy. samuelson himself seemedo know and rememb everything, everyone. nobel bob sow was among his best friends robert merton, one ohis students. and last year at aoston university conferencwith both them, heas his usual dazzling, endlessly amusednd forever young self in fusing to speak to the topic: "what rerement means to me." >> what retirent means to me! i never obeynstructions on what i should ta about because only after irow up will i generate notns about what my own retirement wl mean to

paul solman went there elier th year to report about manufacturing towns hardit in this recession. he's posted a foow-up blog th shows things are looking up people are buying recreaonal vehicles again, and factories are ring. all that and moris on our web te, newshour.pbs.org. woodruff: and again to our honor ll of american service personnel killed in the aq and afanistan conflicts. add them as their deaths ar made official anphotographs come available. he, in silence, are ten more. anthat's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >>rown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll seyou online, and again here tomorrow evening th mark shields d david brooks, among others. have a happy christmas eve thank u and good night. major funding for the pbs newsur has been provided by: >> this is thengine that connects abundangrain from the american heartland tharan's best selling whole wheat, ile keeping 60 billion pnds of carbon outf the atmosphere every year. bnsf, the engine tt connects us. monsanto producing re. conserng more. improving farmers'ives. that's sustainable agricultu. more at prodemor

. >> hari: judy, on our web site today we've given economic correspondent paul solman's making sense ries a makeover. you can watch a preview of his upcoming story about older workers in search of jobs. and ask paul questions about the recession. the president's plan for creating jobs or other economic topics on your mind. ray suarez has two video postcards from ann arbor, michigan. one on zingerman's deli and the other on the rise of digital media. and on jeffrey brown's art beat blog our correspondents pick their favorite books, movies and performances of 2009. all of that, and our new blog of news and insight it's called 'the rundown', and we update it throughout the day. you can find it all at newshour.pbs.org. judy. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. jim. >> lehrer: thanks, judy. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening. i'm jim lehrer. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> this is the engine that connects abundant grain from the american heartland to haran's best selling whole wheat, while k