our economics correspondent, paul solman, posed that question for his weekly series, "making sense." >> reporter: unemployment: 4.1%, down from 4.8 when president trump took office. g.d.p.: growing at over 3%, higher than the last two obama years. the stock market: hitting record highs nearly every day. and president trump says that it's a function of his policies. at the center of america's recessions are the massive tax cuts that i just signed into law, with recommend does tax relief for working families, to small businesses, for big businesses that produce jobs, for just about everybody, tremendous numbers. and you are already seeing what is happening. >> reporter: and so, the question: does the president deserve the credit? at the annual economists convention in philadelphia last week, i started with some of his toughest critics. >> if you look at the trends of job creation, of growth of the economy, of the stock's market appreciation, there's not a very notable break on january 20th. >> reporter: that's austan goolsbee, from the obama white house. lisa cook served there too. >>

economics correspondent paul solman traveled to the land of enchantment where local officials are betting on innovation to spark a turnaround. it's part of his weekly series, making sense. >> reporter: now here's a kind of weird question: can a hot new photography fad, smoke bomb websites, help reignite one of the country's worst performing economies? >> there is no good supplier for these smoke bombs. >> reporter: university of new mexico junior kyle guin, who to build a smoke bomb supply business right here in new mexico. >> so i found a great manufacturer and distributor and i'm currently working with amazon fulfillment center to be one of the only sellers in the u.s. that can have these to your door in two days with prime shipping. >> so, i got size 13 feet. >> reporter: you'll hear from the out-of-the-box entrepreneur who showed off a homegrown snowboard to richard berry. when we interviewed him, just finishing eight years as mayor of albuquerque. and hey, says berry, these days, the mantra everywhere is young entrepreneurs or bust. >> every mayor in the country is worried about why

just be brave to call it when it's aggression. >> reporter: this is economics correspondent paul solman reporting for the pbs newshour from philadelphia. >> woodruff: we turn to another installment of our weekly brief but spectacular series where we ask people about their passions. tonight, the u.k. blogger and podcaster, emma gannon. she hosts the popular podcast "control alt delete," and her latest book is "the multi-hyphen method." >> there are so misconceptions about the social media, youtube, content creator world. it is true that we make stuff in our bedrooms, that is true. i do edit my podcast in my pajamas sometimes. i think what's interesting about that conversation, is that it's more about the future of work. we don't necessarily work 9 to 5 and we don't just sit there in a seat and look busy. it's more about actually being busy but in different ways that some people can't really wrap their heads around just yet. i wrote a book last year called "ctrl alt delete" and it's a book about millennials. the reason we are the way we are is because of the way we grew up, being introduc

economics correspondent paul solman visits a program where clients learn about the top by visiting the pits-- the orchestra pit, that is. paul has the story as part of our weekly series making sense. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: a couple dozen freelance musicians. many had never worked together before. some had never even met. they gathered, rehearsed about an hour, and performed haydn's symphony number 44. ♪ ♪ flawlessly. ♪ ♪ but how can a pop-up organization such as this function like a perfectly-tuned machine, when so many organizations, including maybe yours, seem dysfunctional? >> and it makes you wonder. is there any way to use this to bring about collaboration? >> reporter: it made conductor roger nierenberg wonder if there weren't a lot musicians can teach business people. and so for over 20 years, he's run the music paradigm, seating executives in an orchestra. >> step up here onto the podium, and i'll get you a companion. >> reporter: even inviting them to join him on the podium. >> you want to find out what are the skills that they use. what can you steal from this orchestra, transplant