(Mis)Understanding a Banking
Industry in Transition
By William K. Black
To even begin to understand the recent crisis in the U.S. and global banking industries, you have to look back at the seismic shifts in the industry over the past 30 to 40 years. The story that continues to unfold is one of progressively worse policies that make financial crises more common and more severe. Read more »
Inequality Worsens Across Asia,
Wall Street Journal Cheers
By John Miller
When ideologues of global capitalism step out of line, who better to let them know about it than the editors of the Wall Street Journal? Just ask the economists at the Asian Development Bank, who had the temerity to report that increasing inequality was a serious problem.
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The Fed and America's Distorted Expansion
By Thomas I. Palley
The U.S. economy has been in expansion mode since November 2001. Though of reasonable duration, the expansion has been fragile and unbalanced. Now, with the subprime mortgage and credit crises, there are signs that the expansion may be ending. If the Fed deserves criticism, it is for endorsing the policy paradigm underlying a distorted expansion. Read more »
War Spending Placed Above Domestic Priorities
By Monique Morrissey
The Bush administration has asked for significant increases in both war appropriations and regular defense appropriations for fiscal year '08. If Congress agrees to these requests, defense spending will resume its upward climb to between 4.3% and 5.0% of GDP in 2008. Read more »
Acting in the Big Picture
By Linda Pinkow
Social change requires a large number of open-minded, concerned people to develop into highly committed, effective activists. Agents of change need a foundation of knowledge, a theoretical framework that integrates this knowledge, and the practical skills to conduct a long-term struggle for change. A new online "study/action" program helps people move from framework and knowledge to action. Read more »
