From cutting-edge policy research to illuminating analysis, we bring a racial equity lens to the most pressing issues facing our country. For our latest blog posts and media updates, visit our Media page.
How stark racial disparities have long pervaded our financial services system, fueling and entrenching inequality, and why public banks are a transformative, equitable alternative.
This is the first article in the “Financial Pipeline Series,” which will examine the underlying validity of the assertion that regulation of the financial markets reduces their efficiency. These articles point out that the value of the financial markets to the real economy is often mis-measured. The
The share of workers without any retirement plan at work has risen dramatically over the past decade. The percentage of workers whose employer did not sponsor any type of retirement plan rose from 39 percent to 47 percent—a 21 percent increase.1 This alarming trend is a call to action for state and
Our nation is on the brink of a retirement crisis that could have severe consequences for both future retirees and society as a whole. The steady erosion in the voluntary employer-sponsored retirement system has made it more difficult for workers to save for retirement. This crisis will not only
New Mexico’s current political leadership is undoing state and regional policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions even as the risks posed by global warming to the state’s economy and population become more evident.[1] Experts foresee even more difficult problems in the future unless steps are
Today’s prolonged economic slump is fundamentally different from an ordinary recession. In the aftermath of a severe financial collapse, an economy is at risk of succumbing to a prolonged deflationary undertow. With asset prices reduced, the financial system damaged, unemployment high, consumer
The extent of the money in politics problem, how we got here (from a legal perspective), and what we can do to create a democracy in which the strength of a citizen’s voice does not depend on the size of her wallet.
In 2012, just 61 large donors to Super PACs giving an average of $4.7 million each matched the $285.2 million in grassroots contributions from more than 1,425,500 small donors to the major party presidential candidates.
A core value of American society is the opportunity to work hard and get ahead. Yet today in the United States, willing job-seekers are facing a new barrier to employment—credit checks. Despite the lack of evidence connecting people’s credit histories to their on-the-job performance, a 2010 survey