Senior Policy Associate Javier Silva examines the new financial insecurities created as more Americans refinance their homes.
That's the short version of a new and disturbing study by Silva called "House of Cards: Refinancing the American Dream." It shows how millions of U.S. households are falling into a vicious cycle of tapping their credit cards and then refinancing their mortgages to extract needed cash from the equity in their homes.
7) Unions are one of the few institutional bulwarks against a corporate dictatorship over all of us: I mentioned their role in the ballot initiative and electoral process, but how are people organized in society? Into factories and electronics assembly shops and big-box stores. They wake up in the morning and - even with strong unions - much of their life is dominated by the company: what time to show up, what time to break (and do we get one?), how fast to work.
According to the consumer advocacy group Demos, from 1992 to 2001, the youngest adults (18 to 24 years old) saw the sharpest rise in credit-card debt-104 percent-to an average of $2,985. The second-highest increase-55 percent-was among young adults (25 to 34 years old), who also had the second highest bankruptcy rate, just after those ages 35 to 44.
According to the educational lender Nellie Mae, incoming college freshmen will amass $1,500 in credit-card debt before the end of their first term.
Women make up almost half of all workers in America and working mothers are the primary breadwinners in 40 percent of the nation’s families, so economic equality would make an immense difference for families and the economy as a whole.
The demonized banking industry must make the case it is morally noble. That may jar some ears, but surely enabling retirees to earn a return on their savings and funding business expansion creating jobs and wealth, improving Americans’ quality of and opportunities in life is morally noble. — Eric Glover, the Washington Times, September 24, 2015
The hyperactivity of the presidential election has raised the level of discussion of financial regulation, at least in terms of noise if not enlightenment. Mr.
Washington is in its usual state of hysteria this week -- now over the Obamacare rollout -- so, as usual, few people in power are talking about the biggest problem facing the country: a still-stagnant labor market that has stranded millions in a jobless hell, with real unemployment rates for some groups at Great Depression levels.
The third quarter GDP numbers were released this morning, which show a GDP increase of 2.8 percent, an increase from the 2.5 percent reported for the second quarter. Among other factors, increases in personal consumption and state and local government spending helped contribute to the increase in GDP. Of course, the state and local spending was offset by a negative contribution from federal government spending.
The events of yesterday nicely summed up American economic life: a tiny sliver of people, mostly tech and finance insiders, got fabulously wealthy from Twitter's IPO while 64 people were arrested protesting the poverty wages paid by the largest U.S. employer, Walmart.
Black veterans weren't able to make use of the housing provisions of the GI Bill because banks generally wouldn't make loans for mortgages in Black neighborhoods, and African-Americans were excluded from the suburbs by a combination of deed covenants and informal racism.
A new poll finds that nearly 80 percent of Americans think global warming is occurring and will be a significant problem if nothing is done to address it. Among those surveyed, the AP-GfK poll found that over 60 percent of people who trust scientists a little or not at all said that temperatures were increasing -- a 14 point jump from 2009. The poll also found that large majorities across the political spectrum believe that the planet is warming.
Last week, I wrote about how strong majorities of Americans not only believe the climate is changing but also that human activity is causing it. Congressional inaction, therefore, ignores the priorities and concerns of the majority. However, while the oil and gas lobby does heavily influence Congress’ actions, is its inaction also a result of the lack of climate change policy as a priority for most Americans?
Given his long record of climate advocacy, John Kerry’s nomination for Secretary of State is a sign that climate change may receive more attention in the second Obama Administration. In addition to co-sponsoring a cap-and-trade bill in the Senate, Kerry made it a point in his presidential campaign to deride the Bush Administration’s lack of belief in climate change.
Back in the spring, we pointed out that the previous 12 months from May 2011 - April 2012 was the hottest on record. Then, in July, we highlighted how over 3,000 temperature records had been broken within the first 10 days of the month.
In his State of the State yesterday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo laid out his plan to make the state a clean tech leader. Cuomo proposed extending a program to increase solar panel installations for homes and businesses and investing in an electric car network with statewide charging stations and incentives to build charging infrastructure.
This is not a good idea. The New York Times is shutting down its environment desk. The justification for closing the desk is that the environmental beat is no longer siloed.
