Increasing numbers of low- and middle-income families use credit cards for basic living expenses. As health care costs have increased and health insurance coverage has become inadequate, medical expenses have become another basic cost that families increasingly cover through credit cards.

"Public structures" has proven to be an effective organizing idea for more constructive conversations about the role of government in American life. The concept was first developed by the principals of the Topos Partnership in research they conducted for Public Works in 2005, and since then, it has

Paving the Way is part of a larger effort undertaken by the Topos Partnership and Public Works to create more constructive public dialog about public policy and economic outcomes. Promoting Broad Prosperity contains the complete findings and recommendations from this body of research.

A primer on key CFPA amendments in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Comprehensive and meaningful systemic risk reform must undo many of the ill-advised deregulatory measuresof the past 20 years, including the four key changes wrought by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

Background on one of the landmark pieces of financial reform legislation associated with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Creating Public Will to Shape an Economy that Works for All

Since the Spring of 2007 and continuing into the Summer of 2009, Public Works: The Demos Center for the Public Sector and the Topos Partnership have collaborated on a Ford Foundation-funded effort to create a new public conversation on the role of government in the economy. This effort has included

Part of a Demos series of reports on deregulation showing that often the most significant impact is on the quality and reliability of work — in this case, on port trucking.

Hundreds of thousands of families lost their homes because of loans that were often not fully explained or under¬stood. Beyond the Mortgage Meltdown distills the origins and nature of the crisis in the housing market. Senior Fellow James Lardner highlights the complicity of regulators and lawmakers