Any student of financial history would have to conclude that financial crises and the volatility created by the instabilities of finance in recent years are an organic and harmful element of our social system. Wars and financial crises are time and again the greatest sources of disruption of the social...

It's my home -- last night I dreamt that I grew wings
I found a place where they could hear me when I sing
--"Wings" by Josh Ritter

Occupy Wall Street is about anxiety, and the courage of young people to fly into conflict on Gandhi's wings. This...

When an economy is in a slump and the fear of debt overhang and default surrounds us, there is a tendency to tighten our belts. But these actions only serve to deepen the slump. Economists suggest that to offset private caution, we should resort to public sector stimulus. Hopefully, such...

This morning the Washington Post reported that the White House is offering to cut Social Security as part of a broader budget deal with the Republicans. At last we have the answer to the question everyone has been asking about the Democrats: How far can they go?

The...

President Obama is a smart man. When Gallup surveys suggest that unemployment is around 10 percent -- and that unemployment plus underemployment is 19 percent of the workforce -- then it's clear that the best way to raise revenues and close the deficit is to put people back...

The Deficit Commission co-chairmen's report came out on Wednesday. The number of pundits and editorial boards who are trying to declare their first proposal as courageous or bold or balanced is testament to how silly the ritual has become. Many commentators are reveling in the fact that both the Left...

In the wake of a Democratic loss not seen in the House since 1938, upended Senate seats, and Republican gubernatorial wins, Roosevelt Institute Fellows weigh in. Was the vote a referendum on Democrats? What will it mean moving forward? This post originally appeared on New Deal 2.0.

"The...

Standin at the crossroad babe
risin sun goin down
Standin at the crossroad babe
eee eee eee, risin sun goin down
I believe to my soul now,
Poor Bob is sinkin down

--"Crossroad Blues", by Robert Johnson (1936)

We've been hearing a lot...

In the short time since the Move Your Money project started, we've seen the movement grow beyond anything we ever anticipated. It's been an energizing and inspiring three months.

What started out as a conversation around a holiday dinner table among friends has turned into a full-fledged grassroots...

The Hearings of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission began belatedly this morning. Carrying a structure of decision making that appears to be designed to make it hard to get things done, Chairman Phil Angelides has a gargantuan task before him. The first session, which...

Since the early 1980s, rises in the living standard of middle class United States citizens have not kept up with the gains in labor productivity. Wages in the middle class have been close to flat. At the same time, consumer spending continued to grow abetted by innovations in consumer finance...

First posted on December 29, 2009

Take the pledge to Move Your Money!

Too-big-to-fail banks are profiting from bailout dollars and government guarantees, and growing bigger. Tell us which community bank you use, and why.

Last week, over a pre-Christmas dinner, the two of us, along with...

Chairman Lincoln, Ranking Member Chambliss, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify before you today. The American people clearly sense that there is something deeply flawed in the current structure of our financial markets and the political process that has spawned them. One does not...

Barack Obama was elected to the White House just after the turmoil of TARP and the climax of the crisis of financial markets. People throughout the country had deep suspicions of the government and justifiably so. After all, the Bush years were a feeding frenzy for cronyism and corporate welfare....

"There were times when I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will"
-Sam Cooke: A Change is...

Today, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, established by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial market collapse, will hold its first public meeting. The choice in front of us is stark. The public is concerned and rightfully so. Will we take this opportunity to find out what caused the...

They say they didn't see it coming. They say there was no way they could have known.

But they were warned. And here's the proof.

On April 17, 2007, famed short-seller Jim Chanos and other hedge fund managers met under tight security at the World Bank in Washington for the...

We live in an era where the effectiveness of government has been denigrated for more than 30 years. The echo chamber of the right, particularly since the election of Ronald Reagan, has sought to intimidate anyone who let the romantic notion into their head that government can help. They even...

Well, I sailed through the storm Strapped to the mast, But the time has come And I'm seeing the real you at last.

Innovation. It is a lovely word that teases the mind with the notion of expansive possibilities. Pushes...

I hold my hands in front of me to block my line of sight
It seems my eyes are growing tired of staring in the light
The more I see the more I feel the less I want to know
Because if you think to much you'll...