Over at bloggingheads, my CAF colleague Bill Scher discusses the new international banking standards with Conn Carroll, a conservative blogger for The Heritage Foundation. Carroll actually agrees with a lot of what I have to say about Basel III, but I he draws conclusions from my post that overemphasize the role of regulation and ignore [...]

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Deficit Commissioner Says Don’t Cut Until Jobs Come Back Sen. Dick Durbin, member of WH deficit commission, says no budget cuts until [...]

American taxpayers bailed out the big banks. Now many of those banks are returning the favor by extending credit to payday lenders who sucker consumers into a spiraling debt trap. That is the claim in a new report published this week by National People’s Action (NPA), the Chicago-based community organization. The report, called Preditors’ Creditors, [...]

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Warren Tapped To Set Up Consumer Agency “Warren to Unofficially Lead Consumer Agency” reports NYT: “Ms. Warren will be named an assistant [...]

The Republican leaders in both houses of Congress are getting clearer what their alternative economic strategy is: Giant tax cuts for multimillionaires minus slashed public services for the middle-class minus letting our infrastructure rot equals even bigger budget deficits than today. The Washington Post estimates that Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to permanently extend [...]

It’s been two days, and the new Basel III bank regulations are still lousy. Martin Wolf slams the international banking accord here and Yves Smith agrees here, although Felix Salmon notes some improvements over the current banking regime here and Tim Fernholz offers a full-throated cheer for the new rules here. What makes the new [...]

Congress may be poised to pass legislation to penalize China unless its government plays by agreed-upon rules of international trade and stops manipulating its exchange rate. This currency manipulation, which makes U.S. exports more expensive as they head to China and Chinese imports artificially cheaper in our stores, has helped to inflate dangerous global trade [...]

The aging American workforce has been vilified a lot lately, in much the same way the poor were in previous decades. Politicians who once might have spread myths about “welfare queens” are now describing retired people as “greedy geezers.” Not to be outdone, well-paid pundits are rushing to lecture people on their moral failings and [...]

A report in today’s New York Times describes a policy analyst as believing that Social Security needs to change because people are”living longer.” This is a misconception that gets repeated over and over, one which a lot of otherwise well-informed people are convinced is true. The logic goes something like this: People are living much [...]

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security. Warren To Get Interim Appointment. Or Not. WH considering “interim” appointment for Elizabeth Warren that would not require Senate confirmation. NYT: “Two [...]