Star Tribune (Minnesota)
By Neal St. Anthony
March 31, 2009
In north Minneapolis, Emerge Staffing is a temp agency that places the working poor in jobs while providing vital support services.
The Advocate (Louisiana)
By Chante Dionne Warren
March 31, 2009
Need advice and help with applying for and paying for college, managing your money, and even starting up a business with other local teenagers? Help is just an application away.
The New York Times
By Jodi Kantor
March 28, 2009
At 6 in the morning, Peter R. Orszag is racing: across wet pavement for a 35-minute run, into a shower and a suit, and through a living room that looks rather like an office, the walls painted presidential gold and hung with pictures of federal monuments.
The Wall Street Journal
By Anjali Cordeiro
March 31, 2009
No loan is too small for small businesses these days.
With many banks continuing to put a hold on lending, more small-business owners and would-be entrepreneurs are turning to microlenders, organizations that dole out smaller loans typically ranging from as little as $500 to $35,000.
The Washington Post
By Anthony Faiola and Mary Jordan
March 31, 2009
At this week's summit of world leaders, the big winner will be the developing world, with the United States, Europe and Japan offering China, India, Brazil and other emerging nations unprecedented new influence in global financial decisions.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
March 29, 2009
The chips are in.
Every three years, the Federal Reserve, in its Survey of Consumer Finances, takes a look at how U.S. households are doing and reports on our assets and liabilities. The euphoria of our gambling spree is over. In the harsh glare of morning, the hangover is tough. And the latest data are from 2007, so they don't even capture the worst of the decline.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
By Lisa Sink
March 29, 2009
Amber Thompson wants her two sons to have everything she enjoyed growing up: a house with a big backyard to run and play, a dependable car and a stable life.
But reckless spending and poor judgment, she says, led her into a financial hole that was putting her dream out of reach.
The New York Times
By Nicholas Kulish
March 26, 2009
Last month Frank Koppe gathered together all 50 of his employees at Koppe-Apparatebau for coffee, cake and the kind of bad news that has lately become all too familiar. He told them the small company's business, designing and manufacturing custom equipment for industrial plants, had been sliced nearly in half.
The Wall Street Journal
By Simona Covel
March 30, 2009
A new report found widespread fraud in a government program designed to help small businesses secure federal contracts, a sign of the obstacles the government faces as it launches programs designed to help small businesses dig out of the recession.
The Wall Street Journal
By Jane J. Kim
March 28, 2009
A new study finds that banks have been cutting credit lines on a segment of the U.S. population with generally high credit scores.
The Wall Street Journal
By Dan Fitzpatrick
March 30, 2009
Consumer-lending activity has increased in numerous midsize cities in the U.S., a sign they are riding out the recession better than big cities and rural towns, an analysis of credit data shows.
The Washington Independent
By Martha C. White
March 27, 2009
Americans are more conscious of debt than ever. Feeling burned by bank overdraft fees of $30 or more, or by credit-card interest rates that can top 25 percent, a growing number of consumers are turning to prepaid, reloadable "cash cards." These cards have confidence-boosting names like "READYdebit" and "UPside." They feature the logo of Visa, Mastercard or Discover and are issued by companies like Green Dot Corporation and NetSpend. These cards are sold at retail locations as well as check-cashing storefronts and money-wiring outlets.
McClatchy-Tribune Business News
By Marc Heller
March 24, 2009
A new federal program to help small rural businesses struggling to find loans is itself scraping to find enough money, and Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand is trying to jump- start it.
The Washington Post
By Joel Berg
March 27, 2009
Some of the nation's largest charities -- and the lobbyists they pay to represent them -- have been hyperventilating over President Obama's proposal to marginally roll back the amount of the tax deduction the very wealthiest Americans can take for donating to charity. Of course, conservatives who oppose any tax hikes for the rich also oppose it.
The Wall Street Journal
By Amy Hoak
March 27, 2009
The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate home mortgages hit a record low this week, after the Federal Reserve announced it would purchase Treasury securities over the next six months, Freddie Mac's chief economist said on Thursday.
The Daily Record of Rochester (Rochester, NY)
By Elizabeth Stull
March 24, 2009
"Literacy doesn't end with strong reading and writing skills," Rochester Mayor Robert J. Duffy said in a statement announcing his support for a new financial literacy campaign. The campaign, spearheaded by Western District of New York Bankruptcy Judge John Ninfo II, aims to make the region the most financially literate in the country.
The Indianapolis Star (Indiana)
By Richard Gootee
March 24, 2009
For those students brought to tears by this spring's statewide math exams, more painful challenges may be ahead: At least one state lawmaker has suggested adding financial literacy to ISTEP tests.
CNN
March 25, 2009
Social and economic gaps between whites and blacks persist in the United States despite an atmosphere that led to the election of President Obama, an Urban League report said.
Despite hope ushered in by President Obama's election, racial divides persist, a report says.
The Wall Street Journal
By John D. McKinnon
March 26, 2009
President Barack Obama's initiative to raise new tax revenue to pay for major policy changes likely will focus in the short run on tightening enforcement against businesses and wealthy individuals. In the long run, some experts believe it could lead to sweeping changes in the tax code itself.
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
By Ben Hecht
March 25, 2009
The continuing economic crisis has forced our nation to soberly reconsider basic questions from how we regulate Wall Street to how we support homeownership. Less discussed, but arguably as important, are the ways that we support America's cities. If we really want to help the economy recover and deliver opportunity to low-income Americans, it is time to transform our approach to cities. A renewed focus on cities will help us restore their capacity to drive our economy and deliver social mobility to millions of poor Americans.
The Washington Post
Editorial
March 25, 2009
With Congress poised to rewrite his budget, President Obama subtly signaled last night that he understood that he could not have everything on his ambitious wish list. Granted, you had to be listening pretty closely to hear that. Mr. Obama reaffirmed his triumvirate of spending priorities -- health care, energy and education -- as essential to avoiding a repeat of the boom-and-bust cycle that helped produce the current economic crisis. "That's why this budget," he said, "is inseparable from this recovery: because it is what lays the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity."
The Washington Post
By Renae Merle
March 25, 2009
House Republican leaders plan to unveil a housing package today that would increase the tax credits available for home buyers and would direct law enforcement to crack down on mortgage fraud.
The Wall Street Journal
By Sue Shellenbarger
March 25, 2009
As hard as it is, as much as I'd like to avoid it, it's time to have The Talk with my kids.
I'm not talking about the birds and the bees. I'm talking about the need to cut spending -- to downsize my budget to reduce debt and gird for higher-than-expected college costs. I'm finding it surprisingly hard to communicate with my children, 18 and 21, about this. Based on my email and comments on our blog, TheJuggle.com, other parents are struggling too. Some spouses are fighting about how much to tell their children about financial setbacks. Others are just not saying why Daddy or Mommy has suddenly started driving the daily car pool.
The Wall Street Journal
By John D. McKinnon, Greg Hitt and Naftali Bendavid
March 25, 2009
The White House said it would launch a search for new tax revenues, as Congressional leaders moved to scale back proposed spending increases and tax cuts in President Barack Obama's ambitious budget.
The Examiner
By A.W. Berry
March 24, 2009
Individual Development Accounts (IDA's) are matched savings accounts supported by Federal, State and Non-Profit contributions. In the metro DC area there are several IDA programs available. The purpose of these accounts is to assist low-income earners save enough money to make large assets purchases such as an automobile, computer or down payment on property. Eligibility for an IDA account has specific requirements, however for those who do qualify for the accounts, the return on savings potential is quite high up to a certain amount. The following examples of local IDA programs with links illustrate the advantages of these accounts.
American Banker
By Katie Kuehner-Hebert
March 25, 2009
Banks in developing countries may seek to mine a potentially rich new market: the poor.
A program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aims to help impoverished people in Africa, Latin America and other traditionally underbanked parts of the globe open savings accounts and engage in other financial transactions. For banks, especially small ones, the approach is an opportunity to reach a large but historically underserved market.
BusinessWeek
By Jesse Washington
March 24, 2009
The ax fell without sound or shadow: Tatiana Gallego was suddenly called into human resources and laid off from her job as an admissions counselor for a fashion college.
The Wall Street Journal
By Kelly Evans and Justin Lahart
March 24, 2009
First-time home buyers breathed new life into the U.S. real-estate market last month, seizing on increased affordability and driving home sales to their biggest monthly gain in five years.
The Wall Street Journal
By Kelly Evans and Justin Lahart
March 24, 209
First-time home buyers breathed new life into the U.S. real-estate market last month, seizing on increased affordability and driving home sales to their biggest monthly gain in five years.
Financial Times
By Jon Kay
March 23, 2009
Neglected A homeless man in New York City. In Wilkinson and Pickett's book, the United States, the most unequal of all the countries considered, scores poorly on nearly all the social indicators used in their argument.
The Washington Post
By Dan Eggen
March 22, 2009
Nonprofit and public interest groups are scrambling to adapt to President Obama's stringent new ethics guidelines, which are so sweeping that they have blocked the ability of many sympathetic activists to get hired by the new administration.
The Wall Street Journal
By Peter Niculescu and Beth A. Wilkinson
March 21, 2009
Much of the government's housing policy to date has focused on helping struggling homeowners stay in their homes and resolving the problems caused by declining asset values. Both are important. But unless policies encourage people to buy houses and work off the current inventory backlog, house prices will continue to tumble.
The Wall Street Journal
By Mark Whitehouse
March 23, 2009
When leaders of the world's 20 largest economies meet in London April 2, they'll have a lot on their plates, from preventing a global depression to fixing a broken banking system. But economists are hoping they also will pay some attention to what many see as a root cause of the financial crisis: a vast disparity in the way big nations save.
The Kansas City Star
By Steve Rosen
March 21, 2009
You'd think the economic meltdown would be all the more reason to support courses that teach children to become more financially savvy.
Yet some economists and academic researchers believe pouring money into financial literacy programs - for children and adults - is a waste of educational resources.
The Times West Virginian
By Jessica Legge
March 22, 2009
The "NetWorth" project is really about "getting financial literacy to our kids."
West Virginia State Treasurer John Perdue and the West Virginia Department of Education are leading this effort, which involves the incorporation of personal finance into K-12 school curriculum.
The Washington Post
By Meizhui Lui
March 23, 2009
The chips are in.
Every three years, the Federal Reserve, in its Survey of Consumer Finances, takes a look at how U.S. households are doing and reports on our assets and liabilities. The euphoria of our gambling spree is over. In the harsh glare of morning, the hangover is tough. And the latest data are from 2007, so they don't even capture the worst of the decline.
Brown Alumni Magazine
By Lawrence Goodman
March 21, 2009
Imagine if the government put $1,000 into a savings account in your name on the day you were born. Later, for every dollar of your own money you put in, the government would match it up to a total of $500 per year. You would have to wait until your 18th birthday to withdraw any money, and you would have to spend it on such things as enrolling in school, buying a house, or starting a small business. The benefit could last your entire life.
San Jose Mercury News (California)
By Karen de Sá
March 19, 2009
An antidote to the recession's pummeling of the poor is hard at work in a set of freshly painted Silicon Valley office suites. Beginning this month, dozens of women are stealing precious evening hours to gather in those offices for study sessions that will help transform them from low-wage or unemployed workers into budding entrepreneurs.
PRWEb.com
March 20, 2009
Children, Incorporated and Rotarians from Altadena, California are launching the Native Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative, teaching Navajo youth of Coconino County, Arizona how to escape economic instability and create new opportunities through entrepreneurship. One hundred Navajo teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 will benefit from a series of one-to-two week training sessions geared towards getting more Native Americans in Arizona interested in building their businesses. The primary goal is the development of new Native-led businesses that create jobs for other members of the community.
The Wall Street Journal
By Bhaskar Chakravorti
March 18, 2009
As the financial crisis continues to take its toll, a manager's natural tendency will be to hunker down, follow the status quo, and just try to survive in hopes that some day, this, too, shall pass. But that's exactly the wrong prescription.
Indian Country Today
By Jim Kent
March 18, 2009
For the past 20 years or so, many looking for answers on how to care for the environment have turned to Native American cultures. During that same period, fulfillment for thousands of "lost souls" has been found in Native American spirituality, frequently to the dismay of our nation's First People.
CNN
By Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini
March 18, 2009
As the economy slows, millions of Americans will cut their budgets to stay afloat. This generates conflicting impulses: If I skip that morning coffee and granola, will my thriftiness put my local coffee shop out of business?
The Washington Post
By Neil Irwin
March 19, 2009
The Federal Reserve yesterday escalated its massive campaign to stabilize the economy, saying it would flood the financial system with an additional $1.2 trillion.
The New York Times
By Stephanie Strom
March 18, 2009
People who go online to donate to charity for the first time often do not return to the Internet to make later gifts, according to a new study examining the experience of 24 nonprofit groups.
The Wall Street Journal
By Sue Shellenbarger
March 18, 2009
Here's some news you don't read very often these days: Employers are fattening up perks and benefits for the little guy.
The Wall Street Journal
By Gwendolyn Bounds
March 18, 2009
I'm not among the one-in-nine homeowners who currently qualify for aid under the new federal housing-rescue plan. But Uncle Sam may still foot the bill for nearly $19,000 worth of upgrades at my house. And he could for you, too.
The Wall Street Journal
By Richard S. Lefrak and A. Gary Shilling
March 17, 2009
The Obama administration should seriously consider granting resident status to foreigners who buy surplus houses in this country. This makes more sense than the president's $275 billion housing bailout plan, which Americans greeted with a Bronx cheer.
The New York Times
By Helene Cooper
March 16, 2009
The Obama administration said on Monday that it would try to ease a credit squeeze afflicting small businesses by buying up to $15 billion of securities that are linked to small-business loans.
Indian Country Today
By Gale Courey Toensing
March 17, 2009
Elsie Meeks is poised to become the next USDA director of rural development for South Dakota.
Meeks, the president/CEO of First Nations Oweesta Corporation, was tapped by South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson, for the appointment in President Barack Obama's administration.
It was an offer she couldn't refuse.
The Washington Post
By Dina El
March 14, 2009
The Federal Housing Administration plans to make it tougher for borrowers to refinance a loan and take out cash as the agency tries to "limit its exposure to undue risk," according to a letter that went out to lenders this week.
The Washington Post
By Robin Shulman
March 15, 2009
Shaun Donovan's legacy as New York City housing commissioner is perhaps most apparent in places such as this sprawling, red-brick, low-rent building in the Bronx.
The News Journal (Delaware)
By J.L. Miller
March 15, 2009
Residents of Delaware's manufactured-home communities, who have waged hard-fought battles for legislation to protect their rights, could have an easier time of it in Legislative Hall this session.
Wicked Local (Massachusetts)
March 16, 2009
YouthBuild graduate Kenny McLean of Brockton earns national recognition
Kenny McLean, a graduate of the YouthBuild Brockton Program, was recognized as one of six graduates across the nation to win the "Distinguished Alumni Award."
Times-Picayune
By Karl Kell
March 15, 2009
Since its opening last June, the Northshore Housing Resource Center has worked with more than 100 area individuals or families to assist them on the path to home ownership.
The Miami Herald
By Les Blumenthal
March 15, 2009
The numbers are startling. More than half of high school seniors have debit cards and nearly one-third have credit cards.
One-third of college students have four credits cards apiece when they graduate, and more than half of graduates have piled up $5,000 each in high-interest debt. The number of 18- to 24-year-olds who have declared bankruptcy has increased 96 percent in 10 years.
Daily Times (Pennsylvania)
By Suzann Morris and Ricky Pfeifer
March 13, 2009
In an era of record high unemployment and disappearing paychecks, families are making cuts in places once thought unimaginable - including care of their children. A troubling sign of the times is the escalating number of Pennsylvania families no longer able to afford good childcare.
Santa Maria Times
By Deborah Brasket
March 13, 2009
More than 5,000 families are still waiting for help from the county's Housing Authority. With an annual turnaround of about 1,600 openings, most will not find relief anytime soon. With more homes in foreclosure, and growing unemployment, this situation is bound to get worse before it gets better.
South Florida Times
By Cynthia Roby
March 13, 2009
In 2004, Bermelyn Maise contacted the Urban League of Broward County to enroll in its first-time homebuyers program.
But after losing her job at BankAtlantic, the single mother of four relocated to New York City.
The Wall Street Journal
By S. Mitra Kalita
March 13, 2009
The wealth of American families plunged nearly 18% in 2008, erasing years of sharp gains on housing and stocks and marking the biggest loss since the Federal Reserve began keeping track after World War II.
The Washington Post
By Amy Goldstein
March 12, 2009
The scenes here are now familiar in places deeply bruised by the recession: The Salvation Army gets so many calls from people desperate for help with overdue utility bills that, one morning, its phone system crashed. The Family Service Center of South Carolina is deluged with clients seeking free counseling for delinquent mortgages. And the shelves at the Life Force food pantry run out of rice, canned stew meat and black-eyed peas in less than an hour.
The Washington Post
By Lori Montgomery
March 12, 2009
With President Obama's plan to tax the rich to pay for health care facing deep skepticism on Capitol Hill, key lawmakers are pressing a different way to raise money: taxing the health benefits workers receive from their employers.
The Financial Times
By Chrystia Freeland and John Thornhill
March 12, 2009
On inauguration day, after the euphoric mass celebration on the Mall and before the black-tie balls that evening, leading Democrats gathered for dinner in Washington's Park Hyatt Hotel. It was a crowd including Paul Volcker, former head of the Federal Reserve, Lawrence Summers, incoming head of the National Economic Council, and three future cabinet secretaries.
ABC News
By Karen Travers
March 11, 2009
First lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton marked International Women's Day with the presentation of the International Women of Courage award to seven women from all over the world who have fought against discrimination and inequality in their countries.
The Washington Post
By Paul Kane and Scott Wilson
March 12, 2009
President Obama's call to rein in the use of earmarks was met with derision yesterday even from some of his past reformer allies, dealing an early blow to his attempt to change how business is done in Washington.
The Wall Street Journal
By Stephanie Simon and Leslie Eaton
March 11, 2009
Cities, counties and states across the nation are launching home-grown economic-stimulus plans aimed at spurring local spending and keeping small businesses afloat during the recession.
The New York Times
By Michael Burnham
March 10, 2009
Author and activist Van Jones will serve as a special White House adviser for "green" jobs, enterprise and innovation.
CNN
By Kristi Keck
March 10, 2009
President Obama began to flesh out the details of one of his signature campaign promises Tuesday, outlining his plan for a major overhaul of the country's education system "from the cradle up through a career."
President Obama says the decline of education is "unacceptable for our children."
BusinessWorld
By Washington Z. Sycip
March 10, 2009
While I was invited to speak to you about microfinance, I am taking the liberty of expanding my talk to face the broader issue of why we, as a nation, have been a failure in significantly reducing poverty. I hope you will not consider this as an abuse of your gracious invitation.
MarketWatch
By John Spence
March 2, 2009
Warren Buffett's ruminations on the battered economy grabbed most of the financial headlines to start the week, but in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, the folksy investor also offered some thoughts on the public-policy debate raging over how to fix the housing and mortgage markets.
The Wall Street Journal
By Kelly K. Spors
March 10, 2009
Many small businesses, buffeted by declining revenue and tight credit, have set their sights on a possible new customer: the government.
The $787 billion government stimulus promises to create a bevy of federal, state and local government projects that would give small businesses an opportunity to win contracts and cash in on a slice of the stimulus dollars.
The Wall Street Journal
By Greg Hitt, Damien Paletta and Jonathan Weisman
March 10, 2009
The Obama administration is looking to steer new assistance to the nation's small-business community, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told members of Congress Monday night.
In a closed-door meeting with House Democrats on Capitol Hill, Mr. Geithner said Obama officials are working on plans to boost liquidity for small businesses as part of the administration's broadening efforts to spur lending and arrest the pace of job losses, said individuals familiar with the meeting.
The Post and Courier (South Carolina)
By Yvonne Wenger
March 10, 2009
Neema Green reached her goal of home ownership by the time she was 30 when she purchased a three-bedroom brick home in North Charleston. But two years later, when the loan rate jumped to about 10.5 percent, she wasn't living the life she thought she'd signed up for.
Des Moines Register
By Karen Mracek
March 7, 2009
A small line item in the Rebuild Iowa bill signed by the governor this month will help Iowans save money.
One of the provisions in the $56 million legislation appropriates $250,000 to be used as matching dollars for individual development accounts.
The Washington Post
By Miranda S. Spivack
March 10, 2009
The working poor who make up a substantial portion of the Washington region's renters are increasingly seeking help from government agencies to meet basic needs in the recession, leading to a sharp rise in recent months in requests for rental assistance and help paying utility bills.
Buffalo News
By Jonathan D. Epstein
March 9, 2009
State bank regulators will hold a public hearing in Buffalo in late April as part of their review of a state program geared to push banks to set up branches in underbanked neighborhoods.
The state Banking Department said last week that it is examining the Banking Development District program to assess whether the program is working as intended.
Congressional Quarterly
By David Clarke
March 10, 2009
Amid the partisan wrangling over President Obama's first budget outline, one idea enjoys rare support from academics and researchers across the ideological spectrum: boosting employees' retirement savings.
The New York Times
By Ron Lieber
March 6, 2009
In his speech to a joint session of Congress late last month, President Obama said that we must begin a conversation about how to strengthen Social Security "while creating tax-free universal savings accounts for all Americans."
The notion of a "universal" savings account is tantalizing. It suggests two possibilities:
The Los Angeles Times
By Kathy M. Kristof
March 8, 2009
Michael and Kathy Hale are losers in America's new, and often vexing, game of tax break hide-and-seek.
The reason: They bought a first home at the end of November -- one month and seven days too soon. The date of the purchase cost them $8,000.
The News Journal (Delaware)
By Gary Soulsman
March 7, 2009
Homelessness has a human face to Pastor Paul Lundmark, and it's why he's spearheading a new network of faith communities -- Family Promise of Northern New Castle County -- to assist homeless children and parents.
The Indy Star
Chris Bain
March 8, 2009
Whether you're getting squeezed by credit-card bills or saving for a purchase, there are some easy ways to save. Here are a few, with assists from personal finance experts Jeff Yeager and Lynnette Khalfani-Cox.
Sacramento Bee (California)
By Claudia Buck
March 8, 2009
In this dreary stock market, it's not a happy time to be an investor. But there still are ways to feel good about investing.
Think "socially responsible investing," or SRI for short. In simple terms, it means investing in companies and products that do good, environmentally and socially.
Newsday (New York)
By Maurice Black and Erin O'Connor
March 8, 2009
The upheavals in the financial markets have made us newly aware of how much depends on our financial security - and also how little most Americans understand about financial markets, or even personal finances.
It starts in our schools. Younger Americans are deplorably uninformed about economic and financial matters.
Los Angeles Times
By Tiffany Hsu
March 7, 2009
If ever there were a teaching moment about the perils of financial ignorance, it's the current economic crisis.
Millions of Americans are learning the hard way about the pitfalls of teaser mortgage interest rates and runaway credit card debt. Sadly, their children may be doomed to repeat the mistakes of their overdrawn elders.
USA TODAY
By Bob Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel
March 6, 2009
Two men of faith -- a conservative former Bush speechwriter and a liberal Christian activist -- team up to help the poor in America. Cal and Bob applaud their detailed plan that puts people ahead of politics.
The Wall Street Journal
By Jilian Mincer
March 4, 2009
Unable to get loans at banks, more small-business owners are turning to credit unions.
Most credit unions didn't get in on the subprime-loan market, so they're not smarting from multibillion-dollar losses like many banks. Many also have extra cash because deposits increased in 2008 as more investors abandoned the stock market and sought greater certainty in savings accounts. So credit unions are more able -- and willing -- than most of their banking counterparts to dole out money to small businesses.
The Indy Star
By Russ Pulliam
March 6, 2009
Their hope is to enlarge the middle class and to save families from falling into poverty.
These members of the Indiana General Assembly call themselves the Growing Middle Class Coalition, and they're seeing favored legislation work its way through this session.
The Wall Street Journal
By Raymund Flandez
March 5, 2009
At a time when the news is filled with large companies announcing major layoffs, some small businesses are determined to buck the trend.
For some companies, it's a matter of pride: They've never had a layoff and they don't want to start now.
The Washington Post
By Bill Turque and Maria Glod
March 5, 2009
To help struggling schools, the federal government will use stimulus funding to encourage states to expand school days, reward good teachers, fire bad ones and measure how students perform compared with peers in India and China, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said yesterday.
The New York Times
By Edmund L. Andrews
March 4, 2009
The Obama administration on Wednesday began the most ambitious effort since the 1930s to help troubled homeowners, offering lenders and borrowers big incentives and subsidies to try to stem the wave of foreclosures.
The New York Times
By David Leonhardt
March 3, 2009
What does the worst recession in a generation look like?
It is both deep and broad. Every state in the country, with the exception of a band stretching from the Dakotas down to Texas, is now shedding jobs at a rapid pace. And even that band has recently begun to suffer, because of the sharp fall in both oil and crop prices.
The Washington Post
By Steven Pearlstein
March 4, 2009
Suddenly there seem to be lots of people who think our biggest economic problem is that President Obama and the Democratic Congress are about to saddle our grandchildren with a mountain of government debt so high that they -- and the U.S. economy -- will never be able to get out from under it.
The Washington Post
By Lori Montgomery
March 4, 2009
Two of the administration's top economic officials defended President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget plan yesterday, arguing that the proposal would finance a historic investment in critical economic priorities while restoring balance to a tax code tipped in favor of the wealthy.
The Boston Globe
By John C. Drake
March 3, 2009
Stunned by a sharp rise in homeless children over the last two years, Boston officials today will announce a $200 million plan they hope will cut the city's number of homeless families in half by 2012.
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
March 3, 2009
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation has awarded a total of $934,000 to seven organizations focused on helping lower-income residents in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties set aside money and begin building financial assets for the future.
CBS4 Denver
By Karen Leigh
March 4, 2009
For Rudy McClinon the road to financial recovery started with a business plan.
"I wanted to get this DVD to people who have had hip replacement surgery and be able to sit at hone and do the exercises," McClinon told CBS4.
The Washington Post
By Reid Hoffman
March 3, 2009
President Obama noted last week that "we have lived through an era where, too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity." As the $787 billion stimulus is sorted out, we should consider not only what's there but also what's missing. Unless lawmakers move to jump-start key elements of sustainable economic growth, we may find ourselves worse off in a few years.
The Wall Street Journal
By Ruth Simon
March 3, 2009
Citigroup Inc. announced Tuesday a new program aimed at addressing the latest challenge facing the mortgage industry: unemployed homeowners.
Under the program, Citigroup will temporarily lower mortgage payments to an average of $500 a month for certain borrowers who have recently lost their jobs and are at least 60 days behind on their mortgage payments. Borrowers will be allowed to make the lower payments for three months. Citigroup will waive interest and penalties during this period.
The Florida Times-Union
By Tonyaa Weathersbee
March 2, 2009
In 1950, Walter White, a teacher in the Duval County school system, wanted to join the Duval County Teacher's Credit Union.
"I was met at the door," White recalled, "and the lady at the door wanted to know what I wanted. ... I told her I wanted to open an account, and she told me that they weren't opening accounts at that time. She didn't ask me what kind [of account] or anything ... she didn't even let me in the door."
Mortgage Servicing News
By Amilda Dymi
March 3, 2009
For quite some time now, financial education has been a fixture in the to-do list of public and private entities dealing with the crisis.
One may argue that in this area financial institutions have had a tendency to stay a step behind nonprofits and customer advocates. Had there been no crisis, the topic would not be as hot as it appears to be now.
The Miami Herald
By Myriam Marquez
March 2, 2009
Blame the hedge fund managers. The subprime mortgages. Mismanagement at Fannie Mae,Freddie Mac. Detroit automakers' stubborn refusal to build more energy-saving vehicles.
The Washington Post
By Michael A. Fletcher and Ceci Connolly
March 1, 2009
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius yesterday accepted President Obama's request to become his secretary of health and human services, stepping into a central role in the new administration's ambitious effort to overhaul the nation's health-care system.
The Wall Street Journal
By Daisy Maxey
March 1, 2009
Efforts to help workers build nest eggs kicked in at the worst possible time, with some automatically enrolled in 401(k) plans just in time for a steep market downturn.
The Washington Post
By Alec MacGillis
February 28, 2009
Commentators left and right have reacted with awe to the ambition and transformative potential of President Obama's economic blueprint. But the debut of Vice President Biden's Middle Class Task Force here Friday suggested that the administration will be selling its plans in more conventional and reassuring tones -- as a bevy of benefits for the American middle class.
