Economy
December 10, 2009 -
Yesterday the National Conference on State Legislatures released a report on how the recession is hitting state budgets, and the news was grim: "The states are facing nearly unprecedented declines in revenuecollections," said William Pound, executive director of the NCSL."Coupled with probable declines in federal stimulus support over thenext two year, the state fiscal picture is bleak. We're heading intoan era of retro budgeting, where state spending is receding to levelsfive to 10 years ago."
December 10, 2009 -
By Michael Grabell, ProPublica
December 9, 2009 -
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, New America Media The bad news is that the more than one out of three young blacks out ofwork matches the figure for joblessness at the peak of the 1930s GreatDepression. The worse news is that the jobless figure for young blacks,especially young black males, is not much different from what it waseven before the economic meltdown. During the Clinton era economicboom, the unemployment rate for young black males was double -- and in
December 7, 2009 -
By Jake Bernstein, ProPublica After a brief holiday respite, bankfailure Friday came back with a vengeance. The FDIC and itsfellow regulators closed six institutions, bringing the total to 130
December 4, 2009 -
About a quarter of U.S. households lack banking services, making them vulnerable to costly alternative financial services like payday loans. The problem is especially severe for minority households and for states in the South.
December 3, 2009 -
By Aaron Glantz, New America Media On the eve of President Barack Obama's White House Summit on Jobs,labor leaders yesterday issued a dire warning: Unless Congress andObama create a "bold jobs program," state and local governments couldshed almost a million jobs next year, further worsening our nationalunemployment rate. "The budget crisis that they face is dire," Thea Lee, chief of staff of