Economy

April 18, 2007 - Nineteen months after Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, New Orleans "may have turned a corner," concludes the latest Katrina Index from the Greater New Orleans Data Center in collaboration with the Brookings Institution.

April 12, 2007 - Is South Carolina shaping up to be the new-age-hipster Mecca of the South?

March 22, 2007 - The 2007 State New Economy Index by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation examines a number of key indicators in every state to assess their ability to compete in the emerging global economy.

March 6, 2007 - A payday lender trade group launches a $10 million PR campaign to rehabilitate their image. In their TV commercials, they say "Please borrow only what you feel comfortable paying back when it's due."

March 1, 2007 - A groundbreaking analysis by McClatchy Newspapers documents the worsening problem of poverty across America, including the South.

February 22, 2007 - Imagine living near an open-air pool containing thousands of gallons of hog excrement, the acrid stench from which is so overwhelming that it leads to chronic burning eyes, coughs, sore throats and diarrhea. Then imagine that the noxious stuff is sprayed on fields near your home, where it soaks into the water table and contaminates your drinking well.

February 9, 2007 - In many ways, the public face of poverty hasn't changed much over the last 20-30 years. Say the words "poor people," and our minds easily flash to scenes of urban 'hoods and rural shacks.

December 30, 2006 - The New Year is almost here, but you still have two days to make a tax-deductible gift to the Institute for Southern Studies and support a voice for the progressive South!

December 22, 2006 - In the growing body of research showing that high-interest "sub-prime" home loans are bad for consumers and the economy, the Center for Responsible Lending has released a damning study that finds one out of five subprime loans end up as foreclosures:

December 20, 2006 - Marijuana is now the most valuable cash crop for the United States overall and for many states across the South, according to a new study published in the latest issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform. The study estimates the total value of this year's U.S.