Special Reports
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Vol. 21 No. 5May 2010
Special Report
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Reform and Its Obstacles
There is no mystery about how to simplify the financial system. The main obstacles are political. -
Shadow Banking
Reforms pending in Congress would not touch the abuses of hedge funds and private equity. -
Watching the Watchers
The corruption of credit-rating agencies was at the heart of the financial collapse. So far, Congress has not had the nerve to pursue fundamental reform. -
Banking on Presidential Leadership
Obama's engagement salvaged health reform. Can his personal intervention achieve what's needed on financial reform? -
Out of the Black Hole
Reining in the reckless market in over-the-counter derivatives. -
Cleansing the Temple
Can financial reforms straighten out one of America's most byzantine institutions, the Federal Reserve? -
Simplifying Securitzation
With a better system, the economy can have plenty of credit without the outlandish risks and excess banker profits. -
Coalition of the Unwilling
Diverse individuals and businesses are hurt by the financial system. Can they coalesce? -
Sand in the Gears
The case for a tax on financial speculation. -
No More Phony Accounting
Cooked books helped produce the collapse -- and the fakery continues. -
Consumer Protection as Systemic Safety
If we safeguard consumers, we also save the entire financial system from its own excesses. -
Too Big for Us to Fail
We need counterweights not just to Wall Street's toxic products but to its malign influence.
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Vol. 21 No. 2February 2010
Special Report
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Buckeye Budget Blues
Ohio has all the reform elements in place -- except political will. -
Reform Amid Fiscal Ruin
In some states, progressive leadership and grass-roots activism have turned crisis into opportunity for long-deferred tax reform. -
Public Capacity and Public Trust
Can we reverse the vicious circle of frustrated citizens denying state government adequate resources -- and then resenting the lack of state services? -
Loosening Fiscal Straitjackets
Proponents say that caps on taxing and spending enhance democracy. In reality, they destroy accountable government -- but that can be changed. -
Digging Out, Planning Ahead
The federal government needs to do more to help states survive this downturn -- and plan for permanent anti-recession fiscal relief. -
California in Crisis
With a dysfunctional state government unable to act, the universities, schools, and roads that were once the model for the nation are crumbling -- if not collapsing. -
State Fiscal Gimmicks: A Budgetary Balancing Act
Phony budget accounting defers the day of reckoning -- but raises costs. -
A Tour of Six States
Snapshots of the fiscal crisis across the nation. -
Transparency For What?
The left, right, and center agree that they want more state budget data. But not all data improves policy.
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Vol. 21 No. 1December 2009
Special Report
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The Great Industrial Wall of China
Beijing's mercantilism challenges America's market ideology and industrial future. -
Industrial Policy: The Road Not Taken
In the 1970s, Wall Street and its economists defeated manufacturing. -
Losing Our Future
If we don't develop a national industrial policy for clean-energy production, the strategies of other nations will displace American companies and jobs. -
FDR Had It Right
If the economy is going to come back, we need to buy -- and make -- American. -
Playing Ourselves for Fools
The trading system America sold the world is killing U.S. industry. Here's a better way. -
The Plight of American Manufacturing
Since 2001, the U.S. has lost 42,400 factories -- and its technical edge. -
The Politics of Industrial Renaissance
Business and government may waver, but the American people want more manufacturing.
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Vol. 20 No. 9October 2009
Special Report
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Our Two-Class System
The recession has worsened already widening inequalities of access and affordability in higher education. Could it also trigger a new grand bargain? -
It's Not Just Education
If we want more economic opportunity and equality, a better-skilled work force is only one element among many. -
The High Cost of Working Hard
Why students need to work less and study more. -
Can Community Colleges Rise to the Occasion?
Yes -- with fundamental internal reforms and a new vision of their role in higher education. -
Ideas From the Other Washington
Policy reforms to increase student success. -
Grand Solution or Grab Bag?
Community colleges are being asked to provide everything from second chances to vocational education. Is America ready to help them succeed? -
Saying Yes in Syracuse
A battered industrial city is leading the way in preparing all schoolchildren to succeed in college. -
Rationing College Opportunity
Many more young people could succeed at college if given the chance. But public policy has been raising hurdles rather than increasing access. -
The Graduation Gap
America needs to do a much better job of increasing its college enrollment and graduation rates, especially for less advantaged students.
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Vol. 20 No. 8September 2009
Special Report
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Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers
Rebuilding our economy on the back of illegal working conditions is morally untenable -- and it is bad economics. -
Stuck on the Low Road
Deregulation turned truck driving from a good job into a bad one. Now, thanks to local organizing and government action, there's a better road. -
Dark and Bitter
Food workers increasingly exist in a legal limbo with no protections for wages, benefits, job security, or life and limb. Why are employers like Hershey off the hook? -
Decent Work
How government can get back on the side of promoting good jobs. -
The Good War and the Workers
World War II defense contracts raised labor standards. Government could use the same leverage in peacetime. -
Which Side Is Government On?
Millions of contract workers whose salaries are ultimately paid by government live in poverty. Uncle Sam should demand high standards, not pay as little as possible. -
Good Jobs, Healthy Cities
Eight steps city governments can take to promote good jobs. -
Forgotten Corners of the Economy
As unemployment rises, the illegal treatment of day laborers only worsens. Where's the government? -
Government Paves the Way
A decent work agenda for the Obama administration.
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