America’s high bankruptcy rates suggest the recent economic boom is less than it appears. Changing bankruptcy law, which is what Republicans in Congress are threatening to do, won’t help.
Amy Burke
Amy Burke is a Brandeis University Ph.D. student and former American Prospect assistant editor.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Shoot the Messenger
T he Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) is probably one of the least known victims of federal downsizing, but the effect of its elimination at the end of September 1996 was significant. Without the ACIR, local, state, and federal officials have less contact with each other, and there is a shortage of data about […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Party Decline
A lthough the Republic’s Founders dreaded the divisiveness of “faction,” political parties have proved essential to the promise of American democracy. Parties bridge the structural bias against government activism in the constitutional separation of powers and allow ordinary citizens who lack economic influence to aggregate political power. Hence, a strong party system is more crucial […]