July 10, 2012
The Unfinished Business of the Obama Administration: The Foreclosure Crisis
Administrations are invariably criticized for things they do right, for things they do wrong, and for things they fail to do at all. They are invariably criticized for doing too much and criticized for doing too little. Conservative critics of the current Administration tend to do the former. Liberal, by contrast, would do well […] read more »
June 12, 2012
The Unfinished Business of the Obama Administration: Bank Reform
As the big five American banks await the downgrading of their credit ratings by Moody’s Investors Service – a downgrading that is apparently due any day now[1] – it is worth asking: after more than three years of the Obama Administration, where exactly are we on the substance of bank reform? Has it happened? […] read more »
September 14, 2011
Doing Two Things at Once: Jobs and Housing as Routes Out of Recession?
Maybe it’s because of what I see every morning from my kitchen window– the view over coffee of my former neighbor’s foreclosed and rapidly deteriorating home – that the Obama Administration’s housing policy so depresses me. Or maybe what depresses me is the housing policy itself. read more »
August 11, 2011
Eight Things to Tell a Republican
With Congress in recess and our lawmakers now back in their districts, there is presumably a slight chance of meeting one of them in the street. If, like me, your representative in the House is not of your political persuasion – mine, Virginia Foxx, most definitely is not – read more »
July 14, 2011
The Dangers of Obama’s Centrism
Wednesday’s London Guardian newspaper carried a full report under the banner heading “Barack Obama battles left and right for debt ceiling agreement,” documenting the manner in which he was playing the role of “mediator in direct talks to prevent government bills going unpaid, interest rates soaring and US stocks plummeting.”[1] read more »
June 15, 2011
Not Working in America: People and Public Policy
The job figures for May were truly ghastly. In a month in which the economy needed to add 150,000 jobs simply to keep pace with the growth in the labor force, the private sector created 83,000 jobs and the public sector actually lost 29,000. Nearly 14 million Americans remain involuntarily unemployed. read more »
May 12, 2011
Laying-Off Teachers To Demonstrate How Much They Are Appreciated
When the President came to Winston-Salem in North Carolina last December, and first laid out his “sputnik moment” analysis of our contemporary situation, the whole emphasis of his address that day was on the need to strengthen our educational base in order to compete effectively in the global economy of the twenty-first century. read more »
February 4, 2011
The Financial Meltdown and the Obama Response
(Chapter outline) THE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN DOCUMENTING THE OBAMA RESPONSE Moving to alleviate the housing crisis Recapitalizing and regulating financial institutions Stimulating the economy, searching for jobs Working with America’s global partners to reactivate global economic growth EVALUATING THE OBAMA PERFORMANCE Disappointing Results Housing Banking Employment and the Recession Conservative Condemnation Housing Banking Employment and the […] read more »