June 30, 2013
Half-forgotten or Totally Forgotten – Poverty in America?
Successful progressive politics require widespread popular support for progressive programs, and there is no way in which that support can be created without those programs being fully and regularly explained. But on so many important issues, that is simply not happening right now. True, the scale of unemployment[1] is periodically decried by politicians […] read more »
June 14, 2013
European Lessons for an America in Debt
With the Senate currently preoccupied with immigration and the House of Representatives with abortion, you might be forgiven for thinking that there is nothing seriously awry in the American economy right now – nothing so awry at least that it requires determined and detailed political action. But you would be mistaken. There are lots of […] read more »
May 25, 2013
The Half-forgotten Debt Crisis
The attention span in Washington DC these days is remarkably short, and multi-tasking is something at which Congress seems particularly inept. So right now the focus there is overwhelming on just one thing, scandals – some genuine, some imagined, all minor – while the real business of the American people goes largely unexamined. The […] read more »
May 6, 2013
America’s Half-forgotten Housing Crisis
On the housing front, the good news is that the President wants Mel Watt to head the FHFA. The bad news is that, precisely because the President wants him, there is no certainty that Mel Watt will be confirmed. read more »
May 2, 2013
Gridlock in Washington: Conservative Heaven!
Commentary on recent developments in American politics, written for a British audience read more »
April 19, 2013
The Forgotten Jobs Crisis
Perhaps it is the sheer size of this country that makes important problems invisible – with each problem so localized and personal as not to count in public discourse. Or perhaps it is the sheer size of the problems themselves that enables them to hide in the open –with each so large and so ubiquitous […] read more »