Author: Joseph Nathan Cohen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 142
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Book Description
More than one-third of Americans could not sustain a basic livelihood without government assistance. Almost 60 percent of seniors are dependent on the government. Why is this? This book examines how the U.S. economy's failure to deliver high-quality, universally accessible basic necessities is creating acute financial insecurity among the American middle class. Over the past 30 years, America's middle class has grown more financially insecure. How much of this pressing problem is due to Americans' failure to restrain their spending versus their upwards spiraling—and increasingly necessary—expenditures on health care, education, and housing? And how can Americans choose between financial security and paying for essentials on a day-to-day basis? This book answers these tough questions and many more in its evaluation of a complex and contentious issue: how basic expenses of life in the 21st century are bankrupting American families. The book begins with a snapshot of U.S. household finances, an assessment of financial insecurity's prevalence across the nation, and a description of how American households have declined into their present precarious economic situation over the last three decades. The author's analysis then looks at how European countries pursue policies that make these essentials highly accessible and postulates that the socialization of these essentials in other countries has helped to solidify household finances and maintain living standards. The work uniquely focuses on the plight of the middle class in America to provide relevant, useful information to help as many readers as possible to better understand and improve their own financial situations.
Author: Joseph Nathan Cohen
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN: 1440832218
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
"Cohen examines the long-term deterioration in U.S. household finances, characterizes the household financial problems as structural problems in the U.S. capitalist system, and identifies the high cost of healthcare and education as a primary strain on and risk to financial security. The closing chapters compare U.S. policies and household finances with those of other developed countries, and address the fact the Americans' deep faith in neoliberalism keeps U.S. society from adapting solutions that have succeeded in other countries."--Provided by publisher.
Author: Joseph Nathan Cohen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
More than one-third of Americans could not sustain a basic livelihood without government assistance. Almost 60 percent of seniors are dependent on the government. Why is this? This book examines how the U.S. economy's failure to deliver high-quality, universally accessible basic necessities is creating acute financial insecurity among the American middle class. Over the past 30 years, America's middle class has grown more financially insecure. How much of this pressing problem is due to Americans' failure to restrain their spending versus their upwards spiraling-and increasingly necessary-expenditures on health care, education, and housing? And how can Americans choose between financial security and paying for essentials on a day-to-day basis? This book answers these tough questions and many more in its evaluation of a complex and contentious issue: how basic expenses of life in the 21st century are bankrupting American families. The book begins with a snapshot of U.S. household finances, an assessment of financial insecurity's prevalence across the nation, and a description of how American households have declined into their present precarious economic situation over the last three decades. The author's analysis then looks at how European countries pursue policies that make these essentials highly accessible and postulates that the socialization of these essentials in other countries has helped to solidify household finances and maintain living standards. The work uniquely focuses on the plight of the middle class in America to provide relevant, useful information to help as many readers as possible to better understand and improve their own financial situations.
Author: Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.
ISBN: 1616405414
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 692
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Book Description
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.
Author: Atif Mian
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022627750X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 238
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Book Description
“A concise and powerful account of how the great recession happened and what should be done to avoid another one . . . well-argued and consistently informative.” —Wall Street Journal The Great American Recession of 2007-2009 resulted in the loss of eight million jobs and the loss of four million homes to foreclosures. Is it a coincidence that the United States witnessed a dramatic rise in household debt in the years before the recession—that the total amount of debt for American households doubled between 2000 and 2007 to $14 trillion? Definitely not. Armed with clear and powerful evidence, Atif Mian and Amir Sufi reveal in House of Debt how the Great Recession and Great Depression, as well as less dramatic periods of economic malaise, were caused by a large run-up in household debt followed by a significantly large drop in household spending. Though the banking crisis captured the public’s attention, Mian and Sufi argue strongly with actual data that current policy is too heavily biased toward protecting banks and creditors. Increasing the flow of credit, they show, is disastrously counterproductive when the fundamental problem is too much debt. As their research shows, excessive household debt leads to foreclosures, causing individuals to spend less and save more. Less spending means less demand for goods, followed by declines in production and huge job losses. How do we end such a cycle? With a direct attack on debt, say Mian and Sufi. We can be rid of painful bubble-and-bust episodes only if the financial system moves away from its reliance on inflexible debt contracts. As an example, they propose new mortgage contracts that are built on the principle of risk-sharing, a concept that would have prevented the housing bubble from emerging in the first place. Thoroughly grounded in compelling economic evidence, House of Debt offers convincing answers to some of the most important questions facing today’s economy: Why do severe recessions happen? Could we have prevented the Great Recession and its consequences? And what actions are needed to prevent such crises going forward?
Author: Peter J. Wallison
Publisher: Encounter Books
ISBN: 159403866X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 432
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Book Description
The 2008 financial crisis—like the Great Depression—was a world-historical event. What caused it will be debated for years, if not generations. The conventional narrative is that the financial crisis was caused by Wall Street greed and insufficient regulation of the financial system. That narrative produced the Dodd-Frank Act, the most comprehensive financial-system regulation since the New Deal. There is evidence, however, that the Dodd-Frank Act has slowed the recovery from the recession. If insufficient regulation caused the financial crisis, then the Dodd-Frank Act will never be modified or repealed; proponents will argue that doing so will cause another crisis. A competing narrative about what caused the financial crisis has received little attention. This view, which is accepted by almost all Republicans in Congress and most conservatives, contends that the crisis was caused by government housing policies. This book extensively documents this view. For example, it shows that in June 2008, before the crisis, 58 percent of all US mortgages were subprime or other low-quality mortgages. Of these, 76 percent were on the books of government agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When these mortgages defaulted in 2007 and 2008, they drove down housing prices and weakened banks and other mortgage holders, causing the crisis. After this book is published, no one will be able to claim that the financial crisis was caused by insufficient regulation, or defend Dodd-Frank, without coming to terms with the data this book contains.
Author: David B. Grusky
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610447506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
Officially over in 2009, the Great Recession is now generally acknowledged to be the most devastating global economic crisis since the Great Depression. As a result of the crisis, the United States lost more than 7.5 million jobs, and the unemployment rate doubled—peaking at more than 10 percent. The collapse of the housing market and subsequent equity market fluctuations delivered a one-two punch that destroyed trillions of dollars in personal wealth and made many Americans far less financially secure. Still reeling from these early shocks, the U.S. economy will undoubtedly take years to recover. Less clear, however, are the social effects of such economic hardship on a U.S. population accustomed to long periods of prosperity. How are Americans responding to these hard times? The Great Recession is the first authoritative assessment of how the aftershocks of the recession are affecting individuals and families, jobs, earnings and poverty, political and social attitudes, lifestyle and consumption practices, and charitable giving. Focused on individual-level effects rather than institutional causes, The Great Recession turns to leading experts to examine whether the economic aftermath caused by the recession is transforming how Americans live their lives, what they believe in, and the institutions they rely on. Contributors Michael Hout, Asaf Levanon, and Erin Cumberworth show how job loss during the recession—the worst since the 1980s—hit less-educated workers, men, immigrants, and factory and construction workers the hardest. Millions of lost industrial jobs are likely never to be recovered and where new jobs are appearing, they tend to be either high-skill positions or low-wage employment—offering few opportunities for the middle-class. Edward Wolff, Lindsay Owens, and Esra Burak examine the effects of the recession on housing and wealth for the very poor and the very rich. They find that while the richest Americans experienced the greatest absolute wealth loss, their resources enabled them to weather the crisis better than the young families, African Americans, and the middle class, who experienced the most disproportionate loss—including mortgage delinquencies, home foreclosures, and personal bankruptcies. Lane Kenworthy and Lindsay Owens ask whether this recession is producing enduring shifts in public opinion akin to those that followed the Great Depression. Surprisingly, they find no evidence of recession-induced attitude changes toward corporations, the government, perceptions of social justice, or policies aimed at aiding the poor. Similarly, Philip Morgan, Erin Cumberworth, and Christopher Wimer find no major recession effects on marriage, divorce, or cohabitation rates. They do find a decline in fertility rates, as well as increasing numbers of adult children returning home to the family nest—evidence that suggests deep pessimism about recovery. This protracted slump—marked by steep unemployment, profound destruction of wealth, and sluggish consumer activity—will likely continue for years to come, and more pronounced effects may surface down the road. The contributors note that, to date, this crisis has not yet generated broad shifts in lifestyle and attitudes. But by clarifying how the recession’s early impacts have—and have not—influenced our current economic and social landscape, The Great Recession establishes an important benchmark against which to measure future change.
Author: Stephen J. Rose
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781429937122
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
Rebound takes the currently unthinkable view that the economy will bounce back faster and stronger from the downturn than most economists expect. Noted Labor economist Stephen J. Rose amasses data on the economic performance of America over the last 30 years to debunk myths about declining middle class incomes, burger-flipping jobs and global competition. He also describes the evolution of the financial crisis and mortgage lending implosion under the rubric of "brilliant idiocy" to show how the investors, financial firms, and regulators all made devastating mistakes in pursuit of quick gains. The book argues forcefully that simple financial regulation and forthcoming investments in education, health care and energy will pay quick and healthy dividends. Using economic analysis rather than partisan argument, Rebound cuts through the clutter of political debate to show how the economy will return to high growth rates.
Author: Jeffrey R. Brown
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022620183X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 343
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Book Description
The recent financial crisis had a profound effect on both public and private universities. Universities responded to these stresses in different ways. This volume presents new evidence on the nature of these responses and how the incentives and constraints facing different institutions affected their behavior.
Author: Michael S. Barr
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815722338
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
The financial crisis exposed unsavory results of interactions between low- and moderate-income households and alternative and mainstream financial institutions: overleveraged incomes, high cost for financial services, and lack of access to useful financial products that can cushion against economic instability. It revealed a financial services system that is not well designed to serve these households, leaving them without financial slack. Pivotal analysis, focusing on metropolitan Detroit's low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, examines household decision making processes, behaviors, and attitudes toward a full range of financial transactions during the subprime lending boom. The author advocates helping families seek financial stability in three primary ways: enhancing individuals' financial capability, using technology to promote access to financial products and services that meet their needs, and establishing strong protections for consumers.
