News and perspective on public policy issues affecting Washington's economy and quality of life, brought to you by the Economic Opportunity Institute.
In the wake of the 2008-09 Wall Street crash that led to the Great Recession, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. That law was supposed to prevent “Too Big To Fail” from happening again and provide myriad consumer protections, but lobbying by big banks has prevented many of the rules from being written, even […]
American Winter is a powerful and timely documentary that follows the stories of eight middle-class families struggling to survive in the aftermath of the Great Recession. It reveals the impact of rising economic inequality, cuts to social services, and the fracturing of the American Dream. World premiere on 2/17 and 2/17 at the Portland International […]
Noted economist Bob Kuttner says once you clear away all the smoke and mirrors, we’re facing a simple choice about our economy: We are shifting irrevocably to a service economy. But there are political choices to be made (or evaded). One path leads to an economy of minimum-wage fast food workers and security guards, many […]
Now that the elections are over, our national policymakers have turned their attention to the so-called “fiscal cliff.” Of course, it’s really more of a crest than a cliff, and the problem was created by Congress in the first place. Here are four easy steps that Congress and President Obama should take that will restore […]
