AltWeeklies Wire
After the Crash, There's Little Recourse for Those Wronged by WaMunew
The problem for plaintiffs in suits against WaMu is who to go after now. Rob Williamson, an attorney who filed a class-action suit against WaMu over what he claims were hidden and excessive fees, puts it this way: "The defendant no longer exists."
Seattle Weekly |
Nina Shapiro |
12-02-2008 |
Economy
Are We Really Ready for Life Without American Cars?new
Here's the thing about the American public: we never learn. We squeezed into the backseats of our moms' Pintos in the 1970s, then grew up to fill vast suburban parking lots with Expeditions and Yukons and Escalades. Then we freak out when gas hits $4 a gallon and blame U.S. automakers.
More Than 9,000 Minnesotans are Homeless. I Decided to Join Them for a Weeknew
I don't claim to have experienced homelessness at its most hopeless, its most real, nor do I intend to trivialize the travails that go along with it. Nevertheless, it's hoped that this diary will provide a window into day-to-day affairs, maybe even practical advice for those who may soon find themselves battling the real thing.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Matt Snyders |
12-01-2008 |
Housing & Development
Chips of Wrath: Unemployment Rising Before the Crisisnew
In the face of near uniform economic analysis from the nation's mainstream media, we set out to find a big picture economist willing to buck conventional wisdom: the economic downturn is a mere blip on the capitalist EKG monitor.
Boise Weekly |
Nathaniel Hoffman |
11-27-2008 |
Economy
The Economic Mess Obama's Inheriting Comes from Clinton, Not Bushnew
If truth be known, Bush inherited, as Obama will soon, deregulated financial, agricultural, trade and social policies. Put in place by Bill Clinton and Al Gore, these were the achievement of the 1990s -- a period that needs to be understood not, as greens once hoped, as the "turnaround decade," but as the "regression decade."
NOW Magazine |
Wayne Roberts |
11-24-2008 |
Economy
The G20 Could Repay Bailout by Doing Wonders for the Environmentnew
There are several pieces missing from the current G20 consensus. Above all is the necessity of linking any solution to the current economic emergency to the even larger global environmental crisis.
NOW Magazine |
Alice Klein |
11-24-2008 |
Economy
Jubilee! It's Bankruptcynew
One man's journey through our byzantine and punitive bankruptcy system. A fate worse than debt?
North Bay Bohemian |
P. Joseph Potocki |
11-21-2008 |
Economy
Vermont's Second-Home Market Hits the Skidsnew
In an economic downturn, the vacation-home market is more adversely affected than the primary-housing market, for the obvious reason that vacation homes are luxury items. And, since Vermont has one of the highest state rates of vacation homes in the nation, the state has been taking it on the chin.
Seven Days |
Ken Picard |
11-21-2008 |
Housing & Development
Why Reward GM? Here's Why ...new
Lee Iacocca isn't running GM, Ford or Chrysler, and the most inept administration in history has made conditions far more daunting, but the stakes are far greater. We should take a deep breath and help the bums.
Arkansas Times |
Ernest Dumas |
11-20-2008 |
Economy
Why the Feds Must Bail Out General Motorsnew
Massive restructuring is needed, but the patient first has to be stabilized, by any means necessary. Otherwise, we will be looking at something very like the Great Depression.
Metro Times |
Jack Lessenberry |
11-20-2008 |
Economy
Should We Rescue Detroit's Sinking Ship?new
Any bailout for the Big Three must be seriously questioned and come with conditions, because we can't let these companies hold us hostage anymore.
City Pulse |
Lawrence Cosentno, Neal McNamara and Angela Vasquez-Giroux |
11-20-2008 |
Economy
Will Obama Give Us the Right Kind of Stimulus?new
Let's hope that the outgoing Bush administration, the incoming Obama administration, the permanent mandarins of the think tanks, and the Congressional majorities all come together so that we get an adequate stimulus package -- so that we shall still have the choice to purchase a GM, Ford, or Chrysler product in the coming years, preferably the plug-in hybrid that Obama wants them to make.
Seattle's Foreclosure Vulturesnew
A crashing housing market is just another profit opportunity for some scavengers.
Seattle Weekly |
Nina Shapiro |
11-17-2008 |
Economy
Obama's Green Jobs Program Could Leave Canadian Entrepreneurs Out of the Loopnew
If Barack Obama actually does use the financial crisis to sink cash into eco industries, Canada will have squandered a golden opportunity to share the gains.
NOW Magazine |
Andrew Cash |
11-17-2008 |
Economy
From Bank Crisis to Food Crisisnew
According to former agricultural banker Ben Gisin, whose magazine Touch the Soil is chronicling the local foods movement across the nation, the housing-cum-banking crisis foreshadows and ever deeper, looming global catastrophe: massive food shortages.
Boise Weekly |
Tim Andreae |
11-14-2008 |
Economy
