Hoodwinked: Former Economic Hit Man John Perkins Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded—and How to Remake Them

DemocracyNow!
November 10, 2009

John Perkins calls himself a former economic hit man. He has seen the signs of today’s financial meltdown before. The subprime mortgage fiasco, the collapse of the banking industry, the rising unemployment rate—these are all familiar to him. Perkins was on the front lines of monitoring and helping create these very events that were once just confined to the Third World. From 1971 to 1981, he worked for the international consulting firm of Chas T. Main, where he was a self-described “economic hit man.” He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Confessions of An Economic Hit Man and The Secret History of the American Empire...

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Beyond No-Fault Finance

Matthew Yglesias
The American Prospect
November 3, 2009

Restoring stability and fairness requires thinking about the whole economy, not just Wall Street.

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Charity Navigator's Holiday Giving Guide

Tips for Giving This Holiday Season

Charity Navigator offers the following guidelines to ensure your holiday contributions are well-spent.
Seek out charities with capable leaders that are reasonably paid
Look for financially strong charities
Investigate the charity’s outcomes
Check for evidence of questionable ethical practices
Consider gifts to human services charities
Trust your charity

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The Goodness of Crowds

Charles Best | September/October 2009 issue
Ode Magazine

When large numbers of people give a little, they accomplish a lot.

It may seem strange to compare honeybees and humans, but it shows what's possible when members of a large group work together for the common good. The recession is squeezing givers of all types, from major philanthropic groups to corporate foundations. It's time to draw on the goodwill and creativity of a wider group of people to innovate microsolutions for social, economic and humanitarian challenges. Our database proves that thousands are ready to lend their acumen to the fight—and hints at a crowdsource force millions strong. Let's get a head start now...

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Report: US-Initiated WTO Rules Could Undermine Regulatory Overhaul of Global Finance

DemocracyNow!
September 25, 2009

As the G-20 meets in Pittsburgh, a new report from Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch warns that the World Trade Organization has long advanced extreme financial deregulation under the guise of trade agreements and could undermine the current push for increasing regulation. We speak to Lori Wallach, the director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division...

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After 20 Years of Filmmaking on US Injustices, Michael Moore Goes to the Source in “Capitalism: A Love Story”

DemocracyNow!
September 24, 2009

Beginning with the 1989 classic Roger & Me, the Academy Award-winning director Michael Moore says his films “come back to a central core concern: the economic system we have is unfair, unjust and undemocratic.” With his new film, Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore tackles the financial system and the interchanging circles of Washington politicians and corporate managers that run it. Moore says, “I thought I’d cut to the chase and propose we deal with this economic system and restructure it in a way that benefits people and not the wealthiest one percent.”...

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Fossil fuel subsidies dwarf clean energy subsidies; Obama wants to eliminate them

by David Roberts
GRIST Magazine
September 23, 2009

One often hears opponents of clean energy say that renewable sources are too expensive; they can’t get by without subsidies; they can’t compete in a “free market.” One of the many reasons this is a daffy argument is that there is no such thing as a free market, certainly not in energy. Existing energy sources, fossil fuels, have benefited from a century of subsidies and supporting infrastructure—and are still subsidized lavishly relative to their scrappy little competitors...

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In New York City, Poverty Defined In New Terms

by Pam Fessler
Morning Edition
National Public Radio
September 10, 2009

New York City is one of the first places in the country to take into consideration child and health care costs as well as geographic differences when measuring poverty. Backers of New York's method want the federal formula to reflect these real world costs...

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Global Financial Crisis Hits Mongolia's Grasslands

by Louisa Lim
National Public Radio
September 9, 2009

Mongolians at the mercy of Banks and Mining Companies...

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Exposed: The Carlyle Group

Information Clearing House
September 6, 2009

"I defy you to watch this 48 minute documentary and not be outraged about the depth of corruption and deceit within the highest ranks of our government."

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Low-Wage Workers Get Routinely Cheated, Survey Finds

By Laura Conaway
Planet Money
National Public Radio
September 2, 2009

People getting by on low wages also tend to lose out on overtime they've earned, and they're more likely to get paid less than the minimum wage. Those are the findings in "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers," a new study by the Ford, Joyce, Haynes and Russell Sage Foundations...

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Community Investing

Green America

Here's a brief overview of community investing, how it helps to create healthy and vibrant communities worldwide, and how you can become a community investor...

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Responsible Investing Poised to Become Mainstream

by Robert Kropp
SRI News
August 10, 2009

Citing the reduction of carbon emissions and the growth of clean technologies as primary drivers, a recently published white paper by Robeco Investment Management and Booz & Company estimates that the Responsible Investment (RI) market will "become mainstream within asset management by 2015, reaching between 15%-20% of total global Assets Under Management ($26.5 trillion) and a total revenue of approximately $53 billion."...

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UBS Settlement Puts Spotlight On Tax Evasion

by Greg Allen
Morning EditionNational Public Radio
August 5, 2009

For months, U.S. officials insisted that they were going to trial and would settle for nothing less than full disclosure from UBS.
Scott Michel, a partner with Caplin & Drysdale, a Washington, D.C., firm representing many UBS account holders, says what changed things was the involvement of the Swiss government.
Switzerland places great value on its bank secrecy laws. The Swiss government said publicly that it would seize UBS records rather than allow the company to hand over secret account information to U.S. authorities.
...It's a precedent that may eventually be brought to bear on the Cayman Islands, Singapore, Liechtenstein and many other nations that have been identified as international tax havens.

A Web-Based Tool to Follow the Stimulus Dollars

By Marc Gunther
GreemBiz News
June 24, 2009

There are two places on the Internet where you can find out how the $787-billion stimulus package is being spent. One is run by the federal government. The other by a West Coast tech company. Care to guess which does a better job?

Yes, it's recovery.org, which despite its dot-org suffix, is run by a company called Onvia (Nasdaq: ONVI) based in Seattle, which is tracking thousands of stimulus projects at the state, county and local level, from building a transit center in Washtenaw, Michigan, to decommissioning nuclear facilities in South Carolina.

Then there's recovery.gov, the federal site that "offers little beyond news releases, general breakdowns of spending, and acronym-laden spreadsheets and timelines," as the Washington Post put it. But don't worry, the government is on the case. An office set up to oversee the stimulus (with a budget of $84 million) has about 30 employees, plus outside contractors, working to revamp the site, the newspaper said. "We have four and a half years to turn this thing into its final product," Earl E. Devaney, the former inspector general now in charge of oversight, told The Post. No, I'm not making this up.

To be sure, recovery.org and recovery.gov have different purposes. While the government side is designed for taxpayers, and intended to provide oversight of stimulus outlays, the Onvia-built site is primarily intended for small, mid-sized and big companies that want a shot at government contracts. That's been Onvia's business since it was founded in 1995...

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Markets with a social mission

Janet Paskin | May 2009 issue
Ode Magazine

After the meltdown on Wall Street, a small group of entrepreneurs is trying to make the market better, stronger and focused on the social good...

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The altruism in economics

Jeremy Mercer | May 2009 issue
Ode Magazine

Standard economic theory states that people are interested only in their own material gain. But new insights from behavioral economics show that altruism rather than avarice is our primary motivation...

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Putting A Financial Spin On Global Warming

by Richard Harris
Morning Edition
National Public Radio
June 24, 2009

Climate change is a potential environmental disaster — but it's also potentially an economic opportunity. President Obama spoke of it in economic terms Tuesday when he urged the House of Representatives to pass legislation that would address global warming...

The Ideology of Unfettered Capitalism Is Crumbling -- It's a Huge Opportunity for Alternative Economics

By Les Leopold
AlterNet
June 16, 2009

Unfettered globalization, and trickle down economics are dead. This is the best teaching moment in 65 years...

Crisis: Let's Get Down to the Essentials

truthout
Wednesday 03 June 2009
by: Jacques Attali | Visit article original @ L'Express

...It's not a new recovery plan that we need, but a true realization of cultural and political urgencies. And in particular, we need a radical reconsideration of the division of power between those who create and those who finance: a requirement, I repeat, for our survival.

Do You Buy Fair Trade?

Tree Hugger
May 8, 2009

Poll:

Do You Buy Fair Trade Products?
Yes, whenever I can.
No, they are harder to find and more expensive.
I used to but these days am buying less as I buy cheaper stuff.
I am not interested and/or aware of the issue.
Other (in comments)

Why Living Green Isn't to Blame for Hurting the U.S. Economy

Daily Green
April 9, 2009

It's time to reinvision our shopping habits, and get more out of life by spending less.

Beyond the Bottom Line

Marco Visscher and Janet Paskin | December 2008 issue
Ode Magazine

Although the global financial problems are causing trouble for investors now, they could lead to something better – for investors and the environment.

The Big Takeover

MATT TAIBBI Mar 19, 2009
Rolling Stone

The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover

Obama's cap-and-trade plan; If sticks don't work, try carrots

For an $80 billion program, President Barack Obama's cap-and-trade proposal is very short on specifics. His budget plan [PDF] provides only the briefest policy rationale for cap-and-trade, describing it as "a policy approach that dramatically reduced acid rain at much lower costs than the traditional government regulations and mandates of the past."...

Altering Bailout Rules, US Moves Closer to Nationalizing Troubled Banks

The Obama administration has revamped the terms of its emergency aid to troubled financial firms that could lead to the government nationalizing some of the country’s largest banks. With nationalized banks on the horizon, we speak to Robert Johnson, former chief economist of the Senate Banking Committee, and former investment banker turned journalist, Nomi Prins.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/24/altering_bailout_rules_us_moves_closer

Last Minute Sex-y Ideas for V Day

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 02.11.09
TreeHugger

Even if you are nowhere near Chicago or SF, you can still explore the greener side of sex or dating, or find a gift in preparation for Valentine's Day. Read on for two great web sites, a greener toys kit, and organic, homemade massage oil/lube...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/last-minute-sexy-stuff-for-v-day.php

Marks Is His Name, Avoiding Foreclosure His Aim

by Chris Arnold
Morning Edition, February 6, 2009 NPR

One of the more colorful characters in the ongoing financial crisis is Bruce Marks. He runs a housing nonprofit that helps people avoid foreclosure. And he has some unorthodox tactics. Over the years, Marks has camped out on the front lawns of CEOs, made big scenes at their country clubs and dug into their personal lives to embarrass them. Marks has even been called a "bank terrorist."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100326109