Subprime Mortgage Crisis and the Economy

October 28, 2008: Van Jones on ‘The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems’
In a new book, the well-known community activist and attorney Van Jones lays out a plan for a green economy he says could help solve the nation’s economic inequality while also addressing the long term environmental threats to our survival as a planet.

October 17, 2008: Ex-Asst. Treasury Sec. Paul Craig Roberts on Wall St. Bailout: ‘Has Deregulation Sired Fascism?’
As the Bush administration announces a $250 billion plan to partially nationalize the nation’s banking system, we speak to Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department in the Reagan administration and a former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. Roberts says the latest bank measure suggests the bailout is ‘either incompetence or fraud.’

October 10, 2008: Stocks Plummet Across the Globe, Bush to Host Emergency Finance Meeting At White House
In the largest loss since the crash of 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over seven percent on Thursday closing below 9,000 for the first time in five years. Over the past six trading days, the Dow has plummeted over 2200 points or about 21 percent. Earlier today global stock values fell in trading as fears grow of a world-wide recession.

October 08, 2008: European, Asian Markets Plunge as Recession Fears Spread Worldwide
As stock indexes plunge across Europe and Asia, Britain unveiled plans today to inject up to 50 billion pounds—close to $90 billion—into its biggest retail banks. Recent efforts to bolster world credit markets have failed to stem fears that the spreading financial crisis could lead to a global recession. We go to Rome to speak to economist Loretta Napoleoni, author of Rogue Economics: Capitalism’s New Reality.

October 08, 2008: Faltering Economy Takes Center Stage in McCain-Obama Debate
It was no surprise that the economy dominated last night’s presidential debate. We play excerpts and get reaction from Pulitzer-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill).

October 06, 2008: Naomi Klein: Wall St. Crisis Should Be for Neo-Liberalism What Fall of Berlin Wall Was for Communism
As the world reels from the financial crisis on Wall Street and the taxpayer-funded $700 billion bailout, we spend the hour with Naomi Klein on the economy, politics and “disaster capitalism.” The “Shock Doctrine” author recently spoke at the University of Chicago to oppose the creation of an economic research center named after the University’s most famous economist–Milton Friedman. Klein says Friedman’s economic philosophy championed the kind of deregulation that led to the current crisis.

October 03, 2008: Wary of Public Outcry, Revised $800B Wall St. Bailout Stuffed with Earmarks to Sway Election-Year Incumbents
On Capitol Hill, the House is preparing to vote again on the revised $800 billion Wall Street bailout plan after rejecting a similar bill on Monday. All 432 seats in the House are up for election next month, and many “no” votes on Monday reflected lawmakers’ fears of a voter backlash for the unpopular bill. An array of “pork barrel” projects have been inserted into the legislation to win support from nervous incumbents.

October 02, 2008: Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz: Bail Out Wall Street Now, Change Terms Later
The Senate has endorsed a revised version of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan. The legislation was easily approved last night on a 74-to-25 vote with a majority of Democrats and Republicans voting in favor—among them, presidential nominees Barack Obama and John McCain. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says the measure, although flawed, should be supported now and revisited after the November elections.

October 01, 2008: As Senate Prepares to Vote on Revised Wall St. Bailout, Critics See Only Slight Changes Following Widespread Public Opposition
Following Monday’s rejection in the House, the Senate plans to vote today on the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. Lawmakers are said to have revised the bill following public outcry, but critics say the measure includes only slight, cosmetic changes. We get an update from Washington insider and former Senate Banking Committee chief economist Robert Johnson and speak to veteran journalist William Greider of The Nation magazine.

September 30, 2008: ‘Bridge Loan to Nowhere’: Public Outcry Forces House to Reject $700 Billion Bailout of Financial Industry; Dow Falls Record 777 Points
On Monday, the House voted 228-to-205 against authorizing the largest government intervention in the financial market in US history. The measure would have granted the Treasury unprecedented authority and up to $700 billion to relieve faltering banks and other firms of bad assets backed by home mortgages, which are falling into foreclosure at record rates. As the economic crisis worsens and spreads across the globe, we speak with Robert Johnson, former chief economist of the Senate Banking Committee, and Bruce Marks, the founder and CEO of NACA, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America.

September 29, 2008: ‘Is This the United States Congress or the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs?’ Rep. Dennis Kucinich Rejects $700 Billion Bailout
The House is set to vote today on a $700 billion emergency bailout plan for the financial industry. The proposed legislation was forged during a marathon negotiating session over the weekend between lawmakers from both parties and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The 110-page bill would authorize Paulson to initiate what is likely to become the biggest government bailout in US history, allowing him to spend up to $700 billion to relieve faltering banks and other firms of bad assets backed by home mortgages, which are falling into foreclosure at record rates.

September 29, 2008: FDR in 1933: ‘There Must Be A Strict Supervision Of All Banking and Credits and Investments. There Must Be An End To Speculation With Other People’s Money.’
We now move three-quarters of a century back in time, to 1933. It was the middle of an era that our current moment is sometimes compared to. The Great Depression. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took his oath of office in March of that year, over 10,000 banks had collapsed following the stock market crash of 1929. One quarter of American workers were unemployed and people were fighting over scraps of food.

September 26, 2008: Bailout Talks Stall, WaMu Collapses in Deepening Financial Crisis
The nation’s financial crisis has intensified as federal regulators seized Washington Mutual on Thursday in what is the largest bank failure in American history. Federal regulators have arranged to sell off most of the bank at a bargain rate to JPMorgan Chase. We get analysis from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and economics professor Michael Zweig.

September 26, 2008: Demonstrators Rally on Wall St. Against Federal Bailout
As President Bush was holding an emergency economic summit at the White House, protesters took to the streets across the country to oppose a Wall Street bailout. In New York, a series of demonstrations occurred near the Stock Exchange.

September 25, 2008: As Bush Admin Pushes $700B for Wall Street, Ralph Nader Asks, ‘Why Is There Need for a Bailout?’
As the Bush administration intensifies its pressure for Congress to quickly approve a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, we get reaction from Independent presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader. Nader calls Democratic claims of White House concessions “wish fulfillment” and says the bailout might not be needed in the first place.

September 25, 2008: ‘Cash for Trash’: Unwanted ‘Junk’ in Hand, Demonstrators Head to Wall Street to Protest Bailout
Among the more than 100 protests against the $700 bailout plan is a rally today on Wall Street. We speak to Arun Gupta, a reporter/editor at The Indypendent newspaper, whose email to friends and colleagues helped inspire the protest. Participants are planning on bringing their own personal, unwanted “junk” to illustrate what they call the federal bailout of Wall Street’s worthless securities.

September 24, 2008: Bush Admin Faces Congressional Skeptics on $700B Wall St. Bailout
Both Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee lambasted the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion bailout plan Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeatedly clashed with almost every senator on the committee, all of whom focused on Wall Street’s culpability for the crisis. Many also brought up executive pay and emphasized the need for oversight of the Treasury.

September 24, 2008: Naomi Klein: ‘Now is the Time to Resist Wall Street’s Shock Doctrine’
While the collapse of this country’s financial system continues to send shock waves around the world, we speak to the bestselling author of “The Shock Doctrine.” Naomi Klein says the public should be wary of the Bush administration trying to use the crisis to push through more of the radical pro-corporate policies that helped cause it in the first place.

September 24, 2008: Bush Admin Faces Congressional Skeptics on $700B Wall St. Bailout
Both Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee lambasted the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion bailout plan Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeatedly clashed with almost every senator on the committee, all of whom focused on Wall Street’s culpability for the crisis. Many also brought up executive pay and emphasized the need for oversight of the Treasury.

September 22, 2008: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Robert Scheer and Dean Baker on the Proposed $700 Billion Bailout of Wall Street, the Largest Government Bailout of Private Industry in US History
It’s being described as the largest government intervention in private markets since the Great Depression. The Bush administration has asked Congress to swiftly approve a massive $700 billion package to rescue the crippled financial institutions on Wall Street. Some analysts say the final cost to taxpayers could top one trillion dollars. Over the weekend, the size of the proposed bailout grew as the Bush administration said foreign banks, including Barclays and UBS, should be eligible for the bailout.

September 19, 2008: Amidst Wall Street Woes, Labor Activist & Writer Bill Fletcher on ‘Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice’
While the press has extensively covered the Wall Street meltdown, little attention has been paid to what this means to the American worker. We speak to longtime labor activist and writer Bill Fletcher, co-author with Fernando Gapasin of the new book Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice. Fletcher is the executive editor of BlackCommentator.com and the former president of TransAfrica Forum.

September 18, 2008: Lost Homes, Lost Votes: Are Republicans Trying to Block Foreclosed Homeowners from Voting in Michigan?
The Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign have filed a federal lawsuit to block a controversial voter suppression tactic in Michigan. The Michigan Messenger reported this week that the chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of a Republican effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

September 17, 2008: US Seizes Control of AIG with $85 Billion Bailout
The US government has seized control of insurance giant American International Group in an unprecedented $85 billion bailout. The Federal Reserve made the deal on Tuesday to save AIG from collapse in what the New York Times describes as “the most radical intervention in private business in the central bank’s history.” The move comes as a series of financial crises has altered the landscape of Wall Street. We speak with investment banker turned journalist, Nomi Prins, and Michael Hudson, president of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends.

September 09, 2008: US Bails Out Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac
The US government has seized control of the mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in what could become the largest corporate bailout ever. The Treasury Department has pledged to provide as much as $200 billion as the two quasi-public companies deal with heavy losses on mortgage defaults. We speak with economist and writer, Max Fraad Wolff.

July 29, 2008: The Big Squeeze: Steven Greenhouse on Tough Times for the American Worker
A new book by New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse examines how much of the American workforce is working more but earning less. Wages have stagnated, health and pension benefits have grown stingier, and job security has shriveled. Greenhouse joins us to talk about The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker.

July 17, 2008: Bailout for Mortgage Giants, IndyMac Bank Collapse, Dollar Hits New Low, Inflation at 26-Year High, Dow Falls Below 11K…A Look at the Financial Crisis
It has been a tough seven days for the US economy. On Friday, the FDIC seized control of the failed California-based IndyMac Bank. It was second largest bank failure in US history. Analysts project another 150 banks could collapse. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced extraordinary moves to bail out the mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped below 11,000 for the first time since 2006 and the dollar hit a record low against the euro. And Wednesday, it was announced that inflation is now rising at its fastest pace in twenty-six years. We take an in-depth look an the economic crisis.

July 15, 2008: With Crises in Fuel, Food, Housing and Banking, What Gvt. Policies Are Being Pushed Through? Naomi Klein Reexamines ‘The Shock Doctrine’
As the country and the world reel from crises ranging from skyrocketing oil prices and global food shortages to housing and climate change, how best to understand the government policies being pushed through? We spend the hour with Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Klein also discusses Barack Obama’s economic advisory team, whom she calls “Obama’s Chicago Boys”; why she’s suing the US government for spying on journalists like her; as well as her recent trip to China, where she says the government is building a high-tech police state with the help of US military contractors.

July 09, 2008: Foreclosure Phil: Journalist David Corn on How McCain Campaign Adviser Phil Gramm Helped Create the Subprime Mortgage Crisis
In the latest issue of Mother Jones magazine, David Corn writes, “Who’s to blame for the biggest financial catastrophe of our time? There are plenty of culprits, but one candidate for lead perp is former Sen. Phil Gramm. Eight years ago, as part of a decades-long anti-regulatory crusade, Gramm pulled a sly legislative maneuver that greased the way to the multibillion-dollar subprime meltdown. Yet has Gramm been banished from the corridors of power? Reviled as the villain who bankrupted Middle America? Hardly. Now a well-paid executive at a Swiss bank, Gramm cochairs Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign and advises the Republican candidate on economic matters.”

July 09, 2008: Five Ways Wall Street and Washington Set Us Up for the Crash: Author Nomi Prins Explains Where Congress Went Wrong on Lending
The worst of the economic crisis may be far from over. That was the message of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday. He indicated that the housing and financial turmoil will persist deep into next year. The Senate, meanwhile, is deliberating a bill this week that would provide government-backed loans to 400,000 homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. We speak with former investment banker turned journalist and author, Nomi Prins, about “Why the Economy Went South.”

April 10, 2008: Report: 40 Years After King, Little Progress in Closing Economic Inequality Gap Between African Americans and Whites
In the late 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King recognized that the next phase in the quest for civil rights and equality would focus on the economic divide. A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies titled “40 Years Later: The Unrealized American Dream” lays out key elements of the inequality that African Americans still experience in the United States around education, employment and wealth accumulation. We speak with the co-author of the report, Dedrick Muhammad.

March 31, 2008: Loretta Napoleoni on “Rogue Economics: Capitalism’s New Reality”
Italian economist, journalist and author Loretta Napoleoni argues that recent events on Wall Street indicate a much larger upheaval and could “signal the end of the ‘Roaring Nineties,’ nearly two decades of easy money, cheap credit, and soaring global debt.” It’s an argument Napoleoni develops in her latest book called Rogue Economics: Capitalism’s New Reality.

March 26, 2008: Homeowners Plan Demonstration at NYC Offices of Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Chase to Protest Government Bailout
Hundreds of homeowners are planning a demonstration today in Manhattan in front of the corporate offices of Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase to protest the “taxpayer bailout…and refusal of the government and Federal Reserve to provide real solutions for the millions of homeowners at risk of foreclosure.” We speak with Bruce Marks, the founder of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America that is organizing the demonstration.

March 20, 2008: Fed Bailout of Bear Stearns First of its Kind Since Great Depression
The nation’s fifth largest investment bank Bear Stearns nearly collapsed last week. It was saved only after the Federal Reserve took extraordinary measures to help JPMorgan purchase the eighty-five-year-old firm. The Fed has become the lender of last resort for other investment banks in a move that marks one of the broadest expansions of the Fed’s lending authority since the 1930s. We speak with Nomi Prins, an author and former investment banker at Bear Stearns, and Max Fraad Wolff, an economist and writer.

February 08, 2008: Examining Clinton & Obama’s Stances on the Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Universal Healthcare, Privatizing Social Security and Nuclear Energy
With Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a dead heat, we look at their stances on some of the most pressing domestic issues with Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect, Max Fraser of The Nation and Paul Gunter of Beyond Nuclear.

January 29, 2008: Kathleen Newman & Barbara Ehrenreich: Bush Has Ignored the Working Poor and Failed to Address Growing Economic Inequality
During last night’s State of the Union, President Bush pushed for Congress to approve a $150 billion economic stimulus. Newman and Ehrenreich examine how Bush’s plan fails to help most homeowners facing foreclosures and fails to expand benefits for the poor such as unemployment insurance or food stamp allotment.

January 23, 2008: Economics Journalist Robert Kuttner on the ‘Most Serious Financial Crisis Since the Great Depression’: ‘This is the Result of Right-Wing Ideology and the Political Power of Wall Street’
Amid growing fears of a worldwide recession, the Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday, the biggest single cut in nearly a quarter of a century. Meanwhile, President Bush and Congressional leaders pledged to work together on a stimulus measure that would inject about $150 billion dollars in additional money into the economy. But many economists are skeptical over whether any measures can turn around a severe slump in the housing market and the subprime mortgage crisis, signs of growing unemployment and weakening consumer spending and the added blow of record high oil prices.

January 18, 2008: ‘Free Lunch: How The Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves At Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill)’
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Cay Johnston joins us to talk about his new book, “Free Lunch: How The Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves At Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill).” Johnston reveals how government subsidies and new regulations have quietly funneled money from the poor and the middle class to the rich and politically connected.

January 17, 2008: Report: Subprime Mortgage Crisis Causing African-Americans to Experience Greatest Loss of Wealth in Modern U.S. History
A startling new report has predicted the subprime mortgage crisis will cause people of color to lose up to two hundred thirteen billion dollars leading to the greatest loss of wealth in modern U.S. history. The figure appears in a new report from United For a Fair Economy called “Foreclosed: The State of the Dream 2008.” The group accuses mortgage lenders of deliberately targeting the poor and people of color with high-cost loans.

January 02, 2008: Community Activists in Des Moines Speak Out on Thursday’s Iowa Caucus
Hugh Espey and Robin Ghormley of the Citizens for Community Improvement and Deepak Bhargava, executive director of Center for Community Change, discuss Thursday’s caucus.

December 10, 2007: ‘Bush Offers an Umbrella When We Need a Tent’–Jesse Jackson Says President’s Plan to Prevent Foreclosures Doesn’t Go Far Enough
President Bush announced a plan last week to freeze interest rates for some homeowners facing foreclosure. But critics say the plan’s strict guidelines will leave out the most vulnerable. We speak with the Rev. Jesse Jackson

November 29, 2007: Abu Dhabi Becomes Largest Citigroup Shareholder with $7.5B Investment, Bailout Comes Amidst Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Record-High Oil Prices
The Gulf Arab emirate of Abu Dhabi bought a $7.5 billion stake in Citigroup, America’s largest bank, on Tuesday, making it the bank’s largest shareholder. As the U.S. credit crisis worsens and the price of oil hovers close to $100 a barrel, the injection of capital from oil-rich Gulf states is seen as a bailout of banks in trouble.

November 29, 2007: Minorities Hit Hardest by Subprime Mortgage Crisis
We take a look at how the subprime mortgage crisis is affecting homeowners. The latest statistics show U.S. foreclosure filings nearly doubled in October from the same month last year. African American and Latino homeowners have been particularly hard hit.

April 04, 2007: Subprime Lending Crisis: Millions of Families Face Losing Their Homes to Foreclosure
Subprime loans have led to one million American families losing their homes in the past decade, a new study by the Center for Responsible Lending has found. In the last ten years, the subprime loan industry has emerged as a major, and controversial, player in the housing market.