This is the first article in the “Financial Pipeline Series,” which will examine the underlying validity of the assertion that regulation of the financial markets reduces their efficiency. These articles point out that the value of the financial markets to the real economy is often mis-measured. The efficiency of the market in intermediating flows between capital investors and capital users (like manufacturing and service businesses, individuals and governments) is the proper measure.
Our nation is on the brink of a retirement crisis that could have severe consequences for both future retirees and society as a whole. The steady erosion in the voluntary employer-sponsored retirement system has made it more difficult for workers to save for retirement. This crisis will not only impact retirees, but the next generation of workers, who will be left with the tab when federal, state, and local governments are forced to expand to help millions of additional elderly Americans who will be living in poverty.1
New Mexico’s current political leadership is undoing state and regional policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions even as the risks posed by global warming to the state’s economy and population become more evident.[1] Experts foresee even more difficult problems in the future unless steps are taken to stabilize the climate. Some of the challenges New Mexico faces include:
The extent of the money in politics problem, how we got here (from a legal perspective), and what we can do to create a democracy in which the strength of a citizen’s voice does not depend on the size of her wallet.
Demos is a national, non-profit, non-partisan public policy, research and advocacy organization committed to building an America where democracy is robust and inclusive, with high levels of electoral participation and civic engagement. To that end, the Demos works to reduce barriers to voter participation and engagement, with a particular focus on participation by traditionally disfranchised communities.
A corporation is a legal structure that enables individuals to contribute and pool resources, capital, and labor in order to generate a profit. Corporations are created by state law in the state in which they are incorporated.
The corporate legal structure receives a number of advantages and obligations from the state. These laws enable the corporation to overcome the limitations of any one individual—like a human lifespan or limited productive capacity—and to accumulate and distribute profits among the various stakeholders.
Every year, millions of eligible voters fall through the cracks of our antiquated voter registration system because they have moved sometime in the last year.
We, the undersigned consumer, small business, labor, good government, financial protection, community, health, environmental, and public interest groups - strongly urge you to oppose S. 3468, the Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act of 2012. This legislation is likely to be marked up in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee; no hearing has been held on this broad reaching legislation which will empower the Executive Branch at the expense of the Legislative Branch. While S.
Demos conducted a nationwide survey of low- and middle-income households in early 2012. The findings in this brief summarize the relationship between college costs and credit card debt, and its impact on students and their parents.
Thank you for this opportunity to submit testimony regarding the damage that Citizens United and the rise of Super PACs has done to our system of democratic government. In the text below I will discuss why rules that govern the role of money in politics are important to our democracy; the impact of Citizens United and related decisions on our electoral system; and what Congress can and must do to promote the core American value of political equality.
Recommendations for the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting as it seeks to assess lessons learned after the 2010 Census and to set goals for the next Census redistricting process.
According to all available data, the voter participation rate of the first Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, is among the lowest of any ethnic group in the country. There are complex historical and cultural reasons that make the issue of voting among American Indians and Alaska Natives unique.
One of the most often-cited reasons for the STEM achievement gap is a lack of skilled and trained STEM teachers. The greatest percentage of under-qualified teachers at the K-12 level is found in STEM disciplines – 40 percent of high school math teachers and 20 percent of science teachers in high needs areas lack a higher education degree in the subject they instruct.
In February and March 2012, Demos surveyed a nationally representative sample of 997 low- and middle-income American households who carried credit card debt for three months or more.