Asset Building Program: Latest Articles

For better or worse, America has a habit of conducting much of our policymaking through the presidential election process. This can be dangerous when meaningful reform efforts get trumped by volatile politics. Sure, we’d like campaign promises to mean something but it’s counter-productive if we let the consideration of good ideas get easily diverted into the gutter.

A case in point was the recent discussion of Hillary Clinton’s Baby Bond proposal, which was quickly hijacked by partisan politics.… more

At a recent campaign stop with the Congressional Black Caucus, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account.”

That was enough to generate a few headlines and some right-wing outrage. The Drudge Report was quick to tweak one of its favorite targets and drive some Internet traffic with a bold banner, “A Bond for Every Bassinet.”

The conservative Washington Times and New York Post blasted the idea within 24… more

Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, has a curious new idea -- or, more precisely, an old one. No longer will it use wads of Chinese cash recycled through Wall Street to make subprime loans to unqualified borrowers. Instead, it will take in deposits from small savers and lend them out to people who might actually repay them -- just like that humble thrift institution president George Bailey did in It’s a Wonderful Life.

Imagine: a bank that promotes thrift!… more

In 1990, newspapers around the country profiled the story of Grace Capetillo, a welfare mom from Milwaukee who, after managing to save $3,000 in the bank, was hauled into court by the county Department of Social Services and charged with fraud. Having breached the limit on allowable assets, Ms. Capetillo was found guilty and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000, spend down another $1,000 of the money she had worked hard to save, and promise not to save again… more

The value of saving is finally making a comeback. After years of over consumption and accelerating debt -- and more than two years with a negative personal savings rate -- Americans are finally beginning to fret over their empty coffers and negative balance sheets. As headlines profile subprime borrowers going into default around the country, the average American’s sense of economic security has jumped from unease to panic. As policymakers scramble to develop new policies to bolster working families, echoes… more