The McCormack Update - September 29, 2008

The Credit Crisis is Serious
Center For American Progress (September 26, 2008)
Professor of public policy Christian Weller writes about the seriousness of the global credit crisis and says that it is plainly evident in the stress now roiling U.S. credit markets, especially short-term commercial paper markets and mortgage markets. Weller also notes how costly it is becoming for businesses to fund their everyday financial needs and the concerns in other consumer credit markets, such as credit cards and home equity lines
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Economic data point to recession
Boston Globe (September 26, 2008)
Professor of economics Alan Clayton-Matthews said that the state's unemployment rate has jumped nearly a point since the beginning of the year, to 5.3 percent. In addition, first-time claims for jobless benefits have risen nearly 20 percent from a year ago and are approaching 40,000 a month, a level considered recessionary."This reflects a rapidly weakening economy, and we haven't felt the impact from all the bad news from the beginning of September," he said. "That's what I'm going to be watching."

Mayor Tom Menino on sidelines as Dianne Wilkerson's bid for ...
Boston Herald (September 25, 2008)
Dean of the McCormack Graduate School Steve Crosby is mentioned is an article about Mayor Menino maintaining a neutral position on the outcome of the recently held state senate elections. By not endorsing anyone, Menino is effectively backing Wilkerson, said Crosby. "He's damning Chang-Diaz with faint praise," he added.

(September 24, 2008)
Fran�oise Carr�, Research Director at the MGS Center for Social Policy, published a book review in Growth and Change: A Journal of Urban and Regional Policy, Vol 39, No 3 (September 2008). This is a review of The Shadow Labor Force: Perspectives on Contingent Work in the United States, Japan, and Europe, Sandra E. Gleason, Ed. 2006.
Fran�oise Carr�, Research Director at the MGS Center for Social Policy, contributed to a Cornell University Department of Applied Economics and Management Working Paper on informal employment in India ( "Cornell-SEWA-WIEGO 2008 Dialogue - Ahmedabad and Dehli: Compendium of Personal and Technical Notes." (WP 2008-15)

How to deal with failing financial institutions
The Washington Times (September 20, 2008)
Associate professor in the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs Christian Weller wrote for the Washington Times about how policy makers were dealing with the recent Wall Street failures and the mortgage crisis.
Excerpt: Policymakers at the Federal Reserve and in the Bush administration were slow to admit they had a mortgage mess on their hands. Foreclosure rates are shattering previous records, just to be broken a few months later. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that the share of mortgages that entered foreclosure in the second quarter of 2008 stood at 1.1 percent, and the share of all mortgages in foreclosure was 2.8 percent during the same period. Since the 1970s, the share of mortgages entering foreclosure never exceeded 0.5 percent before the end of 2006, and the share of total mortgages in foreclosure never exceeded 1.5 percent before the second half of 2007.

Emotional stability of Hispanics is deteriorating (Translated from Spanish)
El Diario - ElPaso (September 22, 2008)
Christian Weller is quoted in a article in Spanish about how the current state of the economy is impacting Hispanic Americans. Weller noted that the Hispanic population is much more vulnerable to the insecurities generated by the state of the economy as it affects their quality of wages, access to retirement plans and medical cover.

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