A New Foundation for Financial Regulation?

In our memorandum, available here, we describe the Obama Administration's White Paper on Financial Regulatory Reform. The White Paper is just the beginning of what is likely to be a legislative, regulatory and ideological marathon, despite the Administration's best efforts to achieve domestic political support before its publication.

Rethinking Industrial Policy for a New Era

It may be the fastest and most unexpected revolution in political economy since the fall of the Soviet Union, but it is still startling to realize that the United States government currently owns the largest insurer (AIG), mortgage provider (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac), multiple banks (Citigroup and Bank of America), as well as a majority stake in GM and a significant share in Chrysler.

Burr Collection Fan Magazines

The Howard E. Burr Collection contains not only film, equipment, lobby cards and posters, but also a variety of movie magazines. Collector 'Doc' Burr built up large holdings in Photoplay, a classic of film fandom, and he was, of course, a serious collector of film collector catalogs such as The Big Reel, Blackhawk, and other lesser known publications aimed at the amateur film collector.

Harvard Acquires 15,000-Film Collection

The Harvard Film Archive has over 15,000 films in our collection. Sometimes we acquire films one by one, sometimes we are given small collections, and sometimes we acquire large collections all at once. We open the HFA blog with the announcement of a large collection we are in the opening stages of acquiring, the Howard E. Burr Collection.

Mousavi's Latest Statement

We are not confronting the Basij. Basiji is our brother. In this we are not confronting the revolutionary guard. The guard is the keeper of our revolution. We are not confronting the army, the army is the keeper of our borders. These organs are the keepers of our independence, freedom and our Islamic republic. We are confronting deception and lies, we want to reform them, a reform by return to the pure principles of revolution.

Roland Burris More Or Less Gets Back His Good Name

The New York Times has reported that the Sangamon County (which contains Springfield) State's Attorney will not charge Senator Roland Burris with perjury for his sworn statements made to legislators prior to his being admitted to the Senate.

Bipartisan Position For a Real Public Option

A brand-new New York Times/CBS nationwide poll shows widespread support for a real public health insurance option. The wording of the question was clear: "Would you favor or oppose the government's offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan like Medicare that would compete with private insurance plans?"

Why Protest in Iran Matters and Why It Doesn’t

Since President Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo, the Middle East has seen sweeping political change in Lebanon, where a pro-western faction defeated the heavily-favored representatives of Hezbollah, and in Iran, where the world is now bearing witness to the state's largest political uprising since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Obama's Cairo speech, like his Philadelphia speech on race, portrayed an America that is not simply tolerant of difference, but embraces it. His speech was both lofty in its idealistic rhetoric and firmly grounded in realism.

A Grizzly Ate My Brother

"Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you." You've probably heard this saying before. Of course, very few people have actually been eaten by a bear, and even fewer have lived to tell about it. My big brother is one of the few.

The Plain Truth About Health Care Reform

People aren't asking for "health insurance" so much as they are asking for "health care." And there is a difference. "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane" -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We want health care equality. We also want our health care to be more affordable and better quality. To achieve all of that, we will need to reform our current system by retooling the methods of financing.