sub-prime mortgage crisis

The Giant Pool of Money

Confused about the housing crisis, the falling dollar, the credit crunch or the securities problem "that nearly brought down the global financial system?"

Last week, This American Life took it all on in "The Giant Pool of Money." In one hour, This American Life breaks down the most complex financial problem in recent U.S. history, and does it better than anyone I've come across.

John Hope Bryant on the Silver Rights Movement

A recent article in The Economist explored the role financial illiteracy played in the subprime crisis and a growing global movement to improve financial education. Among projects mentioned in the article are Aflatoun, an Amsterdam-based program that attempts to "equip children with the knowledge and skills to become economically self-reliant citizens and empowers them to break the cycle of poverty through financial education." Another project discussed in the article was The President's Council on Financial Literacy, created by President Bush this past January.

John Hope Bryant, one of the vice chairman of the President's Council, is the founder of Project HOPE. Project HOPE has worked since the early '90s to use financial education as a way of alleviating poverty in urban communities.

At the Davos conference in January, Bryant summarized how financial education — what he calls the "Silver Rights Movement" — can reduce poverty.


Breaking News

Major Shippers Skirt Gulf of Aden to Avoid Pirates

The Epoch Times - Thu, 11/20/2008 - 19:44
Major shiping companies might be rerouting their cargo to avoid pirates active off the Somali coast.

South Africa to Withhold Zimbabwe Aid Over Deadlock

The Epoch Times - Thu, 11/20/2008 - 19:44
South Africa will withhold Zimbabwe aid until a representative government is in place, the first pressure put on Zimbabwe.

Ecuador Seeks to Sell Rainforest

Spiegel Online - Thu, 11/20/2008 - 19:45
Ecuador is the first country in the world to announce plans to leave the oil reserves beneath its rainforests in the ground. The country wants foreign businesses to cover the cost of not drilling by purchasing CO2 certificates.

EU Farm Policy Revamped

International Herald Tribune - Thu, 11/20/2008 - 11:02
Longstanding subsidies now enjoyed by large farms will be diverted into countryside programs — breaking the link between how much farmers produce and the amount of subsidy they receive.

Cutting Emissions in Rural China

World Changing - Wed, 11/19/2008 - 09:02
An experiment aims to mobilize farmers to use readily accessible, traditional bioenergy sources — like straw — to help China reduce its carbon footprint.

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