Ownership & Assets

Banking "Broken," Consumers Need Help: Watchdog | Boston Globe

Ellen Seidman, a former bank regulator who is now a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a think tank, expressed support for the new agency in her prepared remarks for the committee. But she said bank regulators should retain consumer ...
Ellen Seidman | June 24, 2009

Banks Oppose Financial Agency's Costs; Consumers Seek Clarity | Bloomberg

Federal and state bank regulatory agencies should retain their consumer-protection authority, said Ellen Seidman, senior fellow at the New American Foundation and former head of the Office of Thrift Supervision. “I believe that bank regulators, ...
Ellen Seidman | June 23, 2009

Banking, Consumer Groups To Spar Over Consumer Agency | Wall Street Journal

Ellen Seidman, who was Office of Thrift Supervision director from 1997 through 2001, supports the new consumer agency but argued the banking regulators should retain the primary responsibility for protecting consumers. She argues Congress should ...
Ellen Seidman | June 23, 2009

Treasury Department Considers SAFE-T Proposal

Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Treasury Department is considering a policy to create an opt-out account, into which federal income tax refunds would be direct deposited.  In an interview for an article today in the Wall Street Journal, Michael Barr, Assistant Secretary for the Treasury Department described the proposal, which was developed by Melissa Koide at the New America Foundation to increase access to banking services and jumpstart savings

Melissa Koide | June 23, 2009

New directions, New Federal Agencies | Federal News Radio

The president has proposed setting up a consumer financial protection agency to protect you from bad lending practices. But how will this change the federal landscape? Melissa Koide is Deputy Director of the Asset Building Program at the New America Foundation. She joins us with her take on what this new agency would do. Link to audio
Melissa Koide | June 22, 2009

Savings, Responsibility, and Opportunity in America

When President Clinton signed the welfare reform bill in 1996, he changed the moral debate over poverty by linking benefits to work. However, an opportunity was missed to create a new type of safety net that recognized not just the importance of income but having access to a stock of savings and assets as well. While much attention has been focused on income volatility, severe fluctuations in wealth and low asset holdings undermine the potential for economic mobility.
06/19/2009 - 12:15pm
06/19/2009 - 1:45pm

New America Foundation Appoints New Leaders for Assets and College Savings Programs

Washington, DC -- Beginning July 1, 2009, Reid Cramer will assume the post of director of  New America Foundation's Asset Building Program. Cramer, who holds a Ph. D from the LBJ School at the University of Texas at Austin, has been research director in the assets program since 2003 and played a leadership role in New America's Next Social Contract Initiative as well. Before joining New America, Cramer served at OMB in both the Clinton and George W. Bush Administrations.

Born in a Previous Crisis, OTS Faces Extinction | Washington Post

"I think the time has probably come," said Ellen Seidman, a Democrat who headed the agency from 1997 to 2001. "I don't think they did such a great job over the last several years." As word came yesterday that President Obama had put the agency on the ...
Ellen Seidman | June 17, 2009

College-Savings Plans Don't Need to Blow Up | Bloomberg

Jackie Williams, executive director of Ohio's CollegeAdvantage plan, says a 529 needs a range of aggressive and conservative options. Aggressive plans are often sought by parents who started saving late and hope to catch up. ...
Jacqueline T. Williams | June 15, 2009

Self-Sufficiency Stalled

Given the demonstrated link between transportation and employment, wouldn’t it be counterproductive to force families to surrender or downgrade their car in order to be eligible for assistance?

This recession marks the first time since welfare reform that policymakers are revisiting the social safety net.

Yet when thousands of families are struggling to find and keep employment, some on Beacon Hill threatened to cut the one tool proven effective in moving families from welfare to work: a car.

Rourke O'Brien | Boston Herald | June 13, 2009