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Financial System
“Income is how you get out of poverty; assets are how you stay out.” How do we build policies, programs, and products that reduce systematic inequality and advance financial security for all?
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Affordable Housing Financing Is Overpriced, But It Doesn’t Have to Be
Affordable housing construction finance reflects market norms, but its track record shows it’s far less risky than conventional market-rate housing loans. While lower default rates should lead to lower interest rates, they currently do not.
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Improving CRA for Rural America
The Community Reinvestment Act regulations should be recrafted to incentivize investments in underserved and economically distressed communities, many of which are rural.
To Address Displacement in Your Community, Start by Asking, “Who’s Financing It?”
While developers, tech companies, and greedy landlords are often cited as the usual suspects driving the housing crisis, one group is often overlooked: the banks that finance the deals.
Creative Ways to Finance Agriculture
In Montana, small family farms are disappearing at an alarming rate, and farmers and ranchers are unable to compete with giant agriculture mergers. But there are several ways to help improve the farmland accessibility issue.
How Successful is Your County in Accessing Community Development Funding?
some communities in the United States seem much better than others at attracting grants and financing for community development—even after adjusting for their relative needs. Here are some of the surprising trends:
Is Success Making CDFIs Too Risk-Averse?
Shelterforce’s Miriam Axel-Lute in conversation with Ed Gorman of NCRC on whether community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are taking enough risk, and therefore, falling short of their mission.
Don’t Diminish the Importance of Homeownership in CRA Reform
A significant reduction in attention paid to home mortgage lending on CRA exams would be neither economically efficient nor equitable.
Building Prosperity—A Review of ‘The Making of a Democratic Economy’
A review of “The Making of a Democratic Economy: Building Prosperity for the Many, Not Just the Few,” by Marjorie Kelly and Ted Howard
There Is an Emergency at the Border. It’s Poverty.
Targeted investments that address persistent poverty are necessary and should supersede financial support of a border wall.
Can Using a Racial Equity Lens Increase Capital in Communities of Color?
If CDFIs adopted traditional appraisal standards to determine loan amounts, they’d make very few loans in the communities they were founded to serve.
Can Investing in a Community’s Growth Boost Health Outcomes?
ProMedica and LISC team up to fund place-based investments in the hope of improving health outcomes for residents. How do they do it?
Can Estate Planning be Used to Help Preserve Economic Assets in Low-Income Communities?
Estate planning should be employed as part of a broader plan of preservation of wealth and assets in communities of color.
Millennials and the Affordability Crisis: A Review of Generation Priced Out
As tenant struggles become a bigger focus of activist recruitment, Randy Shaw’s new book, Generation Priced Out, is an essential organizing guide.