Economic Turmoil and Change

“As debate continues in Congress on how best to give a genuine boost to the troubled economy, some of the nation’s foundations have responded quickly to the crisis in their local communities and nationally. Despite being hit hard themselves by … Continue reading →

Members of the House and Senate conference committee completed their negotiations of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act last Friday with $50 million designated to assist the nation’s arts and cultural workforce through funding to the National Endowment for the … Continue reading →

One would be hard pressed to argue that a call from Robert Redford to the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, helped salvage money for the arts in the economic-stimulus bill last week. But it certainly didn’t hurt as arts-friendly … Continue reading →

Pro Publica: Jounalism in the public interest provides this breakdown. The House approved the economic stimulus plan Friday afternoon with a vote of 246 to 183, followed by the Senate with a vote of 60 to 38. Want to know … Continue reading →

Here’s a breakdown of the Senate roll-call vote.  (and the House of Representatives vote from January 28, 2009.)

The $100 billion in emergency aid for public schools and colleges in the economic stimulus bill could transform Arne Duncan into an exceptional figure in the history of federal education policy: a secretary of education loaded with money and the … Continue reading →

“From my small air conditioned bubble in a sweltering Melbourne, the abstract economic gloom of stock shocks and far away corporate collapses is getting less and less abstract with each passing day. Anecdotal reports of jobs drying up, businesses closing, … Continue reading →

NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts—a unique body with a mission to make the UK more innovative. They invest in early-stage companies, inform and shape policy, and deliver practical programmes that inspire others to solve … Continue reading →

Between the dismal economy, crashing financial markets and the Madoff scandal it would be natural to assume that philanthropy was out for the count. But while these difficulties might take the wind out of the sector’s sails for a while, … Continue reading →

One puzzlement in the debate over the congressional stimulus bill has been the inability—or the perverse refusal—of many to include jobs in the culture industry as a legitimate concern. Politicians of various stripes, from California Democrat Dianne Feinstein to Oklahoma … Continue reading →