News and updates

  • Payday Lending-Free States Cry Foul over OCC “Fintech” Charter

    The PaydayFreeLandia coalition, representing 15 states , plus the District of Columbia, demanded today that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) back off a dangerous plan that would gut their states’ strong consumer protection laws.

  • WTFargo: How Bad Does a Bank Have to Be?

    Yet another scandal may soon rock Wells Fargo. According to informed sources, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) — the federal agency that oversees Wells Fargo and the other large, national banks — is set to downgrade Wells Fargo’s Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rating sometime this month.

  • 2016 Roundup

    Check out this two-page snapshot highlighting some of New Economy Project’s work, events, and media coverage during 2016!

  • 2016 Holiday Celebration

    Thanks to everyone who joined us for our 2016 holiday celebration!

  • A Simple, Powerful Premise

    Expensive. Unsustainable. Exploitative. This is how community organizers and advocates described the NYC housing market, at “Community Land Trusts: Organizing for Community Control,” the final installment of our 20th Anniversary Workshop Series. The workshop built on themes explored in the previous four sessions – from new economy organizing to shareholder action and community-led research –…

  • Does This Sound Like Justice?

    You’ve just been robbed. Worse yet, you know who did it. It was the last few dollars to your name and you don’t get paid for another month. Three weeks pass, and an envelope containing the stolen money appears on your doorstep. You go to court to demand justice, but the judge rules that no…

  • The World We Want to See

    Like you, we are stunned and alarmed by the outcome of the election, and the consequences yet to come. The ground has shifted in fundamental and frightening ways. Years of hard-won gains are sure to come under assault, and organizations like ours will have to come together like never before to defend programs, policies and…

  • MarketWatch: Student Loan Borrowers Share Tales of Woe With Regulators

    MarketWatch — “It’s a pleasure to be here, finally,” are not the words you might expect to hear from someone preparing to share their story of student debt woe to a room full of strangers. But that’s exactly how John Carter, a 77-year-old New York City resident, began before recounting the years of hassle he…

  • Office of Council Member Jumaane D. Williams: Williams to Introduce Credit Discrimination Bill

    Office of Council Member Jumaane D. Williams — “New Economy Project applauds Council Member Williams for shining a light on credit discrimination,” said Andy Morrison, New Economy Project’s campaigns coordinator. “Lending discrimination is a persistent abomination that denies New Yorkers economic opportunities and serves to perpetuate racial inequality and segregation in our city.”

  • City Limits: Local Pols, Advocates Plead With Feds to Strengthen Payday Lending Rules

    City Limits — A coalition of seven New York state senators, four assemblymembers, one borough president, 25 councilmembers, a city agency and dozens of community groups, advocacy organizations and unions is pushing federal consumer watchdogs to create stronger rules governing payday loans — or at least not create regulations that undermine New York State’s strong…

  • New York Groups and Elected Officials Call on CFPB to End Payday Loan Debt Traps

    Prominent New York City and State elected officials joined with labor, grassroots, civil rights, faith-based and legal services groups, as well as community development financial institutions, to send a strongly-worded letter on Friday to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director, Richard Cordray, calling on the federal watchdog agency to crack down on predatory payday lending.

  • PaydayFreeLandia Calls on CFPB to Issue Strong Payday Lending Rule and End the Payday Loan Debt Trap

    Members of the PaydayFreeLandia coalition sent strongly-worded letters today to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, calling on the federal consumer watchdog agency to crack down on predatory payday lending.