Banks suspended overdraft fees for the pandemic. Now, 1 is doing so permanently.

Jun 3, 2021
Ally Bank says the charges made up less than 1% of revenue and disproportionately affected Black, Latinx and low-income customers.
The banking industry generated $12 billion from overdraft fees last year, but for many banks, the charges make little impact on financial results.
Nicola Katie via Getty Images

Why breaking down economic data helps create equitable policy

May 19, 2021
“I want to look at reports and see all of me,” says economist Rhonda Vonshay Sharpe.
"A first step to promoting equity in Government action is to gather the data necessary to inform that effort," Biden said in his executive order on advancing racial equity.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

“Everything you know about home economics is wrong”

May 6, 2021
In her new book, “The Secret History of Home Economics,” Danielle Dreilinger challenges common perceptions of a once-thriving profession.
A home economics lesson in 1953. In a new book on the history of home economics, author Danielle Dreilinger writes about how the profession created a “back door” for women in science, business, and engineering.
Photo by Harrison/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

In Chicago, affordable housing development has bypassed wealthier neighborhoods

Apr 19, 2021
Most tax credits from a program encouraging developers to build or renovate affordable units went to majority-Black neighborhoods.
A racial equity study in Chicago found that most affordable housing wasn't going in areas that have amenities like public transportation. Above, people rally for affordable housing in Miami.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Waves of giving follow racial equity crises

Apr 5, 2021
Billions of dollars were donated to social justice causes in 2020. Deciding where and when to allocate resources can be hard.
In the months following George Floyd's death, people donated billions of dollars to social justice and racial equity groups.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Goldman Sachs to invest billions in Black women

Mar 12, 2021
The firm says it wants to change the lives of "One Million Black Women," but that'll take more than a monetary investment.
Black women have disproportionately suffered during the pandemic, one reason Goldman Sachs decided to provide support.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Biden faces economic obstacles beyond the pandemic's burdens

The list includes dwindling trust funds for Social Security and Medicare and potential bubbles in the housing and stock markets.
Biden will confront "headwinds unlike those that have ever been faced by any modern president," says Eugene Steuerle of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
Mark Makela/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Bon Appétit, with a new editor-in-chief, sets out to change how we think about food

Davis wants Bon Appétit to be the top destination for recipes, but also a place to gather and discuss the links between culture and food.
Dawn Davis began her new role as head of the 64-year-old magazine last month.
Steven Ferdman/Getty Images

There have only been a handful of Black financial regulators, for generations

Sep 7, 2020
Only 10 of 327 top financial regulators appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate were Black.
About 3% of the financial regulators that oversee Wall Street have been Black, according to a report out from Georgetown University.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Why the founders of Crowns & Hops are running a brewing company with a mission

Aug 24, 2020
"This absolutely is about racial equity," said Teo Hunter, COO of Crowns & Hops Brewing Co.
Teo Hunter, left, and Beny Ashburn, the founders of Crowns & Hops Brewing. Said Hunter: "Our goal was always to give something beautiful, something that was indicative of Black and brown excellence, to the community."
Courtesy Beny Ashburn