Stories by Robert Kuttner

Robert Kuttner is a founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine. He wrote a column for Business Week for twenty years, and he also has a weekly column in The Boston Globe and many other papers. He is also the author of A Presidency in Peril: The Inside Story of Obama’s Promise, Wall Street’s Power, and the Struggle to Control our Economic Future and Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency as well as several other books on politics and the economy.

Austerity and Debt Conspire to Wreck the Lives of Working American Families

Posted on: May 8, 2013, Source: Knopf Publishing

Working families are sandbagged by the mortgage debt and, retirees can’t get decent returns on their investments.

Kuttner on Americans Elect: No Such Thing As Radical Center Party

Posted on: Dec 27, 2011, Source: Huffington Post

Don't fall for another attempt to balance the hard-right with centrism that undermines progressive values and causes.

Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley Could Be Headed Toward Collapse -- Will Obama Have the Guts to Do the Right Thing This Time?

Posted on: Oct 10, 2011, Source: AlterNet

If events turn critical again and we face a repeat risk of the seizing up of financial markets as in the fall of 2008, the president will need to make a fateful decision.

Vision: 5 Economic Ills That Demand We Go Beyond What We Think Is Possible

Posted on: Feb 28, 2011, Source: Huffington Post

The real solutions to our problems lie beyond what is currently deemed thinkable in mainstream politics.

Is Obama About to Sell Us Out on Social Security? The Political Fallout Would Be Devastating

Posted on: Dec 15, 2010, Source: Huffington Post

Obama has signaled that he might include Social Security cuts as part of a grand deficit-reduction deal. If that occurs, expect civil war among the Democrats.

Saving Progressivism from Obama

Posted on: Nov 28, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Progressives must move from disillusion to action and offer the kind of political movement and counter-narrative that the President should have been leading.

Time to Fight! 9 Things Obama Can Do to Prevent a GOP Takeover

Posted on: Sep 13, 2010, Source: Huffington Post

If Obama can smoke out Republican ideas, most voters will notice that they agree with him more than they agree with John Boehner and the GOP.

Obama, Forget the Deficit and Take a Stand for Job Creation

Posted on: Aug 2, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Congress will either cut government outlay before a full economic recovery, or increase public spending and put Americans back to work. Much depends on Obama's leadership.

Americans Care About Jobs, Not Deficits -- When Will Obama Listen?

Posted on: Jun 28, 2010, Source: Huffington Post

Obama is giving too much attention to deficit-reduction, and not enough to jobs.

From Wall Street To The Gulf Coast: When Will Obama Get In The Ring And Fight For Real Reforms?

Posted on: Jun 1, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Imagine how much more reform we could get if Obama clearly weighed in on behalf of David rather than Goliath.

Enough With 'Bipartisan Consensus' Already -- Ignore the Republicans and Reform Wall St.

Posted on: Apr 24, 2010, Source: AlterNet

If the Senate Democratic Leadership can resist the snake oil of a bipartisan deal, the bill will probably get stronger as it works its way through Congress.

Weak Medicine: Obama's Flawed Plan for Reforming the Banks

Posted on: Apr 18, 2010, Source: Chelsea Green Publishing

The Treasury Department is caught between two opposite and incompatible goals: It must maximize bank earnings while simultaneously diverting the housing market's nosedive.

When Will Obama Stop Trying to Work with Republicans?

Posted on: Feb 8, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Obama seems to be determined to give bipartisanship one more shot, hoping he can smooth out GOP obstruction to his agenda.

Mixed Signals: Will Obama Be Hard Enough on Wall Street?

Posted on: Jan 25, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Obama knows he needs to be more populist when it comes to the banks, though it remains to be seen how hard he'll fight.

Bye-Bye Bernanke: Let's Get Bush's Banker Out of the Federal Reserve

Posted on: Jan 11, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Bernanke's defeat would be a repudiation of President Obama's close alliance with Wall Street -- but it would be extremely salutary for him and for the public.

Matt Taibbi, Bill Moyers and Robert Kuttner: Why Can't Democrats Do Anything Right?

Posted on: Dec 20, 2009, Source: Bill Moyers Journal

Could a crushing defeat on health reform teach Democrats to stop prioritizing corporate interests?

Three Reasons We Need an Economic Wake Up Call

Posted on: Jul 7, 2009, Source: Huffington Post

Several events of the past week should be a wake-up call to the Obama administration. Bottom line: the medicine isn't working.

Yes He Can, But Will He? Obama Hesitates to Make the Tough Calls

Posted on: May 25, 2009, Source: Huffington Post

Obama doesn't lack leadership or nerve, which makes his dithering on the financial crisis and straddling on torture all the more bewildering.

Why Obama Is Low-Balling the Banking Crisis

Posted on: May 11, 2009, Source: Huffington Post

It's been suggested that Obama is focusing on Republican self-destruction and that he'll get around to reforming Wall Street next year.

Obama Has Amassed Enormous Political Capital, But He Doesn't Know What to Do with It

Posted on: Apr 27, 2009, Source: Huffington Post

Public approval of a president is not like a stock of savings. Obama has yet to decide what to invest in.

Obama's Bad Bank Plan Could Destroy His Promising Presidency -- How Do We Push Him in the Right Direction?

Posted on: Apr 13, 2009, Source: Huffington Post

It ain't easy to play the role of loyal opposition to a progressive president who seems determined at times to be captured by Wall Street.

Wall Street Sharks Have Lost Everything, and Now They're Coming After Us

Posted on: Feb 23, 2009, Source: The Washington Post

Gutting Social Security and Medicare to pay for the sins of Wall Street is a perverse idea.

Note to Obama: Thinking Small Will Lead to Disaster

Posted on: Jan 12, 2009, Source: AlterNet

As he crafts an economic recovery plan, Obama faces the danger of being too "post-partisan" and doing too little too late.

We've Got to Fight the Naysayers Against Obama's 1$ Trillion Stimulus Package

Posted on: Dec 24, 2008, Source: Boston Globe

While there's no shortage of good uses for a huge stimulus package, there's going to be plenty of opponents standing in its way.

Can Obama Be FDR?

Posted on: Nov 6, 2008, Source: Chelsea Green Publishing

A new book shows how Obama needs to address the economic emergency, starting with practical help for families and individuals.

Calling Paulson's Bluff

Posted on: Sep 22, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Do Democrats have the nerve to challenge the major flaws in Paulson's plan?

The Price of Wall Street's Rescue

Posted on: Sep 19, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Help must go to the ordinary people who have suffered harm, not just wealthy insiders. That should be the price of a deal.

Bush's Disastrous 'Rescue' of the Finance Industry

Posted on: Sep 18, 2008, Source: Boston Globe

The Bush administration's strategy boiled down to allowing Wall Street to privatize the gains while government socialized the losses.

Only a Roosevelt-Scale Counterrevolution Can Prevent Great Depression II

Posted on: Sep 17, 2008, Source: The American Prospect

Free-market extremists brought us this needless economic collapse. Here's a rundown of the mistakes we've made and the reforms we need now.

Nationalize Fannie Mae? It Worked Until It Was Privatized

Posted on: Sep 8, 2008, Source: Huffington Post

Amid all the hubbub, it's important to remember Fannie Mae's pedigree.

Palin's Speech Tactic: Substitute Cultural Symbols for Actual Policies

Posted on: Sep 4, 2008, Source: AlterNet

In this strategy, every Democratic misstep is inflated into a cultural parable, while gaping holes in the Republican story are neatly sidestepped.

The Economic Recovery Plan America Needs

Posted on: Feb 14, 2008, Source: The American Prospect

A "stimulus" package only works for ordinary, business-cycle downturns. But this is no ordinary recession.

1929 Redux: Heading for a Crash?

Posted on: Oct 8, 2007, Source: AlterNet

The parallels between then and now are frightening.

The Fed, The Enabler

Posted on: Sep 24, 2007, Source: Boston Globe

For more than two decades, the Federal Reserve has been prime enabler of a dangerously speculative economy.

See Dick Run (the Country)

Posted on: Aug 28, 2006, Source: The American Prospect

Cheney's the real president. It'd be nice if the press noticed.

Reaffirming Voting Rights

Posted on: Jul 18, 2006, Source: The American Prospect

Fear of being voted out of office is the only thing that seems to convince Congress to do the right thing.

Our Medicare Misery

Posted on: Jan 4, 2006, Source: The American Prospect

The new Republican Medicare bill is about to kick in, and what it offers to seniors isn't pretty.

The Young And The Debtless

Posted on: Sep 4, 2005, Source: The American Prospect

Employment trends are hitting young people especially hard -- but not all young people.

Raw Deal

Posted on: May 27, 2005, Source: The American Prospect

The idea that 'moderates' stepped in to the filibuster debate to save the day just happens to fit one of the media's pet narratives. Problem is, it just ain't the reality.

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