Financial Crisis Tracker

 

A project to perform and popularize ongoing analysis of the key components of the current economic crisis: job loss, home foreclosures, and the cost to taxpayers of bailing out failed financial institutions. 

Collaborators:

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

April 19, 2010
CONTACT: Mary Bottari at (608) 255-4566 or mary@prwatch.org

 

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR WEBSITE MANAGERS
FINANCIAL CRISIS TRACKER NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

Too-big-to-fail financial services institutions have crashed the U.S. economy, throwing millions out of work, collapsing retirement funds and college savings accounts, and forcing many hard-working Americans out of their homes.

The Financial Crisis Tracker highlights the toll this crisis has taken on average Americans. It gives a monthly tally of housing foreclosures, unemployment rates and the extraordinary cost to taxpayers of bailing out failed financial institutions. It is a more accurate measure of how we are doing as a nation than any Wall Street ticker. The tracker links to a comprehensive accounting of the real cost of the Wall Street Bailout prepared by the Center for Media and recently discussed on CNN and Bill Moyer's Journal on PBS.

  • The Foreclosure number is generated monthly by RealtyTrac, a private data source used by newspapers across America.
  • The Unemployment number is generated by the U.S. Department of Labor.
  • The Wall Street Bailout number is our original calculation of the total bailout expenditures to date. Our calculation was peer-reviewed by economists at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington D.C. Our Wall Street Bailout Cost Table tallying all government bailout programs can be accessed here.
DOWNLOAD OUR WIDGET TO YOUR WEBPAGE AND LINK TO THE WALL STREET BAILOUT TABLE

The Financial Crisis Tracker is presented in the form of a widget that can be downloaded to your webpage. It is updated monthly when data becomes available.

Click here to find the embed code to embed the widget on your webpage. If you have questions or difficulties, contact Patricia Barden at patricia (AT) prwatch (DOT) org.

About Us

The Financial Crisis Tracker and related information is joint effort of the Progressive Ideas Network and the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). The Progressive Ideas Network is an alliance of the country's leading think tanks and activist organizations, working together to amplify the power of ideas in advancing today's progressive movement. CMD is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes Sourcewatch.org, PRWatch.org and BanksterUSA.org.