Falling, falling

As we showed in the March edition of Numbers You Need, the number of laid-off Oklahomans receiving unemployment benefits is skyrocketing. An average of 4,881 workers filed first-time claims in January, an increase of 149 percent compared to September 2008.… Read more [More...]

Bad banks, great journalism

If you’re anything like me or most anyone I know, chances are you’ve spent a good part of the last year reading and listening to stories about “collateral debt obligations” and “credit default swaps” and “toxic assets” and “zombie banks”… Read more [More...]

Unemployed Poor

The Oklahoman had an editorial today about the increase in the numbers of Oklahomans needing assistance to get by. Food stamp usage has reached an all time high in Oklahoma. It is a sobering editorial, but an issue that needs… Read more [More...]

Kill the drill

Sunday’s edition of the New York Times had a front-page report on the steep drop in drilling activity that has followed plunging oil prices in recent months. Since last summer, the number of oil and gas rigs deployed to tap… Read more [More...]

Managing the fiscal pain

Last week I sat down with the editorial board of the Tulsa World to discuss the state’s worsening fiscal outlook. Julie Delcour’s column in today’s Opinion section sets out some of our main messages about the severity of the problem… Read more [More...]

Expanding the Safety Net

An editorial in yesterday’s Oklahoman notes how the worsening economy is having a growing impact on schools as children and families grapple with problems ranging from food insecurity to purchasing school uniforms to homelessness. The Oklahoman concludes: Schools and children… Read more [More...]

Housing Starts and Stops

Yesterday’s New York Times had a sobering profile of the housing market in Cleveland, which has experienced the post-boom collapse earlier and more deeply than most of the rest of the nation. While the situation in Cleveland, as elsewhere, has… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma Poverty Profile 2007

New U.S. Census Bureau data revealed a drop in Oklahoma’s poverty rate in 2007 – from 17.0% to 15.9% – and a significant increase in median household income. While this showed that Oklahoma’s strong economy was finally providing benefits to… Read more [More...]

On the Brink: Oklahoma Families Are Already Facing Tough Times

Oklahoma’s economy continues to outperform the nation’s as a whole, yet many families are already caught in the financial pinch of stagnant wages and rising costs. This issue brief and the fact sheet explore the main factors contributing to the… Read more [More...]

SEED Fact Sheet: Oklahoma College Savings Task Force

This fact sheet was produced in 2007 for the Public Policy Department of the Community Action Project of Tulsa County under the direction of David Blatt, then Director of Policy at CAP.  This fact sheet summarizes the recommendations of a… Read more [More...]