Inside Philanthropy
Founder and editor of Inside Philanthropy and senior fellow at Demos, a public policy center; author of The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Do Well and Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America
How Much Money Do Universities Need? It’s graduation month. High school seniors are going off to college, and many parents are figuring out how they’re going to pay for an increasingly expensive education. The schools, on the other hand, aren’t all as cash-strapped. This week, USC got $25 million from trustee Rick Caruso to start a department of head and neck surgery. And Harvard, already the richest university in the world, received a $400 million donation from billionaire John Paulson. Where do big donations to already rich (and expensive) schools go?
Education Reform and the Power of Silicon Valley California's teacher-tenure laws are under fire in a Los Angeles court room. In Vergara v. California , nine students, backed by a millionaire from Silicon Valley, claim quality education is damaged because it's so hard to fire bad teachers and that poor and minority kids are disproportionately affected. If that's the verdict, it could radically change the way public education is conducted. It could also be a demonstration of how a single individual can amplify his or her own views by strategically spending big money.
Barclays, LIBOR and Banking Culture The latest global financial scandal may be the biggest of all, involving a benchmark used to set interest rates for contracts worldwide. It's the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR . As the world learns more about international banking, one public policy expert calls it a "cheating culture." We hear about the growing LIBOR scandal and what it might mean for $350 trillion in contracts -- from multi-national business and municipal government bonds down to mortgages and student loans. Photo: Bob Diamond, then-CEO of Barclay's UK, speaks at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 27, 2012.
The LIBOR and Why It Matters The London Interbank Offered Rate , or LIBOR, is what banks charge each other to borrow money, and it's not just for financial wonks and accountants. It's also used as a benchmark to set rates for $350 trillion in contracts: commercial loans, home loans, car loans and credit cards, including yours. Now it turns out that major banks may have manipulated the LIBOR for their own profit. Are they being run by a "cheating culture?" Would regulation of the latest global financial scandal help or should bankers be required to risk their own money, not everybody else's?
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
The week that wouldn't quit Will next week get even weirder? (Special one-hour episode)
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.