Albany, NY, Nov 19, 2012 — A new report from a union-funded think tank finds that New York has the greatest income disparity in the nation. The Fiscal Policy Institute says that trend is continuing, with the top one percent gaining more financial resources, while the middle class falls behind and the numbers of poor increase.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Sep 03, 2012 — Local governments in New York continue to flounder, but there are signs that the state's finances are improving as Governor Cuomo and his budget director Robert Megna announced last week that the state finally got an upgrade in an assessment from a major rating agency.

Standard & Poor's changed the state's outlook from "stable" to "positive". Megna says he hopes that lays the groundwork for an improvement in the state's credit rating, which has been ranked as weak for decades: "This outlook revision is professional evidence from an outside observer that New York is once again on the right track."  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Nov 23, 2011 — The congressional supercommittee announced Monday that they'd failed to make a plan for reducing the federal deficit. This means that automatic cuts to a whole range of programs will go into effect starting in 2013.

National lawmakers may reach agreements that avoid some of those cuts ...but the supercommittee's failure could make a huge difference for states. New York's budget division estimates losses of $5 billion in federal funding over the next decade. That's on top of the impact on Wall Street, which provides about 20% of state revenues.

The state is already running a $3.25 billion deficit for next year's budget. Governor Cuomo is working with his Council of Economic and Fiscal advisors, 19 executives, politicians and labor leaders Cuomo put together as part of his transition team last year, to come up with a plan for how the state will handle the additional losses.

Cuomo spoke yesterday on the WCNY's Capitol Pressroom host Susan Arbetter. She asked him how the supercommittee's failure will affect individual New Yorkers:  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Nov 15, 2011 — Governor Cuomo's budget office released some bad news yesterday. The state's budget gap is even bigger than expected, with a $350 million dollar shortfall for the current year and a $3.5 billion dollar gap next year.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Oct 12, 2011 — State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says Wall Street is having another bad year--and he's saying that could have a negative impact on New York State's budget. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has the details.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Oct 06, 2011 — Talking to reporters Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo expressed admiration and concern about the "occupy wall street" protests. He said he understands the "frustration" of the demonstrators--but admits the state depends on revenues from the financial industry to balance its budget. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has more:  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Aug 10, 2011 — Governor Cuomo says he's staying optimistic about Wall Street and the financial sector's future right now. Karen DeWitt reports the governor's saying he hopes the downturn will be just a "blip" on the screen.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Aug 09, 2011 — State comptroller Tom DiNapoli says even after the big drop on Wall Street yesterday, he believes the state's massive pension fund can withstand market swings. Karen DeWitt has more from Albany.  Go to full article

Nov 25, 2008 — We've been hearing a lot about President-elect Barack Obama's economic team. They face some huge hurdles this winter, as they work to steady America's wobbly economy. As part of our series, A Fresh Start, we checked in with John Bogle, who spends much of each year in Lake Placid. In the 1970s, Bogle launched the Vanguard Group of investment funds. In recent years, he's emerged as one of the country's leading investment ethicists, authoring books that include The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism. Bogle told Brian Mann that Obama's first challenge will be speaking honestly with the American people and restoring consumer confidence.  Go to full article

Oct 08, 2008 — Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said the financial crisis could prolong the difficulty that the economy is facing. Bernanke said he was confident the central bank's purchase of debt and the $700 billion bailout, approved by Congress last Friday, would help revive the nation's moribund economy. New York Senator Hillary Clinton voted for the bailout. Talking with Jonathan Brown, she explained why. Here's their full conversation.  Go to full article