Economy

November 15, 2013 - From John C. Calhoun to Strom Thurmond, Southern politicians have shown disdain for the federal government in their efforts to protect the interests of the region's business and political elite.

November 15, 2013 - Events were held this week in Durham, N.C. to remember the groundbreaking anti-poverty work of the North Carolina Fund, which went on to serve as a model for President Johnson's War on Poverty. With poverty again on the rise in the state, what lessons might the Fund hold for today?

November 8, 2013 - The U.S. fast-food industry generates $200 billion a year in sales. Why are so many of its workers dependent on public assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid?

November 6, 2013 - A look at what's happening in labor around the South, from a conference on the tragic consequences of U.S. drug policy, to corporate welfare in Mississippi, to a union's struggle with a cereal giant in Tennessee.

October 29, 2013 - The United Auto Workers union is trying a new approach to organizing the VW plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. that's inspired by European labor. But it's facing well-financed resistance from the Tea Party, Chamber of Commerce, and political establishment.

October 25, 2013 - Representatives of companies that got the lion's share of lucrative contracts to build the problem-ridden federal health exchange website -- including Virginia-based CGI Federal and Atlanta-based Equifax -- testified before a House committee this week and acted as if they were innocent bystanders at someone else's train wreck.

October 25, 2013 - Saying they hope to ease the pain from the federal government shutdown, Gov. Pat McCrory this week announced he was sending turnip greens from the state prison farm to food banks, while state budget director Art Pope's foundation said it would contribute $185,000 to various charities. But can such alms-giving make up for policies that weaken public assistance programs?