Fair Participation in the City

Yesterday there were City Council hearings on the first of two fair
participation studies our firm did for the City of Philadelphia this
summer: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/10100697.html.

The
subject here was the lending and location decisions of banks that do
business with the City. The second is on the City's distribution of
contracts to minorities, women, and the disabled. Both reports are
now available online:

http://mbec.phila.gov/HOME/forms/FY%202006%20Disparity%20Study%20-%20FINAL%202007-06-01.pdf

http://www.phila.gov/treasurer/pdfs/FairLending_FinalReport%202005%20City%20of%20Philadelphia%20Authorized%20Depositories%20_single%20page.pdf

I'm proud to have contributed to this important topic and hope it will
stimulate further discussion, both here in the City and elsewhere. As
a Christian and an economist, I believe in the importance of
unfettered participation by all; anything else is less than the best
for all.