What are the real reasons for this nation's unprecedented (in world history) boom in incarceration? Is the prison a tool to fight crime, or does it serve an entirely different function? And what about the notion of a Prison Industrial Complex: does it have any relation to reality? Loïc Wacquant shares his thoughts about the relationship between penal policy and welfare/workfare policy, and much more.

Many distressed homeowners, spurred on by certain real estate agents and without clear disclosures from their lenders, are looking to do short sales. Bill Purdy discusses short sale perils and, more broadly, borrowers' rights. Also, Peter Edelman highlights the unavailability and inadequacy of badly-needed assistance for poor people.