New Economy Working Group

According to Matfess, both letters were written by experienced insiders who came to disdain the systemic failures and abuses of their respective institutions.

More important, she writes, is that both of these letters were written with a greater intention than simply giving their authors' two-weeks notice.

"The inventory of flaws in the financial system provided in these resignations is, at least in part, addressed to the American people. Though I can only speak for myself, I hope that Americans are willing to hear these critiques and demand greater governmental oversight for domestic financial institutions and increased transparency and accountability for international financial actors."

“People across Asia ate unpolished rice in great quantities a century and a half ago,” add Robin Broad and John Cavanagh of American University and Institute of Policy Studies, respectively. “When Westerners brought rice mills to the country a century ago, Filipinos found the taste of the new white rice strange, and it took a while [for them] to get used to it.”

"Hilary Matfess, the excited young woman with lupus in the photo by Slate magazine's David Weigel (www.slate.com), would probably agree with me," wrote Sue McAllister. "A Johns Hopkins University student, she wrote this in a blog post on the Institute for Policy Studies, where she is an intern: 'I'm still celebrating the Supreme Court's ruling as a promising sign that Americans are on the brink of adopting a health care system based on a sense of community, not luck.'"

"As a member of the pre-existing-condition community, I hope she's right."