Reframing a National Debate

Winning Words help change the narrative—and score a major win.

When the U.S. economy was reeling from the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression, one of the nation’s top foundations asked the Hattaway team to develop a policy change narrative to help advocates push Congress for reform.

Our narrative analysis found that many commentators and policymakers blamed consumers for causing the crisis. The main idea framing the debate? People who took out low-cost mortgages led to the collapse of the system.

That narrative was a major roadblock to policy change. As one congressional staffer told our team, “You won’t pass a reform bill without changing the blame-the-consumer narrative.”

To reframe the debate, our new narrative shifted the blame to “fast-talking mortgage brokers, Wall Street speculators—and a system that failed to protect consumers.”

These are Winning Words—designed to be meaningful and memorable. They pointed to bad actors within the financial system, who made untold millions by misleading people into taking on risky loans, then passing the risk on to investors.

 This reframe helped lay the groundwork for passage of landmark financial reform legislation, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Listen to our National Public Radio interview: Change a Word or Two and You’ll Change the Whole Debate.

Read our article in Politico: “The Word That Changed the Debt Ceiling Debate.”