Economy

By Douglas Gillison | – Washington, DC (AFP) – The US government shutdown on Saturday became the longest in history and is taking a growing bite out of the world’s largest economy with each passing day, economists say. While most of the 21 “lapses” in government spending since 1976 left barely a scratch on economic […]

Inequality

Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Right that Tax Justice is Key to our Democratic Prospect?

John Buell

There is surprisingly widespread support for higher taxes on the rich. Americans have typically felt that one should keep what one earns. Many are also convinced that they will one day become rich, hence the popularity of lotteries, which reflect and help sustain that belief. Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic Policy and […]

Democratic Socialism

Rashida Tlaib and Working Class Authenticity v. Trump’s Plutocrat Pretense

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Why does Donald Trump get a pass on speaking and acting obscenely but Rashida Tlaib is pilloried for calling him a Mofo? It is because US corporate media and political elites expect the wealthy to do bad imitations of working class profanity (so as to fool the rubes into voting […]

Inequality

How Corporate Monopolies and High Prices are Making you Poor and Rich Richer

Sam Pizzigati

(Inequality.org) – Andrew Leigh, a member of the Australian parliament, has a side gig. He just happens to be a working economist. Other lawmakers may spend their spare hours making cold calls for campaign cash. Leigh spends his doing research — on why our modern economies are leaving their populations ever more unequal. Leigh’s latest […]

Banking

Wall Street, Inequality and the Anger of the People

Nomi Prins

( Tomdispatch.com ) – As we head into 2019, leaving the chaos of this year behind, a major question remains unanswered when it comes to the state of Main Street, not just here but across the planet. If the global economy really is booming, as many politicians claim, why are leaders and their parties around […]

Plutocracy

Trump’s Trade Czar, The Latest Architect of Imperial Disaster

Alfred W. McCoy

Trump’s Trade Czar, The Latest Architect of Imperial Disaster Five Academics Who Unleashed the “Demon” of Geopolitical Power By Alfred W. McCoy ( Tomdispatch.com ) – As Washington’s leadership fades more quickly than anyone could have imagined and a new global order struggles to take shape, a generation of leaders has crowded onto the world […]

Inequality

What Does Inequality Cost the Average American? About $150,000

Sam Pizzigati

(Otherwords.org) – Belgian waffles. Belgian beers. Americans love ’em. But what Americans really need from Belgium has nothing to do with beer or breakfast treats. We need Belgium’s much more egalitarian distribution of wealth. The English philosopher Francis Bacon once long ago compared wealth to manure. Both only do good, Bacon quipped, if you spread […]

Democratic Socialism

Can Social Democracy Work In America? The Rise of DSA (Video)

Francesca Fiorentini

“The middle class is dying. And that has young Americans turning to democratic socialism for solutions.” Can Social Democracy Work In America? | AJ+

Climate Change

All our Dystopias Now: Climate Crisis, Plutocracy and Hyper-Nationalism

John Feffer

(Tomdispatch.com) – The mid-term elections are over, and the Democrats have regained the House, but the rest of American political reality remains intact. Meanwhile, the campaigns barely touched on the most important issues of our time: war, climate change, and the fracturing of the international community. So, let’s consider these larger issues from a different […]