Category Archives: Free markets and their discontents

Food Insecurity: A Potentially Underrated Collateral Damage of the Pandemic

Increases in hunger and food insecurity under Covid are significant, yet have gone largely under the radar.

Rethinking Unemployment: From Adam Smith to Marx “Reserve Army of the Unemployed” to the Neoliberal War on Full Employment

Unemployment as a balancing act between workers ‘fearing the sack’ and employers ‘fearing the quit,” with employers usually winning out.

How Third-Party Auditors Make Oil Industry Fraud Possible

Oil companies hire accountants to legitmate inflated financial claims. Investors and regulators are targeting these auditors for fraud.

Why Colombia Has Erupted in Protest

The pandemic exacerbated intolerable poverty and economic distress in Colombia. As repression mounts, is there any way out?

Lawmakers Are Firing Back At Fossil Fuel Divestors

Red state retaliation! Fossil fuel states will take business away from firms that divest from energy producers.

Bob Pollin: Modest Inflation Is Good for Workers

If inflation is linked to higher wages, that’s not bad for workers, says Bob Pollin of the Political Economy Research Institute in Amherst.

When Is a Co-Op Not a Co-Op? When Vested Interests in California Want to Keep Platform Workers From Having Power

California Assembly Bill 1319 is a convoluted scheme to create so-called co-ops designed to keep gig workers disempowered.

What if Large Businesses Are Really Macroeconomic Entities?

Mega businesses are a huuge problem. But what to do?

Larry Summers Doubles Down On His Inflation Prediction

Unfortunately, Larry Summers still gets attention, most recently for inflation hawkery. Fortunately, it’s not hard to see through him.

How Enforcement of the USMCA Will End a Corporate Race to the Bottom

USMCA, which promised to help American workers by improving labor bargaining rights, is being put to its first road test. Will it perform?

A Neoliberalism Meets Covid Vignette: Barriers to Getting a Vaccine, Publix Edition

We had to jump through way too many hoops to get a Covid vaccine at Publix. Is this normal for pharmacies?

Michael Hudson: Why Biden Won’t Cancel Student Debt

Michael Hudson gives a hard look at the typical excuses for not cancelling student debt and finds them wanting.

Crypto Crackdown: Only the Beginning?

If you think the officialdom is getting tough with crypto, there’s even more they can do to tighten the screws.