Category Archives: Free markets and their discontents

How Responsible Is the Rental Housing Cartel for the Explosion in Homelessness?

Since collusion in pricing and vacancy hit critical mass in 2016, homelessness has soared.

Rob Urie: Kamala Harris is the New Face Being Put on America’s Wars

An unvarnished assessment of what a Kamala Harris presidency would amount to.

Why Poverty Reduction Under Capitalism Is a Myth

A full-throated critique of the claim that capitalism benefits the poors.

On the Distortions and Distractions of the Democratic National Circus

A well-targeted rant about the offensive shallowness and neglect of concrete material needs of voters that the Democratic Party now embodies.

Michael Hudson: Forgiveness, Foreclosure, & Christianity

Michael Hudson reprises a favorite theme of how the salutary practice of debt forgiveness came to an end under Greco-Roman oligarchs

Kamala’s Failed Opportunity

In her DNC speech, Kamala Harris embraced Republican language on the economy. So how deep does her purported progressivism run?

The Death of the Engineer CEO: Evidence that Short-Termism and Financialization Had Become Ascendant

A look at how some turning points in the history of Corporate America, such as CEO changes of guard, explain how America hollowed itself out.

Tyson Foods Is Being Investigated by the USDA

Investigation follows Tyson Foods’ recent closure of nine meatpacking plants across the country, allegations not only violated an agreement to sell the plants to a competitor but conspired to suppress that competition.

Lina Khan’s FTC Gears Up to Go After Algorithmic Black Boxes Governing Workers’ Lives, but It Might Be Running Out of Time

A closer look at “algorithmic wage discrimination” used at gig companies (and increasingly across all industries), one potential tool to stop it, and how the FTC is zeroing in on the practice.