Category Archives: Free markets and their discontents

How Upskilling America Will Rebuild the Middle Class

A sanity check on how far “let them eat training” will go in restoring the fallen American middle class.

Pay a Living Wage or ‘Flip Your Own Damn Burgers’: Progressives Blast Right-Wing Narrative on Jobs

Hiring has become difficult because some McJobs workers won’t risk their health for a crap wage. So the right wants to beat them down.

‘Cry No Tears for These Death Profiteers’: Pharma Stocks Plunge as Biden Backs Vaccine Patent Waiver

Biden is suddenly backing a patent waiver for foreign manufacture of Covid vaccines. But do the mechanics make this a headfake?

Jared Holst: Getting Kinky for the Sake of Data

Apple is now promising to give users more control over who gets their data. But will they make it more seductive to give it away?

When Big Green Meets Big Money: The Nature Conservancy Caught Greenwashing Corporate Pollution

Green organizations are not created equal. Naming some of the leading greenwashers, starting with the Nature Conservancy.

Michael Hudson Q&A in Webinar on 4000 Years of Money and Debt

The Q&A from a Michael Hudson talk on money, debt, and economic orthodoxy.

Webinar with Michael Hudson: A 4000-Year Perspective on Economy, Money and Debt

Michael Hudson gives a long historical account of the role of debt and money as a tool for promoting prosperity and political dominance.

Why Workers Memorial Day Is a National Call to Action

On the odd decision by American labor unions to have their own solidarity day, the Workers Memorial Day, rather than participate in May Day.

Even Credentialed Young People Pessimistic About Their Futures

The fact that even well-placed young people are insecure and pessimistic is further proof of the impact of inequality and rentierism.

The Corporate Food Takeover

Corporate ownership in many sectors of food production has risen and is set to increase further. Another rentier program well underway.

The COVID-19 Catastrophe in India Keeps Growing

The Covid nightmare in India won’t end soon. Yet the West, despite self-interested reasons for reducing the contagion, is standing pat.

From an Un-Caring Economy to a Caring Economy: The Tax Justice Network Podcast, April 2021

“Caring economy” sounds awfully soft and fuzzy. However, it may finally be time to reject utlitarian views of how we organize our resources.