PG&E Blackout Round-Up, Mini-Grids, and Thoughts on The Jackpot
PG&E’s bankruptcy woes, possibilities for a more resilient grid, and “androgenic, systemic, multiplex, seriously bad sh*t” (The Jackpot).
Read more...Category Archives: The destruction of the middle class
Announcing the First Winner of the Archie McCardell Award for Truly Horrendous Management: WeWork
Introducing serial leading company wrecker Archie McCardell, and noteworthy successors to him, with WeWork as a first object lesson.
Read more...The Census Fails to Count 100 Million People as Living in Poverty
IPS Fellow Karen Dolan, who works with the Poor People’s Campaign, discusses her new study on poverty in the US.
Read more...The California Workers’ Rights Bill Is a Start, but We Need a More Radical Approach to the ‘Gig Economy’
Stronger rights for Uber and Amazon workers are essential. But we must also address the economic context that makes insecure work a reality.
Read more...Bad Debts Make Good Profits – But What Are the Social Costs?
As European borrowers choke on debts they can’t repay, due to a significant degree to austerity-induced weak economies, financial profiteers swoop in to take advantage of the distress.
Read more...The Implementation Flaw in Warren’s Wealth Tax
There are better ways to skin fat cats than Warren’s wealth tax.
Read more...Secular Stagnation: The Limits of Conventional Wisdom
The debate over secular stagnation continues, yet orthodox economists are loath to admit that the needed fix is more demand, which means more government spending.
Read more...We Can’t Rely on Corporations to Reform Themselves – We Must Challenge Their Power
Corporations cross their hearts and swear that they’ll care about more than executive and director pay and stock prices.
Read more...Michael Hudson: Asset-Price Inflation and Rent Seeking
A meaty new paper by Michael Hudson.
Read more...Want To Reduce Suicides? Follow The Data — To Medical Offices, Motels And Even Animal Shelters
A new effort at reducing suicides by understanding them better is showing promising results.
Read more...Working Conditions on Digital Labour Platforms: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Quest for Decent Work
A large scale study confirms that labour platforms, also known as crowdwork, are exploitative.
Read more...Trump May Get Much of the World’s Manufacturing Out of China, but It Won’t Be Coming Back to the U.S.
Chimerica” is dead—even if Trump’s trade war ends in a draw.
Read more...Ending Temp Workers Is at Center of Auto Workers Strike
How temp workers are a way to implement Jay Gould’s plan: “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.”
Read more...New Evidence on the Consequences of Gentrification for Children
Contrary to widespread beliefs, gentrification does not appear to harm children. But that may be because it operates differenlty than most assume.
Read more...The Financial Times’ Martin Wolf Discovers that Rentier Capitalism and Financialization Increase Inequality and Hurt Growth
Martin Wolf has a big think about what is wrong in and discovers rentier activity.
Read more...