Category Archives: The destruction of the middle class

Trumpism Has Dealt a Mortal Blow to Orthodox Economics and ‘Social Science’

Why Trumpism caused mainstream ‘social science’ to fall like a house of cards.

Wolf Richter: US Pension Crisis: This is How Families Get Squeezed to Bail Out Pension Funds in Chicago

Coming to a municipality near you..

Bill Black: Krugman’s Failure to Speak Truth to Power About Austerity

Krugman’s fiscal orthodoxy led him to enable Hillary’s disastrous embrace of austerity rather than call her out for it.

Bill Black: Hillary’s Threat to Wage Continuous War on the Working Class via Austerity Proved Fatal

Black recounts how fundamental austerity-driven economic policies had become to the Democrats and how Hillary embraced them wholeheartedly.

Why Economic Recovery Requires Rethinking Capitalism

Capitalism needs a dose of socialism, aka public works. Mission-oriented public investment is vital to revive private-sector investment.

Will Trump Be Rolled by the Republican Establishment?

If Trump is serious about policies like rebuilding infrastructure and reducing foreign conflicts, can he prevail over his party’s establishment?

The Old Democrat Wall Street Plus Identity Politics Playbook is Dead

The Democrats need to reinvent themselves. Appeals to identity politics will not deliver enough votes.

Voters Repudiate Clinton

Hillary Clinton is over.

Bill Black: Liberals Didn’t Listen – The Immense Cost of Ignoring Tom Frank’s Warnings

Why liberals (which do not forget is not the same as the left) reaped the whirlwind in the elections

Gaius Publius: TPP Is a Monopoly Protection Scheme, the Exact Opposite of a “Free Trade” Deal

Obama is determined to pass the TPP in the lame duck session, so yet another reminder of what this deal is really about.

Michael Hudson on Meet the Renegades

Michael Hudson gives a freewheeling interview on some favorite topics like rentier capitalism and why the Great Moderation wasn’t so great.

TRIPS: The Story of How Intellectual Property Became Linked to Trade

Why intellectual property rights are a form of private tax, and how they are abusive when applied to IP developed out of public funding.

Private Equity Consultant Hamilton Lane Trots Out New Excuse, “Evil Populists,” for Already-Flagging Private Equity Performance

Funny how it’s OK for defenders of the 0.1% like Hamilton Lane to blame class warfare on their soon-to-be-fallen standing, but not the 99%.

Dean Baker: Rigged – How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer

Dean Baker explains how market structure, which results from policy choices, legislation, and regulation, serve the rich first and foremost.