Economy
Meet the Bailout’s New Slush Fund
The battle over the bailout—set to be delivered through a once-obscure Treasury Department mechanism called the Exchange Stabilization Fund—has only just begun.
Should There Be a COVID-19 Rent Strike?
While the government and some banks have announced mortgage moratoriums, they have not insisted that rent relief be passed on to tenants. Many renters don’t know what they will do come April 1, let alone May 1.
End Shareholder Primacy Once and For All
We face an economic crisis not least because the rules of corporate governance slight workers and preclude economic resiliency. We must reform them now.
With a Uniquely Fragile Economy, Stimulus Is Not Enough
Our long-term goal must go well beyond the Senate bill to build a more resilient economy.
For Whom the Markets Toll
Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, and Henry Paulson still have not reckoned with the failures of neoliberal planning in the wake of the financial crisis.
Conservatives’ Newfound Interest in Dignified Work
They can give up free-market orthodoxy, but they still can’t bring themselves to embrace labor.
Whose Liberalism?
With its elite decision-makers and opinion-formers, the Economist has exerted tremendous influence on popular liberal discourse for more than a century.
Against Black Homeownership
The real estate market is so structured by race that Black families will never come out ahead.
The Long History of Debt Cancellation
Moral thinking about debt has fluctuated throughout U.S. history. Today’s calls for cancellation suggest it may be poised for transformation once again.
How Not to Argue for Tax Justice
Economists are taking aim at the unfairness of the U.S. tax system. But a just society won’t be won by arguing about taxes alone.
Bad Romance
Capitalism hasn’t disenchanted the world. Like a bad lover, it beguiles us into spiritual desolation.
What the Health Care Debate Still Gets Wrong
Contrary to the Obama administration, U.S. health care spending isn’t high because Americans use too much medicine. The real culprit is our fragmented and privatized system.
The American Corporation Is in Crisis—Let’s Rethink It
For decades, shareholder primacy has obscured the fact that employees should do well when businesses do well.
Perpetual Debt in the Silicon Savannah
Kenya’s poor were among the first to benefit from digital lending apps; now they call it slavery.
Games Economists Play
The hostile reaction to Binyamin Appelbaum’s new book reveals the tensions within the economics profession over some of its most self-serving myths.
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