Labor

Trump’s Sleight of Hand Will Bring Ruin to American Workers

Trump’s policies spell disaster for economic equality. And the worst is yet to come.

  • Lauren Carasik

A Jobless Utopia?

A rural town in Spain gives us a glimpse into the challenges we will face in a workless future.

  • David McDermott Hughes

The Right to Strike

A rights-based movement is the only way to save labor.

  • James Gray Pope
  • Ed Bruno
  • Peter Kellman
with responses from
  • Alicia Garza
  • Bob Master
  • Isabelle Ferreras
  • Sophia Lee
  • Stephen Lerner
  • Alex Gourevitch
  • Janice Fine
  • Dan Schlademan & Andrea Dehlendorf
  • Cynthia Estlund
  • Bill Fletcher, Jr.
  • Thomas A. Kochan
  • Staughton Lynd

Why Coretta Scott King Fought for a Job Guarantee

She saw economic precarity not just as a side effect of racial subjugation, but central to its functioning.

  • David Stein

The Real Source of Right-Wing Populism

It’s cultural resentment, not economic malaise.

  • Pranab Bardhan

Basic Income Is a Dead End

Basic income is a seductive poison that would benefit the margins of society at the expense of the middle class and immigrants.

  • Anke Hassel

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Basic Income in a Just Society

Cash grants have a role to play in building a decent future for work—alongside much else.

  • Brishen Rogers
with responses from
  • Patrick Diamond
  • Annette Bernhardt
  • Tommie Shelby
  • Peter Barnes
  • Juliana Bidadanure
  • Dorian T. Warren
  • Diane Coyle
  • Philippe Van Parijs
  • Connie Razza
  • Roy Bahat
  • David Rolf & Corrie Watterson

No Racial Justice Without Basic Income

A basic income that supplemented existing welfare structures could make everyone safer while ending the most pernicious forms of policing.

  • The Undercommons

Basic Income Works

Recipients of basic income continue to work, spend less on vice, and are able to invest in long-term plans.

  • Paul Niehaus
  • Michael Faye

Democrats and Labor: Frenemies Forever?

The Democratic Party has hastened the demise of the labor movement, but unions have little choice but to stick with them.

  • Erik Loomis

Is Globalization to Blame?

The loss of jobs that accompanied globalization could have been avoided.

  • Dean Baker
with responses from
  • Peter Evans
  • Robert Lepenies
  • Susan N. Houseman
  • Michael J. Piore
  • Harley Shaiken
  • Alan Tonelson
  • Daron Acemoglu

Back of the Yards

Lessons from a community organizer on building political power.

  • Michael Gecan

After Trump

A pluralistic democracy is built on debate, disagreement, and wakeful action. This forum begins the conversation.

  • Joshua Cohen
with responses from
  • Janice Fine
  • Judith Levine
  • Robin D. G. Kelley
  • Christopher Petrella
  • William Howell
  • Nick Bromell

How Not to Argue for Basic Income

When proponents deploy the logic of market competition, they undermine democracy and social equality.

  • Brishen Rogers

The End of Work

Government has always played an outsize role in creating jobs—and still can.

  • Claude S. Fischer

Unraveling the Silicon Valley Consensus

Startups aren’t the magic bullet for economic growth.

  • Ben Armstrong

The Not-So-Revolutionary Single Woman

The family is changing. Will the social contract catch up?

  • Jessa Crispin

The Future of Work in the Uber Economy

Creating a Safety Net in a Multi-Employer World

  • Steven Hill

Boxing’s Labor Problem

Boxing, longtime domain of the blue-collar fighter, has suddenly become the playground of the one percent.

  • Joel Calahan

A Bigger Tent

Can Richard Trumka Save the Labor Movement?

  • Amy B. Dean

Don’t Believe the Hype—We’re Not Even Close to Full Employment

Millions of prime age workers did not just suddenly decide to retire. They left the labor force because of weak labor demand.

  • Dean Baker

Discrimination and Hiring

From job-seeking to medical treatment, many decision-makers decide with a racial tilt (consciously or not).

  • Claude S. Fischer

Lessons from Market Basket

On a remarkable summer of protest.

The Flip Side of Individualism

How egoism can also lead to self-defeating self-blame.

  • Claude S. Fischer
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