Rethinking Political Economy
This series asks how we build a new world after forty years of market fundamentalism. We debate new ways to think about protecting the planet, the relationship of equality and democracy, the need for racially inclusive prosperity, the promise of industrial policy, the dangers of concentrated economic power, and a revival of investment in public goods.
Generously supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The Real Path to Abundance
To deliver plentiful housing and clean energy, we have to get the story right about what’s standing in the way.
Can AI Break Out of Panglossian Neoliberalism?
What Big Tech has done to our institutional and infrastructural imagination.
A Grassroots Government
Janice Fine explains how “co-enforcement”—a bold new model for upholding labor law—is linking the state to social movements.
An Innovation System That Works
Before rushing to build the next DARPA, we need to assess the R&D model we have.
How Not to Do Industrial Policy
Instead of pouring public funds into private industry—as the U.S. did with COVID-19 vaccines—we must build public capacity and prioritize public objectives.
Escape from the Market
Basic income proposals threaten the market order—which is why they keep being beaten back, even though some capitalists support them.
The False Promise of Opportunity Zones
Tax breaks for investors don’t help poor communities. Rather than court venture capital, cities must build new institutions to grow neighborhood wealth.
Workplace Data Is a Tool of Class Warfare
Workers will benefit from technology when they control how it’s used.
What Will It Take to Save Democracy?
Financial Times commentator Martin Wolf says “it’s the economy, stupid.” The truth is more complicated.
Yes, Tax the Rich—and Also the Merely Affluent
For years the left has rallied around taxing the 1 percent, but this group is too narrow.
The World Speculation Made
Contemporary life has been deeply molded by financialization. But the speculative imagination can also be a tool for building a more just world.
The Frozen Politics of Social Security
The tone of exhausted pragmatism—even among friends of the program—is counterproductive. It is beyond time to fight fire with fire.
Microfinance’s Imagined Utopia
Two new books critique poverty capital, but they don’t ask what borrowers need.
Does Our Sustainable Future Start in the Mine?
Rare earth mining will disrupt local climate resilience. Who should pay the price?
Dreams of Green Hydrogen
In place of public-private partnerships, we should revive the Pan-African ambitions of the green developmental state.
The New Workplace Surveillance
Both regulators and employers have embraced new technologies for on-the-job monitoring, turning a blind eye to unjust working conditions.
Improvising Urban Futures
The vast hinterlands of the Global South’s cities are generating new solidarities and ideas of what counts as a life worth living.
Escape from the Closed Loop
Protests in China are shining a light not only on the country’s draconian population management but restrictions on workers everywhere.
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