Central bank independence has been a sacred cow for the last generation in the major capitalist economies. Donald Trump’s appointment of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair symbolizes the beginning of a new era based on overt politicization of monetary policy.
Kathy Hochul’s New Budget Fails to Meet the Moment
After a long delay, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has passed a state budget — a budget that does almost nothing to protect the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers about to lose health care and food stamps due to Donald Trump’s federal budget cuts.
Your Favorite Doctor Influencers Don’t Support M4A
Online doctor influencers have enormous audiences, partly built on their criticisms of the dysfunction of America’s health care system. So why do they never discuss Medicare for All, the universal program designed to address the problems they denounce?
The Democrats Are Determined Not to Learn From Their Failure
The Democrats’ botched 2024 autopsy doesn’t just leave out Gaza. It also simply pretends the left-populist upsurge embodied by Zohran Mamdani isn’t happening, while coveting its achievements.
The Long, Grueling Strike at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital
Nurses at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, Michigan, have been on strike for more than eight months over staffing levels and return-to-work protections. The dispute is one of the longest nurse walkouts in recent US history.
The Making of the Teenager
The teenager we know today came of age in the postwar era — but she owes her existence to the New Deal.
Neoliberalism didn’t win an intellectual argument — it won power. Vivek Chibber unpacks how employers and political elites in the 1970s and ’80s turned economic turmoil into an opportunity to reshape society on their terms.
Workers Are Demanding a Share of Samsung’s AI Windfall
A last-minute deal headed off a planned strike at Samsung, the Korean electronics giant. The unions have shown that a sustained campaign backed up by the willingness to strike can extract concessions, even from one of the world’s most powerful firms.
Mamdani Can Empower Workers Themselves to Enforce Labor Law
Zohran Mamdani can take labor law enforcement beyond traditional mechanisms by empowering workers themselves to enforce the law on the job, building peer education and empowering shop-floor workplace rights monitors.
Capitalist Markets Won’t Solve Pandemics or the Climate Crisis
In the 19th century, capitalist markets combined with environmental disaster to cause famines across the Global South. We might experience a similar tragedy again soon.
NYC’s Economic Development Corporation Can Build Public Options
The Left needs to show it can deliver bold, ambitious new public services. Zohran Mamdani can transform the Economic Development Corporation into an incubator for public goods that can meet the needs of all New Yorkers.
Socialism cannot mean merely managing capitalism more fairly. It must point toward a society where survival is no longer contingent on the market — and where democracy extends into the economy itself.
We Rarely See Films as Fresh as I Love Boosters
Boots Riley’s remarkably easy confidence and visual flair in I Love Boosters is a tonic in an era of boring CGI slop. He’s one of the most compelling filmmakers working today.
Japan Is Rearming and Embracing Nationalism
Amid rising nationalism, Japan is accelerating its military buildup. Troublingly, as Japan abandons its postwar pacifism, its leadership is also pushing revisionist ideas about the atrocities that made the stance necessary to begin with.
How the UAE Built an Empire of Kleptocrats
From Libya to Yemen and Palestine to Sudan, the United Arab Emirates has built a regional network of militias, autocrats, and oligarchs that perpetuate violence for power and profit.
The Pro-Israel Lobby Is Trying to Fly Under the Radar
Amid widespread public disapproval of Israel’s destruction across the Middle East, pro-Israel donors aligned with AIPAC appear to be resorting to new fundraising vehicles to covertly channel money to favored Democratic candidates.