To an even greater extent than the 2008–9 financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the basic dysfunction that characterizes life in twenty-first-century America for all but the extraordinarily rich.

With much of the economy shut down and tens of millions suddenly unemployed last spring, Congress responded by sending out a one-off payment of $1,200. Thanks to a health care system built around the needs of corporate shareholders rather than helping the sick, many soon lost the insurance plans they had had before the virus hit. This state of affairs not being bleak enough on its own, senior figures in both parties started agitating for the value of meagre unemployment checks to be scaled back on the grounds that they were too generous and might discourage people from returning to work.

Between evictions, political stagnation, and the immiseration of millions who were faring poorly even before the crisis hit, America’s economy looks somehow more Dickensian with each passing week. And, as a new report predicts, it’s about to get much worse: tens of millions of homes may soon go dark, as people behind on their utility payments are subject to shutoffs.