For decades, the rules of the global economy — and the economics discipline — seemed fixed. But now, with Donald Trump’s help, the edifice is collapsing. We talked to heterodox economist Ha-Joon Chang to understand dying dogmas and emerging alternatives.
Putting the Marxism Back Into “Cultural Marxism”
The Palm Springs School for Social Research wants to revitalize historical materialism, revive ideology critique, and ask big questions about social life. We talked to one of its founders, Catherine Liu, about gangster capitalism and the future of socialism.
Senegal Is in the World Cup but Hardly Made Welcome
One of Africa’s top teams, Senegal has good reason to look forward to the World Cup. But the US government has put up major barriers to its fans and journalists visiting the country, in a policy of deep discrimination against Senegalese citizens.
How Döner Workers Skewered Their Bosses
Döner is one of Germany’s favorite fast-food meals, but workers processing the meat for the skewers are badly paid. Now they’ve won their first ever collective agreement, after a 12-day strike waged by a multinational workforce.
The SEC Is Radically Loosening Trading Rules for SpaceX
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is making a record-breaking IPO today. For the occasion, the SEC exempted Wall Street brokers from consumer protection rules — potentially jeopardizing the assets of investors, including 401(k)s and pensions, if markets are volatile.
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.
Don’t Write Off a Third-Party Challenge to the Democrats
Voters quite simply do not like the Democrats. The Democratic Party brand is complete trash. Although the structural barriers to a break from the Dems are real, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
Stop Yapping and Pay New Parents
Is “girlboss feminism” responsible for declining birth rates? Are endocrine disruptors lowering teenage boys’ sperm counts? Stop asking ridiculous questions designed to stir up the culture wars, and start figuring out how to put cash in new parents’ pockets.
Backrooms and Obsession Are Glimpses of a Better Hollywood
Two indie horror movies with YouTube origins, Obsession and Backrooms, crushed big-budget Star Wars and He-Man movies at the box office. But claims that these films represent a revival of cinematic creativity à la the New Hollywood era are overblown.
How Not to Write About Class
For over a decade, Édouard Louis has been one of France’s most perceptive writers on his country’s working class. But as he has drifted away from this milieu, he has swapped clear-eyed analysis for cliché-ridden romanticization of the suffering poor.
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.
Trump’s Bet on Stablecoins Puts the Financial System at Risk
US government enthusiasm about the cryptocurrency known as stablecoins is about more than Trumpian corruption or industry lobbying. It’s an attempt to lower federal borrowing costs — one that may undermine the financial system’s stability in the long run.
Uber and Lyft Are Set to Win Legal Immunity for Crashes
Rideshare apps Uber and Lyft are battling thousands of injury and sexual assault lawsuits. A must-pass transportation bill in Congress includes an industry-friendly carveout that would give the companies legal immunity from car crashes and injuries.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union Leaders Explain Their Strategy
As the union reform organization Teamsters for a Democratic Union turns 50, we spoke to its cochairs about their work building rank-and-file power inside one of the most important unions in the United States.
New York Democrats Marched With Israeli Fascists
Democrats say they are a bulwark against rising authoritarianism. Why, then, did some of New York’s most powerful Democratic leaders like Gov. Kathy Hochul and Sen. Chuck Schumer march with war criminals and self-described fascists from Israel?