We Have Always Lived in the Casino
John Maynard Keynes warned that when real investment becomes the by-product of speculation, the result is often disaster. But it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
94 Articles by: Doug Henwood
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Doug Henwood edits Left Business Observer and is the host of Behind the News. His latest book is My Turn.
A Bill for Trump’s Madness Will Come Due
Donald Trump once said that under him, we would “get tired of winning.” As the United States sees credit downgrades, deep budget cuts, and potential fiscal crises, the wins are pretty hard to find.
Liberals’ Favorite Election Story Is Wrong
Exit polls from 2016 to 2024 reveal surprising shifts among voters, undermining liberal tropes about racism and patriarchy driving Trump support. It’s time for new theories about America’s political divides.
It Was Always About Inflation
Simply put, Donald Trump owes his reelection to inflation and to the fact that the Biden administration did little to address the problem in a way that helped working-class families.
Trumponomics
What kind of economic policy could we expect from a second Trump term?
Not Taxing Tips Is a Bad Idea
Servers and other tipped workers desperately need better pay. Donald Trump’s blurted-out proposal not to tax tips, now copied by Kamala Harris, isn’t the way to achieve it.
Reminder to Democrats: Israel’s Occupation of Palestine Is Illegal
Any political party that claims to be concerned with the rule of law should be using the recent International Court of Justice ruling to demand an end to the occupation and Israeli’s bloody, unlawful conduct in Gaza and across Palestine.
A Brief History of the Democratic Party
The Democratic Party, and the US political system as a whole, is a very strange beast.
The GOP’s “Corporate Agenda Masquerading as Working Class”
UAW Region 9a leader Brandon Mancilla says in an interview with Jacobin that he and his union are not impressed with Republicans’ supposed pro-worker turn — and he explains what a real progressive, working-class agenda would look like.
Workplace Fragmentation Demands New Organizing Strategies
In recent decades, structural changes in the US economy have dispersed workers across workplaces and geographic areas. Labor’s decline can’t be reversed without addressing this new reality.
How the Ruling Class Became Vulgar
Old-money WASPs once ruled America with an air of clannish exclusivity. Then the economic crises of the 1970s upended their world, opening the corporate floodgates to new-money barbarians — and replacing elite social norms with wanton money lust.
Is the “Vibecession” Over?
Consumer confidence is up, and inflation is down. But will the economy improve enough by November to buoy Biden’s flagging reelection prospects?
How Private Equity Was Born
Private equity, now a major presence in the US economic landscape, has been booming since the 2008 financial crisis. Its roots lie in the rise of the corporation at the turn of the century and the shareholder revolution of the 1980s.
Despite Worker Militancy, Union Rates Are Still Down
Despite an apparent upsurge in labor militancy, unions made no gains in their share of the workforce last year. Something needs to change — and fast.
Bidenomics Puts Business, Not Workers, First
The Biden economy’s defenders claim it is delivering big gains to workers. But people are still feeling pain in their wallets and the rich are the ones benefiting the most.
Is Capitalism Terminally Ill?
A debate between Seth Ackerman and Aaron Benanav on the prognosis for capitalism: Is it experiencing the kind of long-run stagnation that many Marxists have long regarded as its destiny? And what does the answer mean for socialist political strategy today?
Way More College Students Struggle With Food Insecurity Than Go to the Ivy Leagues
The vast majority of college students don’t go to the elite universities that dominate media attention. Many struggle daily to make ends meet — and new figures show that one in four undergraduates suffer from food insecurity.
Anti-Trans Bills Are Sweeping the US Despite, Not Because of, Public Opinion
The coordinated attack on trans rights in state legislatures across the US is built on a foundation of hateful paranoia and right-wing lies. But however unpopular anti-trans bills are, the human costs are real: thousands are migrating from anti-trans states.
The West Is Ignoring the Nightmarish War in Ethiopia
The war in Ethiopia has largely been ignored by the outside world, and information has been hard to come by. But what we know about the conflict is horrific: at least 500,000 civilians have been killed, and 5 million have been displaced.
Ryan Grim: “Railworkers Feel Like They Have Very Little Left to Lose at This Point”
Railworkers’ recent labor battle exposed their increasingly brutal working conditions. We spoke with journalist Ryan Grim about the rank-and-file effort to rebuild power in rail unions — so workers can fight the railroad bosses even harder next time.