Welcome to a Brave New World of Price Gouging
Sellers have always had access to more information than buyers, and “dynamic pricing,” which harnesses the power of algorithms and big data, is supercharging this asymmetry.
19132 Articles by: Frances Abele
Frances Abele CM is Distinguished Research Professor and Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy Emerita at Carleton University. She is a research fellow at the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation and the Broadbent Institute. Much of her work focuses on indigenous-Canada relations.
In Australia, Pro-Palestine Writers Are Defying Censorship
When the State Library of Victoria fired four pro-Palestinian writers earlier this year, they refused to go quietly. Now they’re at the forefront of a fight against censorship designed to silence criticism of Israeli atrocities in Gaza.
The Extent of Joe Lieberman’s Evildoing Was Truly Remarkable
Joe Lieberman was a fairly unremarkable Washington politician who managed to get famous by becoming a particularly enthusiastic, inveterate warmonger and corporate marionette within the Democratic Party.
When Communists Tried to Build Paradise on the Steppe
From 1925 to 1932, a thousand Europeans took the monthlong train ride to Soviet Kyrgyzstan as new members of the Interhelpo workers’ co-op. Their story tells of the utopian hopes placed in the Soviet project — and how they were crushed.
The Road House Remake Is Actually a Great Time
Do you ever hear about a new movie like the Road House remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal, assume it’s terrible, mentally prepare your vicious takedown of it — and then watch it? And it’s actually. . . good?
“Debt Is to Capitalism What Hell Is to Christianity”
A new series with Yanis Varoufakis explains how elites used the financial crisis to terrorize Europe’s populations into submission. In an interview, he tells Jacobin why the anti-austerity movement failed and why the center is converging with the far right.
The Alleged Sexual Assaults on Rikers Island Are Shocking
Me Too was often portrayed as solely focused on elite women’s concerns. That would be news to the prisoners at New York’s Rikers Island who have used a Me Too–inspired law to seek justice for over 700 alleged sexual assaults by guards in the jail.
Bed-Stuy Socialist Eon Huntley Is Running for State Assembly
Socialist and third-generation Brooklynite Eon Tyrell Huntley is running to represent Bed-Stuy in the New York State Assembly. Jacobin spoke to him about his working-class upbringing in Brooklyn and his campaign.
The Second City Union’s Long Fight for a Contract
Unionized teachers at the famous improv-comedy institution the Second City went two years without a contract — until they threatened a strike and won an agreement this past January. We talked to three Second City faculty about the long contract fight.
Jerome Powell’s Fingerprints Are on the Next Banking Crisis
One year after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is obstructing the finalization of tougher capital requirements for banks — and increasing the chances of more turbulence.
Cargo Giant in Baltimore Crash Silenced Whistleblowers
The company responsible for the Baltimore bridge collapse blocked its employees from reporting safety concerns to the US Coast Guard. It is now being sanctioned by federal regulators for violating a whistleblower protection law.
Don’t Write Off US Union Organizing Before the CIO
The Congress of Industrial Organizations is often understood to the be the innovative, solidarity-based alternative to the American Federation Labor, its immediate predecessor. But the CIO had limits too — and the AFL had more to offer than it gets credit for.
The Global Laws That Help Corporations Block Climate Action
Companies have long used international treaties to try to prevent Global South countries from asserting economic sovereignty. In recent decades, corporations have used such laws to stymie European governments’ attempts to tackle the climate crisis.
The National Review Wants You to Work Till You Drop
Only a select few get sinecures at conservative magazines like the National Review. Those few don’t have to work much, but they must carry out a key task: denouncing any effort to make life more bearable for the vast majority of us working stiffs.
There Is No Substitute for the Welfare State
Welfare programs can’t be replaced by policies that redistribute income from some businesses to others, or from capital to labor — the primary function of the welfare state is to provide for children, disabled people, and others outside the labor force.
Georgia Is Trying to Make It Harder for Workers to Unionize
Labor has been stirring recently. That’s unacceptable for bosses, who never rest in their attacks on unions. Case in point: a new bill in Georgia that seeks to ensure the unionization process is as difficult for workers and favorable to bosses as possible.
Building on the Best of New York’s Social Housing Policy
The New York state legislature is calling for the revival of Mitchell-Lama, a program that built over 160,000 affordable housing units in the mid-20th century. It’s a welcome proposal — but we need bigger ambitions for social housing policy today.
On Shōgun
FX’s miniseries Shōgun takes place at the time of first contact between Europeans and the Japanese people.
A New Lawsuit Is Putting Preventive Care Benefits at Risk
The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that private health care insurance plans cover preventive services at no cost is in danger of being rescinded.
Joe Biden’s Support for Israel Might Cost Him the Election
Joe Biden and his top advisers believe that fear of a potential Trump presidency will be enough to secure the Democrats’ victory in this year’s election. Polling data does not support this view. If Biden does not change course, he’s likely to face defeat.