Why do big corporations continue to win while workers get shafted? It all comes down to power: who has it, and who doesn’t. Continue reading
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Author Archives: Robert Reich
Beware the 21st century robber barons
This great shift in bargaining power from workers to corporate shareholders has created an increasingly angry working class vulnerable to demagogues peddling authoritarianism, racism, and xenophobia.
Trump rushed to reopen America, now COVID is closing in on him
Donald Trump said last Thursday’s jobs report, which showed an uptick in June, proves the economy is “roaring back”. Continue reading
Trump’s 2020 election strategy in 25 steps
Trump will do anything to be re-elected. His opponents are limited because they believe in democracy. Trump has no limits because he doesn’t. Continue reading
Trump’s presidency is over
You’d be forgiven if you hadn’t noticed. His verbal bombshells are louder than ever, but Donald J. Trump is no longer president of the United States. Continue reading
A tale of two pandemics
No description of the coronavirus is more misleading than calling it ‘the great equalizer.’
The horrific truth is that Native Americans, Latinos, and African-Americans are dying at much higher rates than white people – and we don’t know the half of it because the CDC hasn’t released any racial data about the virus; we don’t know if they’re even collecting it. Continue reading
The privileged and powerful in the pandemic
As America reopens for business, you might expect Jeff Bezos, the richest man in America, and his Amazon corporation, one of the most profitable corporations in America, to set the corporate standard for how to protect the health of American workers. Continue reading
The real reason Trump wants to reopen the economy
Donald Trump is getting nervous. Internal polls show him losing in November unless the economy comes roaring back. Continue reading
The deathly tragedy of American exceptionalism
No other nation has endured as much death from COVID-19 nor nearly as high a death rate as has the United States. Continue reading
Trump’s 4-step plan for reopening the economy will be lethal
Donald Trump is getting nervous. Internal polls show him losing in November unless the economy comes roaring back. Continue reading
Corporations will not save us: The sham of corporate social responsibility
Last August, the Business Roundtable—an association of CEOs of America’s biggest corporations—announced with great fanfare a “fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders” and not just their shareholders. Continue reading
From Ukraine to coronavirus: Trump’s abuse of power continues
Donald Trump has spent a lifetime exploiting chaos for personal gain and blaming others for his losses. The pure madness in America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic—shortages of equipment to protect hospital workers, dwindling supplies of ventilators and critical medications, jaw-dropping confusion over how $2.2 trillion of aid in the recent coronavirus law will be distributed—has given him the perfect cover to hoard power and boost his chances of reelection. Continue reading
The COVID-19 class divide
The pandemic is putting America’s deepening class divide into stark relief. Four classes are emerging. Continue reading
Coronavirus and the height of corporate welfare
With the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on the global economy, here’s how massive corporations are shafting the rest of us in order to secure billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded bailouts. Continue reading
Trump’s failed coronavirus response
The Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been a deliberate disaster from the beginning. But don’t take my word for it—just look at the facts. Continue reading
How CEOs are ruining America
Today, America’s wealthiest business moguls—like Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase—claim that they are “patriots before CEOs” because they employ large numbers of workers or engage in corporate philanthropy. Continue reading
Trump’s COVID-19 power grab
The utter chaos in America’s response to the pandemic—shortages of equipment to protect hospital workers, dwindling supplies of ventilators and critical medications, and jaw-dropping confusion over how the $2.2 trillion of aid in the recent coronavirus law will be distributed—was perhaps predictable in a nation that prides itself on competitive individualism and hates centralized power. Continue reading
How to prepare for the Trump recession
The global coronavirus pandemic has put our economy in free-fall. Continue reading
Public health first
Dick Kovacevich, former CEO of Wells Fargo bank, thinks most Americans should return to work in April, urging that we “gradually bring those people back and see what happens.” Continue reading
What’s missing from the coronavirus bill
The public health and economic crises we’re experiencing are closely related. They reveal in stark terms the dangerous mythology of trickle-down self-sufficiency and the need for policies that respond to the real needs of people who are or will soon be affected. Continue reading
America doesn’t have a public health system
Dr. Anthony S Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and just about the only official in the Trump administration trusted to tell the truth about the coronavirus, said last Thursday: “The system does not, is not really geared to what we need right now … It is a failing, let’s admit it.” Continue reading
How to respond to the national emergency
CEOs of the major Wall Street banks have been summoned to the White House to discuss the coronavirus its economic fallout. I’m told Trump administration is considering more corporate tax cuts, tax cuts targeted to the airlines and hospitality industries, and a temporary payroll tax cut. Continue reading
Bernie vs. Biden
As the Democratic Party’s “moderate” (or shall we say “establishment”) wing coalesces around Joe Biden to stop Bernie, the primary contest is starting to look a lot like 2016, when the same wing rallied around Hillary Clinton. Continue reading
Bernie or Biden?
As the Democratic Party’s “moderate” (or shall we say “establishment”) wing coalesces around Joe Biden to stop Bernie, the primary contest is starting to look a lot like 2016, when the same wing rallied around Hillary Clinton. Continue reading
The Democratic establishment is freaking out about Bernie. It should calm down.
The day after Bernie Sanders’s big win in Nevada, Joe Lockhart, Bill Clinton’s former press secretary, expressed the fear gripping the Democratic establishment: “I don’t believe the country is prepared to support a Democratic socialist, and I agree with the theory that Sanders would lose in a matchup against Trump.” Continue reading
The real State of the Union
I wasn’t going to comment on Trump’s lie-filled State of the Union message but the whoppers were so big—especially on the economy—that I feel compelled. Continue reading
Abuses of power in Trumpworld and Davos
As the Senate debates Donald Trump’s future, chief executives, financiers and politicians have assembled in Davos, Switzerland, for their annual self-congratulatory defense of global capitalism. Continue reading
Four reasons why millennials don’t have any money
The same forces that are driving massive inequality between the top 1 percent and the rest of us are creating a vast generational wealth gap between baby boomers—my generation—and millennials. Continue reading
The sham of corporate social responsibility
Boeing recently fired CEO Dennis Muilenburg in order “to restore confidence in the Company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers, and all other stakeholders.” Continue reading
Who is worse: Donald Trump or Mitch McConnell?
He’s maybe the most dangerous politician of my lifetime. He’s helped transform the Republican Party into a cult, worshiping at the altar of authoritarianism. He’s damaged our country in ways that may take a generation to undo. The politician I’m talking about, of course, is Mitch McConnell. Continue reading
The real deal with Medicare for All
Republicans and even some Democrats are out to scare you about Medicare for All. They say it’s going to dismantle health care as we know it and it will cost way too much. Continue reading
Trump is selling out America in Syria and beyond
The most xenophobic and isolationist American president in modern history has been selling America to foreign powers for his personal benefit. That’s an impeachable offense. Continue reading
The deadly Fox News-Trump syndicate
Posted on June 15, 2020 by Robert Reich
As the coronavirus crisis rages on, Fox News is contributing almost as much to the deaths and disease as is Trump’s White House. Continue reading →