Friday’s jobs report from the Department of Labor was a warning sign about the US economy. It should cause widespread concern about the Fed’s plans to raise interest rates to control inflation. And it should cause policymakers to rethink ending government supports such as extended unemployment insurance and the child tax credit. These will soon be needed to keep millions of families afloat. Continue reading
Last week, the Fed’s policy committee announced it would both end its bond-buying program and likely raise interest rates sooner than had been expected. “Inflation is more persistent and higher, and that the risk of it remaining higher for longer has grown,” Fed chair Jerome Powell explained. Continue reading
The next ten days may well offer the last opportunity to enact Biden’s agenda, because once Congress returns from Christmas break it’s the new year—which is a danger zone for new legislation. Even when Democrats control all three branches—as they do now and did during first two years of Obama and Clinton—the second year is perilous because of the overwhelming gravitational pull of the midterm elections (I have a searing memory of Bill Clinton unable to summon a Democratic majority in 1994 for his healthcare bill). Continue reading
The biggest culprit for rising prices that’s not being talked about is the increasing economic concentration of the American economy in the hands of a relative few giant big corporations with the power to raise prices. Continue reading
For the first time in years, American workers have enough bargaining leverage to demand better working conditions and higher wages—and are refusing to work until they get them. Continue reading
Excuse me but I have to vent. Continue reading
Last Tuesday, the Labor Department reported that some 4.3 million people had quit their jobs in August. That comes to about 2.9 percent of the workforce—up from the previous record set in April, of about 4 million people quitting. Continue reading
Skyrocketing wealth inequality isn’t just wrong. It’s also weakening our economy. Continue reading
Just one year after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, Republican nominees on the Supreme Court are on the way to overturning Roe v. Wade. But they’re going out of their way to speak out publicly against the partisanship they’re actively engaged in. Continue reading
The former president’s attempted coup is not stopping. He still refuses to concede and continues to rile up supporters with his bogus claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Tens of millions of Americans believe him. Continue reading
Remember when Jeff Bezos was showered with praise for donating $100 million to food banks last year? Continue reading
My granddaughter will go to school next week. So may your child or grandchild. For many, it will be their first time back in classrooms in a year and a half. Continue reading
I’m as sensitive as anyone to the sufferings of Afghanis now, but I’ve had it with the sanctimony of journalists and pundits who haven’t thought about Afghanistan for 20 years—many of whom urged we get out—but who are now filling the August news hole with overwrought stories about Biden’s botched exit and Taliban atrocities. Continue reading
The mainstream media have historically tried to balance left and right in their political coverage, and present what it views as a reasonable center. Continue reading
There’s a narrative out there that millennials and the Generation Zs behind them are lazy. Continue reading
Tuesday a federal judge was expected to certify Purdue Pharmaceutical’s bankruptcy plan—a $4.5 billion settlement between the company and thousands of state and municipal governments that have sued for damages related to the opioid epidemic. The settlement occurs more than two decades after Purdue began aggressively marketing OxyContin to an unsuspecting public and after more than 500,000 people died in the United States as a result. Continue reading
In light of the latest IPCC report on climate change, it’s crucial we remember these four steps to avoiding a climate catastrophe. Continue reading
We’ve become so inured to Donald Trump’s proto-fascism that we barely blink an eye when we learn that he tried to manipulate the 2020 election. Yet the most recent revelation should frighten every American to their core. Continue reading
Despair is worse after a brief period of hope. I don’t know about you, but I was elated earlier this spring when it seemed as if Trump and COVID were gone, and Biden seemed surprisingly able to get the nation rapidly back on track. Continue reading
You’d think President Biden and the Democratic Party leadership would do everything in their power to stop Republicans from undermining democracy. Continue reading
Last Thursday, 39 million American parents began receiving a monthly child allowance ($300 per child under 6, and $250 per child from 6 through 17). It’s the biggest helping hand to American families in more than 85 years. Continue reading
The former guy is suing Facebook, Twitter, and Google for violating his 1st Amendment rights by keeping him off their platforms. Continue reading
Policymakers and the media are paying too much attention to how quickly the U.S. economy will emerge from the pandemic-induced recession, and not nearly enough to the nation’s deeper structural problem—the increasing imbalance of wealth that could enfeeble the economy for years. Continue reading
House Republicans are blaming Democrats for the rise in Chipotle burrito prices. Continue reading
China’s increasingly aggressive geopolitical and economic stance in the world is unleashing a fierce bipartisan backlash in America. That’s fine if it leads to more public investment in basic research, education, and infrastructure—as did the Sputnik shock of the late 1950s. But it poses dangers as well. Continue reading
The story you’ve heard about immigration, from politicians and the mainstream media alike, isn’t close to the full picture. Here’s the truth about how we got here and what we must do to fix it. Continue reading
ProPublica’s bombshell report on America’s super-wealthy paying little or nothing in taxes reveals not only their humongous wealth but also how they’ve parlayed that wealth into political power to shrink their taxes to almost nothing. Continue reading
Maybe it’s wishful thinking to declare the pandemic over in the US, and presumptuous to conclude what lessons we’ve learned. So consider this a first draft. Continue reading
ProPublica’s bombshell report on America’s super-wealthy paying little or nothing in taxes reveals not only their humongous wealth but also how they’ve parlayed that wealth into political power to shrink their taxes to almost nothing. Continue reading
Sunday morning, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin announced in the Charleston Gazette-Mail that he’s a “no” on the For the People Act—and a no for ending the filibuster. Continue reading
The greatest danger to American democracy right now is not coming from Russia, China, or North Korea. It is coming from the Republican Party. Continue reading
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What happened to the party of limited government?
Posted on November 3, 2021 by Robert Reich
I’m old enough to remember when the Republican Party stood for limited government—when Ronald Reagan thundered “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” Continue reading →