A New Era of Punitive Social Policy
Red state governors and legislators are parroting Trump’s every move, promising to slash spending, and looking to tear down federal standards or guardrails that get in their way.
Spring 2025
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The GOP Attack on Free Lunch
In an era of retrenchment in social policy, food assistance is becoming more generous and inclusive. But Republican politicians are attempting to gut one of the most popular programs: free school lunch.
Who Segregated America?
Federal housing policies contributed to the segregation of American cities in the twentieth century. But it was private interests that led the way.
The Pandemic Risk Shift
In the face of COVID-19, the political response has been at best temporary relief and at worst indifference. What we need going forward is not just better public health measures, but a response to the economic insecurities and policy failures that it laid bare.
Federalism Is Killing Us
Deference to state governments has severely undermined public health efforts during the pandemic and deepened geographic inequality in the United States.
Closing Doors: Race and Opportunity in St. Louis Schools
Decisions about where to build or close a school are not just responses to demographic change. They are drivers of it.
The Pre-emption Racket
Conservative state governments are rolling back local public health initiatives, intentionally putting their citizens in harm’s way.
Who Gets Protected?
Across the country, state governments are passing legislation that grants companies immunity from any liability for their failure to protect workers during the pandemic.
Understanding the Unemployment Crisis
What’s behind the drive to “re-open”? Some state governments just want to return to how they previously used unemployment insurance: not to cushion the blow of job loss but to compel participation in the labor market.
The Deepening Unemployment Crisis
Current unemployment numbers now rival the peak during the Great Depression.
The Unemployment Shock Continues
It took just three weeks to hit the number of U.S. unemployment claims that were reached in forty-four weeks during the Great Recession. And that doesn’t include people unable to access antiquated and overwhelmed state application systems.
The Unemployment Shock
Most downturns in the business cycle occur over a number of months. This spike has occurred in just a couple of weeks.
Inequality in the Trump Era
The Trump administration didn’t invent the policies that redistribute wealth and income to the top, but it has doubled down on them in characteristically cruel and petty ways.
Citizen Brown
On the history of dispossession, disinvestment, and discrimination that formed the backdrop to the killing of Michael Brown.
What’s (Still) the Matter with Iowa?
Unemployment “reforms” in Iowa and other states controlled by the GOP fit neatly with a larger agenda: not to protect workers from low wages, unsafe working conditions, and unbridled employer power, but to compel them to accept whatever they can get.
