The Pre-emption Racket
Conservative state governments are rolling back local public health initiatives, intentionally putting their citizens in harm’s way.
Summer 2020
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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.
State of the Unions
The latest numbers on union membership in the public and private sectors are not pretty.
Healthy Signs
The Affordable Care Act is deeply flawed, but it has nonetheless made healthcare cheaper and more accessible for millions.
Wage Woes
Unemployment is at its lowest since 1969, yet the average American worker remains badly underpaid. Why?
