Dean Baker: Social Security A Success Story- Can It Withstand Privatization Attacks?
Dean Baker discusses the push toward privatization of Social Security just after the system celebrates its 82nd birthday.
Read more...Category Archives: Social policy
Data Scientist Cathy O’Neil: “Algorithms Are Opinions Embedded in Code”
On the real and present dangers of rule by algorithm, or as Lambert has called it, “code as law”.
Read more...Another Way the Rich Preserve Their Advantage: Grade Inflation in Private Schools
Private school grade inflation is a small but nevertheless telling factor in how class mobility has fallen in the US.
Read more...Debunking the Myth of “Free Speech”
Contrary to widespread misperceptions, we’ve never had free speech in America, and there are good reasons why not.
Read more...School Funding Fight in Illinois: Billionaire Ex-Private Equity Governor Rauner v. 2 Million Students
Yves here. Notice how all the hysteria over evil Rooskies, North Korea, and neo-Nazis on the march has diverted media attention away from fights over economic issues? In Illinois, Governor Rauner is pushing through a scheme to curb funding to schools that is designed to hit lower property tax districts and Chicago particularly hard. Some […]
Read more...Why Public Company Ownership Is Irrelevant to Monopolies
Why the argument that public company ownership contributes to monopoly power is wrong-headed.
Read more...The Case Against a Consumption Tax
Why a consumption tax does not hold up under close scrutiny.
Read more...“The Changing of the Guard:” The Prescient 1980 Book That Foretold the Democrat Love Affair With Neoliberalism
How up and coming Democrats in the 1970s and 1980s decided being wannabe Republicans was a path to power.
Read more...The Opioid Crisis: Treating Root Causes of Addiction
Trump’s declared opioid crisis a national emergency; author Dr. Gabor Mate says effective policy would address the causes of addiction.
Read more...Foxconn’s Con: Seeking Whopping Subsidies for Wisconsin, Michigan Manufacturing Jobs…If They Happen
What the dodgy Foxconn scheme to build factories in the US says about Trump’s commitment to job creation.
Read more...Concrete Material Benefits: “Better Deal” vs. “People’s Platform”
“This is why we can’t have nice things” vs. “This is why you may have slightly better things.”
Read more...Shareholder Value Theory: Social Responsibility Can Increase ROI
Acting on social responsibility demands isn’t just good PR. It can be a sound strategy.
Read more...Struggling but Stuck in Rural America
The Wall Street Journal describes why it’s so hard to escape struggling rural towns. Too bad its readers will hear none of it.
Read more...What the US “Health Care Reform” Debate Did Not Address
A sobering compendium of the factors responsible for the rot in the US health care system.
Read more...Matt Bruenig: The “Success Sequence” Is About Cultural Beefs Not Poverty
Debunking a pet conservative meme about the need to have a family to get out of poverty.
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