Category Archives: The dismal science

Apple’s “Crush” Ad, Rentierism, and the End of Capitalism?

Apple’s dystopian ode to rentierism.

How Trade Liberalisation Kicked Away African Development Ladder

How trade liberalization cut Africa’s modest production capacities, industry and food security.

Consumers Regard the Cost of Money as Part of the Cost of Living

This column examines why consumer sentiment in the US remained depressed in 2023 despite low unemployment and falling inflation, and finds that increasing borrowing costs can explain much of this gap.

How Biden Can Win on the Economy: Stop Mass Layoffs

Why has Biden failed to add a clause to Federal contracts to protect workers from mass layoffs?

Tilting at Windmills: Bernanke and Blanchard’s Obsession with the Wage-Price Spiral

The obsession of big-name economists with defending a bad model has consequences, here, a policy aim of whacking wages.

No Exit: Western Imperialism, Capitalism, and Industrialization

Is industrialization the original sin of both capitalist and Communist/socialist economic systems?

Europe’s New Fiscal Rules Harm Working People and Women, Boost Right-Wing Radicals

New EU fiscal rules, touted as creating and economic growth, actually embody a dangerous agenda to shred social safety nets.

Yanis Varoufakis: Greece, EU Elections, Palestine & the International Order – JACOBIN Interview with David Broder

Varoufakis weighs in on topics of keen interest: the looting of Greece, then and now, the European left, and Palestine.

IMF, in a Quiet Slap to the US, Urges Non-Alignment in Second Cold War

When you’ve lost the IMF…..

Mapping the Economic Costs of War

Looking at the economic impact of war on neighboring countries, including ones not part of the theater of conflict.

Why Are Their Lordships So Frightened of Modern Monetary Theory?

Efforts are underway to discredit modern monetary theory in the UK.