Economy

The Urgency of Marrying Affordability to Anti-Corporate Populism The Urgency of Marrying Affordability to Anti-Corporate Populism

For all the good news, Democrats are at a dangerous moment politically.

Mike Lux

The Job of Being Jesse Jackson The Job of Being Jesse Jackson

Jackson’s lessons for today’s Democrats.

Bruce Shapiro

Epstein Class Clowns Epstein Class Clowns

One key revelation in the wide correspondence of the late pedophile: The rich and powerful just aren’t all that bright.

Elizabeth Spiers

Policy

Anti-ICE demonstrators rally at a demonstration organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, on February 15, 2026.

The Urgency of Marrying Affordability to Anti-Corporate Populism The Urgency of Marrying Affordability to Anti-Corporate Populism

For all the good news, Democrats are at a dangerous moment politically.

Mike Lux

Looking for plastic bottle trash at a garbage dump in Aceh province, Indonesia.

Why Do Americans Consume So Much? Look to the Military. Why Do Americans Consume So Much? Look to the Military.

We consume far beyond our means because our military keeps enough of us feeling secure, and we have such a large military because we consume far beyond our means.

Andrea Mazzarino

A farmer shovels snow from the roof of his building on December 09, 2025 near Belvidere, Illinois.

The Farmland Revolt The Farmland Revolt

America’s farmers are fuming over Trump’s tariffs. Democrats need to channel their anger.

Column / Erica Etelson and Anthony Flaccavento

Labor

The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier Than Ever to Exploit Farmworkers

What is being described as “reform” in Washington will only make the abuse and wage theft that plague the program even worse.

Teresa Cotsirilos

Is Union Power Growing in Mamdani’s New York? Is Union Power Growing in Mamdani’s New York?

Following the Mamdani administration’s talks with the CUNY faculty union, three professors have returned to class after losing their jobs for their pro-Palestine activism.

StudentNation / Mohamad Rimawi

Drag Can Save a Life in New York City—if People Show Up Drag Can Save a Life in New York City—if People Show Up

Black and trans drag performers are crowdfunding to survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Ava Pauline Emilione

Baristas Are the Brand Baristas Are the Brand

The future of Starbucks depends on its workers.

Darrick Hamilton

The Score

Mass Deportations Aren’t Just Evil. They’re Also Terrible Economics.

Mass Deportations Aren’t Just Evil. They’re Also Terrible Economics. Mass Deportations Aren’t Just Evil. They’re Also Terrible Economics.

Immigrants don’t steal citizens’ jobs and wages. They grow the economy for all.

Column / Bryce Covert

Georgia’s Disastrous Medicaid Work Requirements

Georgia’s Disastrous Medicaid Work Requirements Georgia’s Disastrous Medicaid Work Requirements

Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, said that 345,000 people would enroll in the state’s Medicaid program, which has strict work requirements—so far just 5,118 have.

Column / Bryce Covert

Every Schoolchild Should Eat Free

Every Schoolchild Should Eat Free Every Schoolchild Should Eat Free

Full bellies lead to attentive minds.

Bryce Covert

Latest in Economy

Russell Vought (left), architect of the Mandate for Leadership, more commonly known as Project 2025, and director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), stands alongside Mark Paoletta (right), general counsel at the OMB, during the Trump administration's announcement of the rescission of the Obama-era endangerment finding in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 12, 2026.

The Right Had a Plan. We Need One Too. The Right Had a Plan. We Need One Too.

America should build things again, and we the people should own what we build.

Feb 17, 2026 / Corbin Trent

Peter Thiel brandishes $100 bills at the Bitcoin 2022 conference. (

What Peter Thiel Saw in Jeffrey Epstein What Peter Thiel Saw in Jeffrey Epstein

In the extensive correspondence between the Silicon Valley venture capitalist and the late pedophile, both men expressed a deep aversion to democracy.

Feb 11, 2026 / David Futrelle

Mayor Mamdani walks inside Kreyol Flavor with its owner, Cursy Saint Surin, in the neighborhood of East Flatbush, Brooklyn, on October 25, 2025.

Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses

If successful, his policies might offer a new nationwide playbook.

Feb 10, 2026 / Katrina vanden Heuvel

Jeffrey Epstein and Jeff Bezos.

From Epstein to Bezos, the Ruling Class Is Rotten to the Core From Epstein to Bezos, the Ruling Class Is Rotten to the Core

Let this week be yet another reminder that plutocrats are a threat to democracy, not its saviors.

Feb 6, 2026 / Jeet Heer

Mamdani Nurse Strike Columbia University

We Need Radical Abundance We Need Radical Abundance

If we want abundance we have to ask, an abundance of what exactly, and produced under what economic logic?

Jan 22, 2026 / Keir Milburn

The Rev. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas during her sermon at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City on January 19, 2026.

Refusing Despair in a Despairing Time Refusing Despair in a Despairing Time

A Martin Luther King Jr. Day sermon by the Rev. Canon Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas.

Jan 21, 2026 / Rev. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas

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