Economy

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.

Katrina vanden Heuvel

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

Netflix Buying Warner Would be a Disaster w/ AS Hamrah Netflix Buying Warner Would be a Disaster w/ AS Hamrah

Paris Marx is joined by AS Hamrah to discuss the proposed Netflix-Warner Bros Discovery merger and what it might mean for the state of decline already facing modern cinema.

Tech Won’t Save Us / Paris Marx

Policy

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

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?

Keir Milburn

Labor

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

Nurses Dig In Against New York’s Hospital Giants Nurses Dig In Against New York’s Hospital Giants

As nearly 15,000 nurses’ strike, New York’s biggest hospital systems are trying to roll back hard-won staffing rules and health benefits—even as executive pay soars.

Prajwal Bhat

Young Mayor in a Hurry Young Mayor in a Hurry

Zohran Mamdani has pledged to govern at the same pace New Yorkers live—but city politics are largely designed to thwart that ambition.

D.D. Guttenplan

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

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

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

Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, steps up to a podium during a news conference in Brooklyn borough of New York on January 15, 2026.

Zohran Mamdani Takes on the Gig Economy’s Wage Thieves Zohran Mamdani Takes on the Gig Economy’s Wage Thieves

New York City is suing a delivery app for stealing workers’ pay—signaling that under Mamdani, gig companies can no longer break the law with impunity.

Jan 19, 2026 / Prajwal Bhat

How a French City Kept Its Soccer Team Working Class

How a French City Kept Its Soccer Team Working Class How a French City Kept Its Soccer Team Working Class

Olympique de Marseille shows that if fans organize, a team can fight racism, keep its matches affordable, and maintain a deep connection to the city.

Jan 16, 2026 / Feature / Cole Stangler

Why the “Abundance” and “Stuck” Crowd Are Off the Mark

Why the “Abundance” and “Stuck” Crowd Are Off the Mark Why the “Abundance” and “Stuck” Crowd Are Off the Mark

Don’t blame the housing crisis on local NIMBYism and too many regulations.

Jan 16, 2026 / Roberta Brandes Gratz

Representative Ro Khanna speaks at an “End Fossil Fuel” rally near the US Capitol on June 29, 2021, in Washington, DC.

Ro Khanna Has a New Tech Social Contract for California’s Oligarchs Ro Khanna Has a New Tech Social Contract for California’s Oligarchs


As Peter Thiel and other fat cats threaten to flee California over a billionaire tax, Khanna is calling their bluff.

Jan 14, 2026 / Katrina vanden Heuvel

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