Neoliberalism

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Class of 2020, wherever you are, I had planned to address you on this graduation day. But how can I? Yes, I know that former President Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Tom Hanks all took part in elaborate online graduation ceremonies, offering commentary, advice, and encouragement in our now campus-less world, but […]

Donald Trump

Sadistic or Crazy? Trump is cutting Food Stamps in the Midst of Pandemic Depression

Jill Richardson

( Otherwords.org ) – Tens of millions of us are out of work. Why on earth is Trump trying to cut food aid? In some ways, this horrible pandemic has brought out the best in humanity. Where I live, neighbors are helping neighbors. A friend who cleans houses for a living says about half of […]

Banking

The Great Depression, Coronavirus Style: Crashes, Then and Now

Nomi Prins

(Tomdispatch.com) – Many economists believe that a recession is already underway. So do millions of Americans struggling with bills and job losses. While the ghosts of the 2008 financial crisis that sent inequality soaring to new heights in this country are still with us, it’s become abundantly clear that the economic disaster brought on by […]

Employment

Not much of a Safety Net: Millions of Americans lost their Health Care and Apartments when COVID-19 Took their Jobs

The Conversation

By Paul Shafer | – The United States is experiencing its steepest economic slide in modern history. Tens of millions of Americans have filed new unemployment claims as the coronavirus shutters businesses and forces companies to lay off staff. People need support to help them through the crisis in a few key ways – cash […]

Epidemics

Business as Usual won’t Survive the Pandemic: The Race to Replace a Dying Neoliberalism

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Walden Bello | – The morning will come When the world is mine. Tomorrow belongs to me! From Cabaret (Foreign Policy in Focus) – In response to the cataclysm occasioned by the coronavirus, three lines of thinking are emerging. One is that the emergency necessitates extraordinary measures, but the basic structure of production and […]

Climate Crisis

Frankenfuel: The Market is done with Big Oil and Coal, but will they Lumber on with Gov’t Subsidies?

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – Are the big oil stocks headed for collapse? Citizens as diverse as climate activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben and CNBC finance guru Jim Cramer seem to think so. Here is Cramer as reported by Axios in early February even before the historic plunge in crude prices.\ […]

Epidemics

As 27 Million Lose Job-based Health Insurance, Imagine if there were No Obamacare

The Conversation

By Simon F. Haeder | – The loss of 31 million jobs due to coronvirus has an added downside: 27 million have lost job-based health insurance. The worst may still lie ahead. One study estimated that 25 to 43 million people could lose coverage from their employer. The situation for many Americans feels dramatic. Fortunately, […]

Donald Trump

Why Unemployment under Trump is way worse than even the Depression-Era Numbers Suggest

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – Friday May 8 unemployment statistics were as dire as many had expected. The US Department of Labor released an unemployment rate for April of 14.7%, the worst since the Great Depression and far surpassing the worst days of the Great Recession. In light of these numbers it […]

Education

Neoliberalism starved our Classrooms of Resources for 50 Years, and then Covid-19 Budget Cuts Hit

Tomdispatch

By Belle Chesler | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – Do you hear that silence? That’s the absence of footsteps echoing through our nation’s public school hallways. It’s the silence of teaching in a virtual space populated with students on mute who lack a physical presence. It’s the crushing silence of those who are now missing, who […]