Economy

160 mn. Fell into Poverty during Pandemic as 10 Wealthiest Men doubled Wealth to $1.5 Trillion (Oxfam)

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The charitable organization Oxfam reports this week that 160 million people fell into poverty during the past two years of pandemic, while the richest 10 men in the world doubled their wealth from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion. The authors of the report argued that this is not simply a […]

Islamophobia

Promoting Hatred of Muslim Americans is a Billion Dollar Industry: Can the New Congressional Envoy Combat it?

Middle East Monitor

By Nasim Ahmed | – ( Middle East Monitor) – US lawmakers voted, last month, in support of a bill to create a State Department office tasked with monitoring and combating Islamophobia across the globe. With members of the House of Representatives casting their vote along party lines, a ten-seat majority held by the Democrats […]

Books

Review: ‘The Nutmeg’s Curse’ by Novelist Amitav Ghosh traces Climate Crisis Origins to European Colonialism

The Third Pole

By Joydeep Gupta | – ( The Third Pole) – In his latest book, Amitav Ghosh identifies the beginning of the climate crisis as the point where total exploitation – of both lands and people – became the prevailing mode of growth in the world economy I did not ‘like’ The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav […]

Banking

Is the Turkish Finance Minister wrecking Economy ‘with a twinkle in his eye’?

Global Voices

By Arzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org) – Turkish Twitter-sphere was full of memes and jokes after the country’s new Minister of Treasure and Finance, Nureddin Nebati, exclaimed in a TV interview that the economy was about the “twinkle” in his eyes. The twinkle was the minister’s response to a question on economic indicators as the country […]

Children

How Affordable Child Care will turbocharge the US Economy

OtherWords

By Mary C. King | – Child care is one of the biggest expenses many families face — in much of the country, it can run higher than college tuition. Could a national child care program ease that burden? We’ve come close before. During World War II, the federal government provided child care around the […]

Employment

Top 3 Pieces of Good News in 2021 – Because Optimists are the Problem Solvers

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – News corporations think good news does not sell, which is why you see so little of it on television or on the front page of news web sites. Executives at for-profit news believe their corporations benefit, just as do social media platforms, from provoking your fight or flight reflexes– making […]

Democratic Party

Three Reasons to be Hopeful Democrats will Still Pass Key Parts of Build Back Better

OtherWords

By Karen Dolan | – ( Otherwords.org ) – There’s no getting around it: 2021 has been a tough year. As with 2020, many of us are glad to see its back end. Do let the door hit you on the way out. Yet, there is more than just Senator Joe Manchin’s coal and Omicron […]

Food Insecurity

The Year in Inequality in 10 Charts: Our Economic and Racial Divides grew Wider in 2021

Inequality.org

Blogging Our Great Divide by Sarah Anderson Brian Wakamo | – A year ago we had such high hopes. We expected the Covid vaccine rollout to bring a swift end to the pandemic, opening a window for pushing bold solutions to the long-standing economic, racial, and gender divides that had grown even wider under Covid. […]

Carbon Footprint

Don’t care about the Build Back Better Act? Hearing People’s personal Stories might change that

The Conversation

By Angela Bradbery | – When U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said that he wouldn’t support President Joe Biden’s signature Build Back Better Act, he set off a wave of breaking news alerts. It was fitting. For months, media coverage has breathlessly focused on the behind-the-scenes wrangling and hour-by-hour negotiations around the legislation. How much […]