May/June 2014

The Plutonomy—AI Edition—and the Coming Crisis

Driven by speculative finance, stagnant wages, and AI hype, today’s tech-heavy economy mirrors the fragile plutonomy that collapsed into the Great Crash of 1929.

Why the Shift from Production to Speculation?

By Arthur Macewan

Dear Dr. Dollar: Why has our economy switched so greatly away from maufacturing towards speculative, financial activity? Read more »
Recovery Denied

By John Miller

The Wall Street Journal editors must not be paying attention if they think that doubling down on the pro-rich, free-market policies is going to restore “forgone prosperity” for most people. Read more »
The Big Casino

By Doug Orr

The problem with the stock market is not just that the casino game has been rigged to favor some gamblers—the problem is the existence of the casino in the first place. Read more »
Read more »
“Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!”

By Marjolein Van Der Veen

A Step Too Far for the Ultra-Right in the Netherlands? Read more »
The Era of Financialization

An Interview with Costas Lapavitsas

How transformations at the “molecular” level of capitalism that are driving changes in economic performance and policy. Pts. 1 & 2 | Pts. 3 & 4

Available only in the print edition:

the regulars

editorial note Getting to the Root of Things
the short run Piketty and David Brooks | JPMorgan Chase Hypocrisy | Donald Sterling
cartoon Global Warming Planet
active culture Machinists’ Reform Movement
in review Lane Kenworthy, Social Democratic America
economy in numbers What Happened to the Recovery? Part 1
40th anniversary retrospectiveThe Roller Coaster Heads Down

The Plutonomy—AI Edition—and the Coming Crisis

Metal of the Past, Metal of the Future

The Latest Job Calamity—Mostly Home-Made

May/June 2014

Available only in the print edition:

the regulars