March/April 2025

features

The Monster That Government Made

How Elon Musk used government loans and subsidies to enrich himself.

BY MARIE CHRISTINE DUGGAN

The Richmond Progressive Alliance Has Won Elections and Made City Hall Better for 20 Years

Here are 10 lessons for municipal reformers in other cities.

BY STEVE EARLY

The Burning of (Parts of) Los Angeles

Explaining the natural and human causes of the recent fires—and dispelling the myths.

BY BILL BARCLAY

the regulars

the short run

up against the Wall Street Journal | Trump’s Dumb and Dumber Tariffs

making sense | The Opening Moves in the New War on Workers

economy in narrative | Marriage Plots in Two Ages of Inequality

in review | Amy C. Offner, Sorting Out the Mixed Economy

economy in numbers | Climate Change Disasters and the Housing Crisis