ArcaMax

Fate has been unkind to the United States. The nation is grappling simultaneously with a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 136,000; the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression; and mind-numbing police brutality, which has generated the largest outpouring of grief and anger against systemic racism in memory.

...Read more

Donald Trump said last week’s jobs report, which showed an uptick in June, proves the economy is “roaring back.”

Rubbish. The Labor Department gathered the data during the week of June 12, when America was reporting 25,000 new cases of Covid-19 per day. By the time the report was issued last week, that figure was 55,000.

The economy isn�...Read more

Donald Trump will do anything to be re-elected. His opponents are limited because they believe in democracy. Trump has no limits because he doesn’t.

Here’s Trump’s re-election playbook, in 25 simple steps:

1. Declare yourself above the law.

2. Use racist fearmongering. Demand “law and order” and describe protesters as “thugs,” �...Read more

Some societies center on social control, others on social investment.

Social-control societies put substantial resources into police, prisons, surveillance, immigration enforcement and the military. Their purpose is to utilize fear, punishment and violence to maintain what they consider order.

Social-investment societies put more resources ...Read more

Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, took a knee last week before cameras at a branch of his bank. Larry Fink, CEO of giant investment fund BlackRock, politics/fromtheleft/robertbreich/s-2374071">Read more

History teaches that mass protests against oppression can lead either to liberation or brutal repression.

This past week, Donald Trump bet his political future on repression. Much of the rest of America, on the other hand, wants to liberate black people from police brutality and centuries of systemic racism.

As of this writing, it looks like ...Read more

You’d be forgiven if you hadn’t noticed. His verbal bombshells are louder than ever, but Donald J. Trump is no longer president of the United States.

By having no constructive response to any of the monumental crises now convulsing America, Trump has abdicated his office.

He is not governing. He’s golfing, watching cable TV and tweeting....Read more

Most of Europe and all 50 of America’s states are in various stages of “reopening.” But why, exactly?

The pandemic is still with us. After the first tentative steps to ease the lockdown in Germany — the most successful large European country in halting the spread of the virus thanks to massive testing — the disease has shown signs of ...Read more

As America reopens for business, you might expect Jeff Bezos, the richest man in America, and his Amazon corporation, one of the most profitable corporations in America, to set the corporate standard for how to protect the health of American workers.

Think again.

Amazon’s warehouses have become COVID-19 hotspots, yet Amazon has repeatedly ...Read more

No other nation has endured as much death from COVID-19 nor nearly as a high a death rate as has the United States.

With 4.25 percent of the world population, America has the tragic distinction of accounting for nearly 30 percent of pandemic deaths so far.

And it is the only advanced nation where the death rate is still climbing. Three ...Read more

Donald Trump is getting nervous. Internal polls show him losing in November unless the economy comes roaring back.

But much of the American economy remains closed because of the pandemic. The numbers of infections and deaths continue to climb.

So what is Trump's re-election strategy? Reopen the economy anyway.

Step 1: Remove income support, ...Read more

The pandemic is putting America's deepening class divide into stark relief. Four classes are emerging.

The Remotes: These are professional, managerial and technical workers -- an estimated 35 percent of the workforce -- who are putting in long hours at their laptops, Zooming into conferences, scanning electronic documents and collecting about ...Read more

In last week's Democratic debate, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg charged that Sen. Bernie Sanders' policy proposals would cost $50 trillion. Holy Indiana.

Larry Summers, formerly the chief White House economic adviser for Barack Obama, puts the price tag at $60 trillion. "We are in a kind of new era of radical proposal," he told ...Read more

In last week's Democratic debate, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg charged that Sen. Bernie Sanders' policy proposals would cost $50 trillion. Holy Indiana.

Larry Summers, formerly the chief White House economic adviser for Barack Obama, puts the price tag at $60 trillion. "We are in a kind of new era of radical proposal," he told ...Read more

The coronavirus relief enacted by Congress more than three weeks ago is barely reaching Americans in need.

Checks of up to $1,200 are being delivered through direct-deposit filings with the Internal Revenue Service. But low-income people who have not directly deposited their taxes won't get these...Read more