The so-called fiscal cliff has been dominating the political economics coverage of late. It is perhaps an exciting story from a politicking perspective, but fairly boring in just about every other respect. The conventional wisdom in an economy still reeling from a recession like this one is to cancel all the scheduled cuts and tax… Continue reading Unemployment still a huge problem
Author: Matt Bruenig
The anti-oppression paradox
According to the anti-oppression framework, you determine what anti-oppression requires by looking at what oppressed people say. To apply this framework you have to first know who the oppressed people are. The framework provides no real guidance on that. You cannot just listen to what oppressed people say about who oppressed people are: once again,… Continue reading The anti-oppression paradox
The Rolling Jubilee and the “economically oppressed”
In reading some of the back and forth on the Rolling Jubilee, I have noticed some folks talking past one another, and I think I know why. There is some legitimate disagreement about who should be regarded as the economically oppressed. While often it is not important really to specifically sketch out that category, the… Continue reading The Rolling Jubilee and the “economically oppressed”
Rolling Jubilee round up
A group calling itself Strike Debt has a new initiative called the Rolling Jubilee. The basic idea is to purchase distressed debt for pennies on the dollar — as collection agencies regularly do — and then cancel the debt. Through this strategy they estimate that they can cancel $20 of debt for every $1 that… Continue reading Rolling Jubilee round up
Class and college
I come down hard some time on student issue activism. I find it very uninteresting, generally misguided, and I worry that it consumes way too much activist time and energy. Don’t get me wrong: I like student activism, just not inward-focused student activism. Students are uniquely situated to do a great deal of organizing work… Continue reading Class and college