So we could have a set of distributive institutions where I owned all of the social product. That’s conceivable. As it turns out, we do not have that set of distributive institutions. We have this other cocktail of things which is kind of pieced together haphazardly: some market wages, some transfers, some in-kind public benefits,… Continue reading I am getting fed up personally paying the incomes of everyone else
Author: Matt Bruenig
It’s the distribution, stupid
Regular readers know by now that I am a big proponent of the idea that poor people are poor because they do not have enough money. This radical theory causes me to support such ideas as distributing enough money to poor people so that they are no longer poor. It seems simple — and is… Continue reading It’s the distribution, stupid
Unemployment still a huge problem
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
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”