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Capitalism

Social capital I: measurement and associations with economic mobility

Social capital—the strength of an individual’s social network and community—has been identified as a potential determinant of outcomes ranging from education to health1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. However, efforts to understand what types of social capital matter for these outcomes have been hindered by a lack of social network data. Here, in the first of a pair of papers9,

Labor

US sees union boom despite big companies’ aggressive opposition

Wins for Amazon and Starbucks workers shows labor movement surging after years of decline – but pushback has been fierce. After years of decline, the American labor movement is experiencing a resurgence, with an increase in popularity of unions and of workers organizing. But the corporate pushback in America has been fierce, and has come

Democracy

To Defend Democracy, We Need Mass Action

We can’t sit on our hands waiting for Joe Biden to protect abortion and the climate. Movements for the New Deal and civil rights showed us how to beat the Supreme Court and other reactionary, undemocratic institutions: mass action. When democracy is under attack, what do we do? Despite holding the presidency, the House, and

Capitalism

The Free Market Is Making All Our Problems Worse,…

The world is on fire all around us. The free market can’t put that fire out — only massive state intervention in the economy can. Mainstream politicians these days are constantly looking for excuses to justify their divergence from market dogma. From the pandemic to the energy crisis, the war in Ukraine and growing inflation,

Capitalism

Resource Nationalism and Decarbonization

Revisiting “resource nationalism” in a new era of raw minerals demand Across Latin America, a string of recent left-wing electoral victories has drawn comparisons to “Pink Tide” of the early 2000s. The Pink Tide took place in the context of a global commodities boom. The current moment, however, coincides with a global push towards decarbonization,