Many Americans think of education and transportation as public goods, but they’re actually heavily privatized. That’s bad news for all of us. — Barring a few radical Ayn Rand-style libertarians, most everyone agrees on the importance of public goods. Americans use public parks and libraries, send our kids to public school, and rely on regulations to keep our air, water, and food clean. But in a recent episode of “Pitchfork Economics,” Donald Cohen…

The Fed’s plan to combat recessions rarely works and often benefits the already-rich — here’s why. — In 2008, when the real-estate bubble burst and the whole world staggered on the precipice of total economic disaster, the Federal Reserve leapt into action to try to save the economy. …

Why it’s crucial for lawmakers to protect and empower unions as union popularity rises across the US — Labor unions have enjoyed plenty of time in the spotlight over the last year, with high-profile union drives at Amazon warehouses and Starbucks stores across the country and strikes at snack food factories and John Deere manufacturing plants. Public support is higher than it’s been since the 1960s, with about…

Raising interest rates won’t fix the real reason behind inflation: price-gouging and corporate greed — Last month, the Federal Reserve issued the first of a projected seven interest-rate hikes this year in order to slow the American economy down and, hopefully, lower the skyrocketing prices that American consumers are paying. This is how the Fed successfully curbed inflation in the 1980s: Raising interest rates knocked…

How abortion bans widen the gender pay gap and diminish women’s economic power — When the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in December for and against a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Justice Amy Coney Barrett seemed confused why lawyers arguing for legal abortion, as she put it, “focus on the ways in which forced parenting, forced…

Outlawing stock buybacks would protect the power gains of American workers’ recent union wins — Union drives are seeing historic successes right now. This month, Amazon workers at a Staten Island warehouse officially voted to become the first American Amazon facility to unionize. Amazon Labor Union leaders have said one of their major goals is to raise starting pay in the warehouse from $18 to…

America’s mass-incarceration problem hurts the entire economy — but it’s especially devastating for minority communities — America has a well-known mass incarceration problem. While the United States makes up less than 5% of the global population, our prison system holds approximately 20% of the world’s total prison population. And even though it’s been on a slight decline since 2008, the total population of incarcerated Americans has…

Americans are sick of low-paying, dangerous jobs and they’re fighting for better — The signs, posted at fast food restaurants and shared all over social media, have practically become a cliche by now: “WE ARE SHORT-STAFFED. PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH THE STAFF THAT DID SHOW UP. NO ONE WANTS TO WORK ANYMORE.” …