Matt Bruenig
In These Times
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Past articles by Matt:
Do We Need a Universal Basic Income? A Debate.
Getting free money from the government is popular. But would it prop up capitalism? → Read More
Do We Need a Federal Jobs Guarantee? A Debate.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders have all proposed a job guarantee. But would it be drudgery? → Read More
Women and people of color make up the majority of the Trump coalition
In all of my years remarking on interesting stats, none has shocked people more than the one in the headline. But it’s true! In fact, it’s obviously true. It would be wild if it weren’t true. The… → Read More
Opponents of single payer are moral monsters on par with AHCA proponents
The Republican health care plan, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), was unveiled recently. Its major provisions include changing the refundable tax credits of Obamacare so that they are more… → Read More
Who Gains from Dow 20,000? – Matt Bruenig –
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached 20,000 points today. Stock values have been rising consistently since Donald Trump was elected. → Read More
Here's how Democrats can fight back against the GOP's cynical voter purges: Pay everyone to vote
Last week, details about a horrifyingly cynical new program to purge registered voters from election rolls in 27 states came to light. Like so many other GOP-led electoral process reforms — such as installing of voter ID requirements, eliminating same-day registration, and curtailing weekend and early voting — Interstate Crosscheck will disproportionately screen out minority voters. This will… → Read More
Why the government should pay every American child an allowance
The U.S. has one of the highest child poverty rates in the developed world. It doesn't have to be this way. → Read More
Hobby Lobby will not lead us down a slippery slope of religious exemptions
Don't panic, liberals. We are not about to tumble down the slippery slope of businesses claiming religious exemptions from every law they don't like. Far from it. Inspiring the panic is this: The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that ObamaCare's employer health insurance mandate violated the religious liberty of Hobby Lobby's owners because it forced the craft store to offer employees insurance covering… → Read More
The myth of Big Government in the Redskins trademark case
This is government inaction, not government action → Read More
Even making college free wouldn't reduce America's wealth gap
It's all about intergenerational wealth transfers → Read More
The case for term-limiting Supreme Court justices
Lifetime appointments were meant to preserve judicial independence. But the high court has devolved into a political body with too much power. → Read More
Don't worry: Homeownership can still be a great investment
Official site of The Week Magazine, offering commentary and analysis of the day's breaking news and current events as well as arts, entertainment, people and gossip, and political cartoons. → Read More
Don't worry: Homeownership can still be a great investment
It's become trendy to suggest that homebuyers are dupes. That's ridiculous. → Read More
Law schools don't help the poor get rich — they help the rich stay rich
Why? Because there are very few poor people in law school. → Read More
The case for killing law school
aw professors Erwin Chemerinsky and Carrie Menkel-Meadow recently took to the pages of The New York Times to argue against proposed reductions of legal education requirements. They claim that making it easier to become a lawyer "is a terrible idea" that would result in lawyers being poorly trained, not to mention less well-rounded citizens. Having just wrapped up three years of law school, I can… → Read More
The one part of the charity vs. social welfare argument that everyone ignores
It's called the status quo bias — and it's crucial to understanding our policy debates → Read More
When pundits blamed white people for a 'culture of poverty'
For as long as there have been poor people, there have also been non-poor people standing nearby and theorizing their cultural inferiority → Read More
The big myth about income inequality that just won't die
Conservatives want you to believe other people's wealth doesn't affect you. It does. → Read More
America should jack up its top tax rate to 70 percent
The super-rich will barely even feel it. But the rest of us will benefit enormously. → Read More
America should have a public option for everything
Government-run retirement accounts and banks would be a good start. But why stop there? → Read More