Ideas, Interests, and the Challenge for Progressives
By James Kwak Updated based on feedback from Matt Stoller. See bottom. Mike Konczal wrote an article a few days back arguing that various progressive policies aimed at helping poor people would not be...
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Time to Vote; No on 5
By James Kwak If you live in Massachusetts, early voting has begun. You can ask for an early ballot by mail, or just find a polling place here. This is what my town hall looks like today: Not...
View ArticleThe Last Chapter Problem
By James Kwak Like many analytically minded liberals, I’m good at identifying problems and less good at coming up with solutions—a common disease sometimes called the “last chapter problem.” I recently...
View ArticleModels of Economic Policymaking
By James Kwak The evening that he won the Iowa caucus in January 2008, Barack Obama said this: Hope is the bedrock of this nation. The belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by...
View ArticleThe Biggest Voter Suppression Campaign of All
By James Kwak This election day, spare a thought for the largest group of citizens who aren’t eligible to vote: children. My four-year old just learned that he doesn't get to vote tomorrow and he burst...
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Narratives
By James Kwak [Updated to add another headline leading with “white voters.”] Two days later, some of the world’s leading newspapers—or their headline-writers, at least—are saying it was all or largely...
View ArticleWhat You Can Do
By James Kwak Several of my friends, some of whom I haven’t spoken with in a long time, have reached out to me over the past week to discuss what to make of last week’s election. I imagine this is...
View ArticleEconomism and the Future of the Democratic Party
By James Kwak I haven’t written much about the election itself (except to point out that the same data can be interpreted in diametrically opposing ways). That’s because the election was so close that...
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Conflicts and Corruption
By James Kwak To be clear, the idea that Donald Trump will be president while he or his children effectively own a company that does business all over the world is preposterous. (Quick primer on trust...
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The Importance of Fairness: A New Economic Vision for the Democratic Party
By James Kwak A lot has been written recently about the direction of the Democratic Party. This is what I think. I have been a Democrat my entire life. Today, the Democratic Party matters more than...
View ArticleA New Economic Vision, in 27 Words
By James Kwak A couple of weeks ago I posted a 6,000-word essay laying out a new economic vision for the Democratic Party. It kind of vanished into the ether, although Stephen Metcalf was kind enough...
View ArticleHey Democrats, the Problem Isn’t Jobs and Growth
It’s inequality. By James Kwak This American Life‘s forays into politics and economics are generally less satisfying than their ordinary storytelling fare. That’s especially true when they try to...
View ArticleTake Back Our Party, Chapter 4: Our Democratic Party
By James Kwak Ever since I finished Economism (and the 2016 elections, which happened about the same time), there has only been one thing I have wanted to write. I tried in “The Importance of Fairness:...
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The COVID-19 Economy: What Can We Do?
By James Kwak Today, the Washington Post’s Outlook section published my article on the future of the American economy in the wake of the pandemic. They invited me to write it because of my earlier blog...
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Leverage
By James Kwak One of Congress’s top priorities this week and next is to pass some kind of funding bill that will keep the federal government operating past December 11. There are basically two ways...
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