Portside

I am in debt, but not alone. Debt is a millstone that weighs down more than three-quarters of us. It can determine if we are able to run for office, launch a business, or quit a job we hate. It should not—and cannot—be a disqualification for ambition

“The use of contempt is being used to get people to pay up, I would say that constitutes unlawful imprisonment for inability to pay.”

Will President Donald Trump, the self-styled “great builder,” authorize enough federal aid to rebuild Puerto Rico? Will Congress alleviate its crushing debt? To prevent a mass exodus of Puerto Ricans, the Trump White House and Republican-controlled Congress will have to act fast. Failure will drive an exodus of Puerto Ricans to the US.

Puerto Rico has been hit by a triple disaster - Hurricane Maria; outrageous debt owed to vulture hedge funds; racist, colonial indifference by the Trump Administration. Puerto Ricans - on the island, and in the U.S. have called for the lifting of the Jones Act, as it applies to Puerto Rico; canceling the debt; and abolishing PROMESA. Yesterday a solidarity flight of medical and emergency organized by AFL-CIO unions brought needed supplies and aid workers to the island.

Puerto Rico’s struggle to rebuild after Hurricanes Irma and Maria is being made harder by its own government, and an indifferent White House

The path of austerity could spread economic pain and social woes far beyond the Caribbean island, says public debt expert Martin Guzman. 1,000 miles off the coast of Florida, a small Caribbean island of 3.4 million American citizens is facing its worst economic crisis since coming under U.S. rule in 1898. In the short term, austerity aggravates the recession and reduces opportunities.

The worst-performing eurozone countries are mired in depression or deep recession; their condition is worse in many ways than what economies suffered during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The best-performing eurozone members look good, but only in comparison.This system cannot and will not work in the long run: democratic politics ensures its failure. Only by changing the eurozone’s rules and institutions can the euro be made to work.

Elizabeth Warren on Trump and Republicans' Attempt to Bludgeon the Judiciary Into Submission. Bernie Cranks Up the Heat in DC. John Oliver: Debt Buyers. Bernie on Talk With Obama and Where Next. Hobbit Histories: The Origins of Homo Floresiensis.