Portside

From trade wars to border policy, Trump’s plans if he wins the presidency again are set to make the U.S. economy far worse for working people.

ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger interviews law professor Lev Menand about his new book critiquing the role of the Federal Reserve.

US labor law is designed to prevent railroad strikes like the kind that shook America in the past. But the constant cuts to staffing levels and erosion of conditions for rail workers could produce a national rail walkoff by September.

Starbucks, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Amazon – all protect profits by making customers pay more. We need the political courage to say they can and should cover rising costs themselves

A Rising China Lifts All Boats (Submarines, Aircraft Carriers, and Surface Ships), Not to Speak of Fighter Planes, in the Military-Industrial Complex.

Nearly three-fourths of workers age 65 and older—over 5 million older workers—are unable to telecommute. That means that these workers, who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19, could be putting themselves at risk to earn a paycheck.

Hypersonic weapons close in on their targets at a minimum speed of Mach 5, five times the speed of sound or 3,836.4 miles an hour. They are among the latest entrants in an arms competition that has embroiled the United States for generations...

The pros and cons of a UBI are hotly debated and have been discussed elsewhere. The point here is to show that it could actually be funded year after year without driving up taxes or prices.

The essence of the Pentagon’s scheme for making America safe for a never-ending policy of war preparations (and war) is to organize as much of the economy as possible around the needs of military production.

The more trust is destabilized, the greater the economic distress. And so the Trump spiral spins onward, circling down an economic drain of his own making.