We Should Nationalize Tyson Foods
Meatpackers are colluding with each other to generate superprofits at the expense of everyone else. Nationalizing one of them isn’t particularly radical — it’s a commonsense policy solution.
148 Articles by: Matt Bruenig
Matt Bruenig is the founder of People’s Policy Project.
There’s Absolutely No Reason We Shouldn’t Be Cutting Child Poverty
We often hear that if you increase benefits for low-income parents, they’ll just squander it on drugs and alcohol. But the best research shows that’s elitist nonsense — giving money to poor people is exactly what we need to be doing.
Nordic Social Democracy Is Good for Everybody Except the Rich
Thanks to social democratic policies, the bottom 60 percent of Danes are better off than the bottom 60 percent of Americans. Even middle-class Danes benefit from a strong welfare state. The only group that doesn’t? The rich.
Democrats Chose Bad Policy Over Truly Universal Childcare
Democrats’ half-baked childcare proposal opened itself up to Republican attacks. There’s an easy solution: scrap the byzantine and expensive scheme Dems have concocted, and just give everyone universal childcare.
Universal Benefits Make Sense. Means-Testing Doesn’t.
Universal benefits aren’t merely the morally just way to carry out welfare policies. They are also the smart way to carry out welfare policies.
The Democrats’ Childcare Plan Is Disastrous. These Graphs Explain Why.
Democrats are deliberately choosing to put forward a childcare plan that will be completely disastrous for millions of American families.
No, Workers Aren’t Striking Because of Vaccine Mandates
The ongoing strike wave in the US has little to do with vaccine mandates. Workers are striking because the labor market is relatively tight — and they smartly see that they have leverage against employers.
Democrats’ Paid Leave Proposal Isn’t Actually Universal. It Can and Should Be.
There’s no reason why the Dems’ paid parental leave program can’t cover everyone.
Democrats Are About to Massively Spike Childcare Prices for Working-Class Families
The Democratic Party’s current childcare proposal would raise costs on many moderate-earning households by $13,000. It’s not clear the party realizes the disaster it’s about to thrust these families into.
McDonald’s Workers in Denmark Won Good Pay and Benefits Through Striking
In Denmark, McDonald’s workers receive $22 per hour and 6 weeks of vacation. But it’s not because Danish capitalists are more enlightened — it’s because, when McDonald’s entered the country in the 1980s, unions launched mass strikes and boycotts.
35 Million Americans Are Losing Unemployment Income Today
Pandemic unemployment benefits expire today, leaving 10 percent of the US population with dramatically less household income.
Unemployment Benefit Cuts Don’t Even Succeed on Their Own Terms
There’s still time to avoid major unemployment cuts in twenty-four states. A look at the data makes it obvious: states that have already cut benefits should reinstate them, and states that haven’t should maintain them.
Recent Unemployment Cuts Made People Poorer Without Increasing Employment
The media breathlessly reported on labor shortages this summer, helping generate support for unemployment benefit cuts. But a new study shows such cuts didn’t do much but devastate poor people’s incomes.
In 40 Days, 20 Million Workers in the US Will Lose Unemployment Benefits
Twenty-five Republican-led states have cut unemployment benefits, doing enormous damage to millions of workers. And in 40 days, 20 million more workers will lose their unemployment if Democrats don’t act.
Let’s Make the US a Welfare Nation
With the new Child Tax Credit, two-thirds of people in the US now receive monthly benefit checks. That’s a very good thing — it means delivering poor, working-class, and middle-class people clear material gains while also destigmatizing the welfare state.
What Biden’s Child Tax Credit Is Getting Wrong
Joe Biden’s Child Tax Credit is an important lifeline for poor and working-class families. But his administration has bungled the rollout: 90 percent of eligible children still haven’t been reached, consigning them to brutal poverty.
Choosing Your Own Health Care Plan Has Nothing to Do With Freedom
Picking a health care plan isn’t an exercise in freedom — it’s an impossibly complicated, mind-numbing task seemingly designed to drive you insane. Can’t we just have Medicare for All already?
No, Small Isn’t Beautiful
The power of big business needs to be confronted. But the solution to big business isn’t small business — it’s democratic socialism.
Calm Down, Mass Inflation Is Not Around the Corner
The frenzied warnings of impending mass inflation are completely overblown. The inflation we’ve seen has been limited to a few specific items — and putting the brakes on the economy now would hammer the working class.
Actually, Not Coercing People to Work Is a Good Thing
There’s a lot of talk these days about labor shortages and workers unwilling to work because unemployment benefits are too high. Ignore the hand-wringing: it’s a very good thing if workers have the freedom to say no to low-paying, dehumanizing jobs.