Subjects Archives: Political Economy

Heterodox economist Jamee K. Moudud returns to Money on the Left to discuss his new book, Legal and Political Foundations of Capitalism: The End of Laissez-Faire? (Routledge, 2025). The phrase “institutions matter” is a common refrain among economists, including many who have proposed progressive alternatives to free market fundamentalism. For Moudud, however, this proposition doesn’t go far enough, leaving a host of problematic assumptions unquestioned. To remedy this, Moudud draws on the Original Institutional Economics and American Legal Realist traditions to propose a robust theory of legal institutionalism or institutional political economy.

In a recent video recapping his primary victory in Queens, Zohran Mamdani did something almost radical for today’s political landscape: he cut through the usual Beltway euphemisms and mapped out the varied, living elements of the coalition that won. Most postmortems stay tangled in polite code. We get anxious talk of “electability,” “swing voters,” whether […]

The little-reported opening of a major rail link between China and Iran may upend the strategic calculations behind U.S. imperial policy in the Middle East, argues Kevin Crane.

Big tech is working hard to sell us on artificial intelligence, in particular what is called “artificial general intelligence.” At conferences and in interviews corporate leaders describe a not-too-distant future when AI systems will be able to do everything for everyone, producing a world of plenty for all. But they warn, that future depends on […]

Despite rapid technological innovations, Global South countries remain trapped in Global North-dominated intellectual property regimes designed to extract endless rents through patents and licensing fees– stripping them of wealth and stunting their development.

In communities where access to fresh food is scarce, public grocery stores can provide crucial resources at lower prices.

As profit-driven exploitation imperils Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem, some unique conservation strategies are working to save it.

CounterSpin interview with Farrah Hassen on criminalizing homelessness

In this episode, we share Part 2 of our coverage of The Black University & Community Currencies workshop. Held April 25, 2025 on the campus of Morehouse College, the workshop fostered dialogue between students, faculty, and activists about the radical possibilities of public money for higher education, broadly, and for communities at and around Morehouse, specifically. The occasion for the workshop was the conclusion of a semester in which students enrolled in Professor Andrew Douglas’s advanced political theory course at Morehouse implemented a classroom currency called the CREDO for use by Morehouse students. 

A Pentagon rift over military aid to “Israel” reveals tensions between advocates of Middle East engagement and those prioritizing Asia, shaping Trump’s foreign policy.

THERE is an upsurge in military expenditure all over the world which is spearheaded by the upsurge in Europe.

This is as serious as it gets. Let’s survey the chessboard—from micro to macro.

The dollar’s decline is a sign of deeper volatility in the global system.

Over 10,000 people died in transit to Spain in 2024 alone.[1] On June 2022, the border fence of Melilla, one of two Spanish enclaves in Morocco, was witness to a massacre that killed or disappeared over a hundred African migrants.[2]  A recent BBC investigation revealed that Greek border guards systematically repeal immigrants already on Greek […]

For today I have been asked to speak a bit about my country, Puerto Rico, and the socioeconomic crisis that is currently developing there.1 Given the time constraints, I want to provide you with a brief overview of what is being experienced there by the victims of the crisis. I want to also speak a […]

​It may be ‘technically possible,’ ​to keep ​g​lobal heating below 1.5 degrees, but it isn’t going to happen..

On the first day of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, the findings of a new study have revealed that ocean acidification (OA)—which damages ecosystems like coral reefs—is not only getting worse, but crossed its “planetary boundary” roughly five years ago.

SOLOMON HUGHES reveals how six MPs enjoyed £400-£600 hospitality at Ditchley Park for Google’s ‘AI parliamentary scheme’ — supposedly to develop ‘effective scrutiny’ of artificial intelligence, but actually funded by the increasingly unsavoury tech giant itself.

THERE are of course many myths about capitalism spun by economists. One of these myths spun by David Ricardo has endured for over two centuries. Ricardo had originally been an enthusiastic supporter of the introduction of machinery, dismissive of the argument by workers’ organisations of his time that it gave rise to unemployment.

Canada’s new liberal prime minister has given the lie to the notion that a green capitalism is possible with fossil-fuel friendly policies as the climate crisis intensifies, explains John Clarke.