Field Notes
Editor’s Note
By Paul MattickIt’s not going so well, is it? In Ukraine, Biden is prepared, it seems, to fight to the last Ukrainian, while preparing for the next war with China. Half the population of Afghanistan is facing starvation, especially since the US government has seized the billions of Afghan state assets, eked together out of opium sales and American aid, held in US banks.
The Return of Paul Volcker
By Paul MattickWhat is the non-economist to make of the economic analysis and policy discussion? It’s genuinely confusing. The official story is that inflation, caused by an imbalance between government-stimulated demand and supply limited by “supply-chain shocks” and the war in Ukraine, is “hurting the economy” and squeezing wage-earners.
Tipping Point: Israel on the Brink
By Etan NechinOn June 14, 2022, A. B. Yehoshua, Israel's last of the generation of writers who began publishing after the formation of Israel in 1948, passed away. Around 250 friends and dignitaries attended his funeral at the secular cemetery on the outskirts of the kibbutz Ein Carmel.
Who is for Tenants?
By Holden TaylorFor tenants in New York City, the past six months have been dotted with crisis and catastrophe. Tenancy—which includes anyone who does not control their, or anyone else’s, housing—is inherently a precarious position, but recently this precarity has assumed a particular intensity.
What Do (Digital) Bosses Do?
By Jason E. SmithWhile we often think of automation and A.I. as developments that will eventually replace workers (think of Tesla’s partly automated tractor-trailer), those tools are already in heavy use in the workplace. And they haven’t replaced workers; they’ve simply been brought in to manage declining working conditions.5
