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The Restructuring of Capitalism in Our Time

May 3, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
The Restructuring of Capitalism in Our Time

This book wasn’t yet published when the Occupy Wall Street protests got under way, but The Restructuring of Capitalism in Our Time provides a solid foundation for that movement’s critique of the financiers who brought the global economy to the edge of collapse. William Tabb, professor emeritus of economics, political science, and sociology at the City University of New York, challenges those who claim that the 2008 meltdown was some kind of weird accident that could not have been anticipated. He sees the crisis as a logical consequence of policy shifts dating back to the early 1980s that ... Read More

More like this: Business & Economics, May-June 2012
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OWS, Egypt Expose Limits of Town Square Test

January 4, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment

Many of last year’s most dramatic photographs showed people packing public places to sound off. We saw memorable images of crowds gathering at Tahrir Square to lambast one government then castigate its successor, protesters at Zuccotti Park to voice outrage at Wall Street, and public outcry on the grounds of the Mazu Temple in the South China village of Wukan in December to denounce government land grabs. We saw gatherings in Syria, in Tunisia, in Greece, even in North Korea. If, as TIME magazine declares, 2011’s Person of the Year was “The Protester,” then 2011’s Place of the ... Read More

More like this: Politics
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Simon Johnson Critiques Democracy vs. Financialization

December 6, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

For many on the right side of the U.S. political spectrum, the financial meltdown that began in 2008 resulted from a government push to bring the American Dream of home ownership to the masses. And while President Clinton made home ownership a central tenet of his economic plan — a goal George W. Bush also embraced — there were greater forces at work, according to Simon Johnson, professor of Global Economics and Management at MIT and the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. In his 2010 bestseller, 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial ... Read More

More like this: Business & Economics
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When Memes Collide: Tank Man, Pepper Spray Cop

December 2, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

Thanks to quick-thinking protesters and bystanders carrying cellphone cameras, Web surfers around the world quickly learned the story of what happened at UC Davis on November 18. The event began with students concerned about local issues (university budget cuts and tuition hikes) and a national struggle (Occupy Wall Street) staging a sit-down protest. When they refused to budge, the day’s most dramatic moments came, as campus police wielding canisters of pepper spray gassed the unarmed youths, then removed them from the area. Still and moving images of this confrontation appeared online ... Read More

More like this: Culture
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#OWS: What Took So Long?

October 24, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

Among the many issues raised by the Occupy Wall Street movement, perhaps the most basic is: What took so long? Why did three years elapse between the time reckless financial traders nearly brought down the global economy and large numbers of people began collectively expressing outrage? A new psychological study provides at least a partial answer. It finds people are strongly motivated to perceive the socioeconomic system they live under as fair and just, and links this pro-status-quo impulse with a reluctance to protest against the Wall Street bailout. “It is extremely difficult for ... Read More

More like this: Culture, Findings
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#OWS: Have We Entered the Age of Protest?

October 13, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

The Occupy Wall Street movement is in many ways a sign of the moment. The unemployment rate has been hanging out around 9 percent for more than two years. Income inequality is rising. Washington's political system has devolved into dysfunction. There is, in other words, plenty to protest. But there's another way to think about what's going on in Zuccotti Park (and its far-flung spinoffs): People have many legitimate grievances these days, but they're also more prone to protest than in the past. Occupy Wall Street, in this sense, represents a particular moment in time when people are really ... Read More

More like this: Culture, The Idea Lobby
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