economy

World’s 500 Richest People Added $1.8 Trillion to Their Combined Wealth in 2020

World’s 500 Richest People Added $1.8 Trillion to Their Combined Wealth in 2020

By Julia Conley Bloomberg‘s year-end report on the wealth of the world’s billionaires shows that the richest 500 people on the planet added $1.8 trillion to their combined wealth in 2020, accumulating a total net worth of $7.6 trillion. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index recorded its largest annual gain in the list’s history last year, with […]

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    Climate Crisis: Is It Time to Ditch Economic Growth?

    Climate Crisis: Is It Time to Ditch Economic Growth?

    By Ruby Russell It was only in the mid-20th century, in the wake of the shattering impact of World Wars and when capitalism and communism were competing for global dominance, that we began to measure the success of an economy in terms of gross national product, or GDP. The faster GDP was rising, the better […]

    How Will West Coast Wildfires Impact the U.S. Economy?

    How Will West Coast Wildfires Impact the U.S. Economy?

    By Timothy Rooks The many wildfires roaring through America’s West Coast don’t just look scary, they are bad for people’s health, bad for public and private lands, and bad for the economy. The plumes of smoke have pushed air quality to hazardous levels forcing residents to stay indoors. Now some of the dirtiest air on […]

    How Australia Plans to Recycle its Way to Recovery After COVID-19

    How Australia Plans to Recycle its Way to Recovery After COVID-19

    By Alex Thornton The Australian government has announced a A$190 million (US$130 million) investment in the nation’s first Recycling Modernization Fund, with the aim of transforming the country’s waste and recycling industry. The hope is that as many as 10,000 jobs can be created in what is being called a “once in a generation” opportunity […]

    The Central Contradiction of Capitalism that Piketty Overlooked

    The Central Contradiction of Capitalism that Piketty Overlooked

    It is instructive to observe the reaction to the Piketty phenomenon—a 700-page treatise on political economy that became an overnight Amazon bestseller deserving, according to Larry Summers, of a Nobel Prize. It is similarly instructive to note the spectacle of the viral Russell Brand interview with the BBC’s Jeremy Paxman in which Brand pretty much […]