https://znetwork.org/category/topic/economy/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Thu, 22 Jan 2026 03:46:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/topic/economy/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-climate-change-an-externality/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-climate-change-an-externality/#respond Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293784 This post is part of a symposium on Alyssa Battistoni’s Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. Read the rest of the posts here. ** ** ** In Free Gifts, Alyssa Battistoni traces the concept of the “externality” across the past century. This history begins in 1920, when the economist Alfred Pigou observed how private market transactions could impose [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-climate-change-an-externality/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-train-of-regeneration-green-peace-for-the-oases-from-bechar-to-tindouf/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-train-of-regeneration-green-peace-for-the-oases-from-bechar-to-tindouf/#respond Wed, 21 Jan 2026 18:54:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293725 Facing the strategic challenges in Algeria’s Southwest — water security, sustainable resource management, territorial stability, and socio-economic development — it is essential to complement major national projects with integrated approaches capable of amplifying their long-term benefits. This contribution aims to do just that. It offers a complementary perspective on a state-led infrastructure project, exploring how [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-train-of-regeneration-green-peace-for-the-oases-from-bechar-to-tindouf/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mayor-mamdani-can-empower-new-yorks-municipal-workers/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mayor-mamdani-can-empower-new-yorks-municipal-workers/#respond Tue, 20 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293711 What does it augur to have a socialist mayor of New York City? The basic tenets of Zohran Mamdani’s election platform are, of course, directed at reducing inequality in the most unequal city in the nation: free childcare and buses, frozen rents, and more subsidized housing are all steps in that direction. But sabotage from [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mayor-mamdani-can-empower-new-yorks-municipal-workers/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-tech-billionaires-behind-trumps-greenland-push/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-tech-billionaires-behind-trumps-greenland-push/#comments Mon, 19 Jan 2026 05:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293664 President Donald Trump started his second term with his sights set on Greenland. When Trump first proposed buying the arctic nation during his first administration, it was treated like a joke. But in a phone call last week with Denmark’s prime minister, who controls the autonomous territory’s foreign policy, the president doubled down on his efforts to seize power. In the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-tech-billionaires-behind-trumps-greenland-push/feed/ 2 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tesco-worker-fefusing-to-handle-israeli-products-reinstated-after-campaign/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tesco-worker-fefusing-to-handle-israeli-products-reinstated-after-campaign/#respond Sun, 18 Jan 2026 14:22:49 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293630 A worker suspended for refusing to handle ‘Israeli’ products in a Northern Irish Tesco branch has won a major victory. The price-gouging retailer has now reinstated their employee, after a two-month long campaign that saw a wave of protests erupt across Ireland and Britain. The worker – who wishes to remain anonymous – is employed at the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tesco-worker-fefusing-to-handle-israeli-products-reinstated-after-campaign/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/#respond Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:58:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293560 Beyond the seizure of Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources, the January 3 invasion is inscribed within the epochal crisis of global capitalism. Historians will likely look back at the January 3, 2026 attack on Venezuela, the kidnapping of its president, and the takeover of the country as marking the definitive crack up of the post-WWII [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-labor-at-the-point-of-no-return/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-labor-at-the-point-of-no-return/#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293552 Unions are in a death spiral, and the numbers show they could nearly vanish within our lifetime. That’s not alarmism. It’s arithmetic. Private sector union density has collapsed from about one-third of the workforce in the 1950s1 to just 5.9 percent in 2024.2 In the last twenty years, we’ve lost a quarter of private sector union density. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-labor-at-the-point-of-no-return/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-are-facing-a-tsunami-of-hate-amid-ice-crackdown-unions-and-community-groups-call-for-minnesota-shutdown-in-10-days/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-are-facing-a-tsunami-of-hate-amid-ice-crackdown-unions-and-community-groups-call-for-minnesota-shutdown-in-10-days/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:59:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293513 Following the ICE murder of Renee Good and an assault on the state by federal immigration forces, a labor-community coalition is calling for residents to refuse to work, shop or go to school on January 23. Unions and community groups gathered in front of the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota this morning [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-are-facing-a-tsunami-of-hate-amid-ice-crackdown-unions-and-community-groups-call-for-minnesota-shutdown-in-10-days/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/fifteen-thousand-new-york-city-nurses-strike/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/fifteen-thousand-new-york-city-nurses-strike/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:52:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293463 Fifteen thousand nurses across 10 campuses in New York City’s three biggest hospital systems are on an open-ended strike. It’s the city’s largest nurse strike in decades. Picket lines stretched for blocks at Mount Sinai, Montefiore, and New York Presbyterian hospitals on January 12, thronged with nurses plus Teamsters, hotel workers, and university staff showing [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/fifteen-thousand-new-york-city-nurses-strike/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293461 In a flagrant disregard for international law and national sovereignty, the Trump administration invaded and kidnapped Venezuela’s President Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. Rather than being an isolated event, the increasing bravado of and remarks from President Donald Trump open the terrifying possibility that, if not opposed, Trump’s war machine will proliferate its aggressions, with next [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/were-racing-down-the-highway-to-a-mad-max-world/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/were-racing-down-the-highway-to-a-mad-max-world/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293453 Let me start by putting things bluntly: Don’t bother to tell Donald Trump, but with his distinct help, we’re doing nothing less than cooking ourselves. Thanks to the continued use of fossil fuels in a staggering fashion and the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, almost half of the world’s population now suffers through 30 additional days [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/were-racing-down-the-highway-to-a-mad-max-world/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-vets-in-labor-have-joined-fight-against-trump/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-vets-in-labor-have-joined-fight-against-trump/#comments Tue, 13 Jan 2026 17:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293410 In the U.S., seventeen million people, across multiple generations, have a shared personal identity based on their past military service. About 1.3 million former service members currently work in union jobs, with women and people of color making up the fastest-growing cohorts in their ranks. According to the AFL-CIO, veterans are more likely to join [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-vets-in-labor-have-joined-fight-against-trump/feed/ 2 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-neo-nazi-threat-to-unitary-unionism-in-germany/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-neo-nazi-threat-to-unitary-unionism-in-germany/#respond Tue, 13 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293428 With the rapid advance of Germany’s extreme right and adjacent neo-Nazis, a serious challenge for Germany’s trade unions – organized within Germany’s peak body, the DGB – has emerged. The outlook for German trade unions will be even more grim in the upcoming works council elections to be held in spring 2026. German trade unionists [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-neo-nazi-threat-to-unitary-unionism-in-germany/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/takebacktiktok-from-ellison-let-palestine-live/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/takebacktiktok-from-ellison-let-palestine-live/#respond Mon, 12 Jan 2026 13:02:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293399 CODEPINK co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans call on TikTokers across the world to flood the platform for Palestine to #TakeBackTikTok from billionaire Larry Ellison, the media mogul soon to control TikTok’s US app. “We don’t have Ellison’s billions, his private Hawaiian island or his cushy ties with Trump, but we do have people power [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/takebacktiktok-from-ellison-let-palestine-live/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-ran-katie-wilsons-campaign-heres-what-we-learned/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-ran-katie-wilsons-campaign-heres-what-we-learned/#respond Mon, 12 Jan 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293378 Zohran Mamdani has energized the US Left and offered a potential road map to socialists seeking political power. But most candidates don’t have Mamdani’s unique superstar charisma and most American cities aren’t so favorable to the Left. Ultimately, to win power nationwide, we’ll need a diverse set of playbooks. The successful campaign of Seattle’s new [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-ran-katie-wilsons-campaign-heres-what-we-learned/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zohran-mamdani-has-quickly-gotten-down-to-business/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zohran-mamdani-has-quickly-gotten-down-to-business/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2026 17:08:38 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293371 Sworn in as mayor of New York just over one week ago, Zohran Mamdani is wasting no time beginning to govern. In his first week in office, his administration issued twelve executive orders, including two emergency executive orders. The previous administration took several months to hit that number. Many of the administration’s first-week executive orders, which are [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zohran-mamdani-has-quickly-gotten-down-to-business/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/one-battle-after-another-the-big-contract-fights-coming-in-2026/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/one-battle-after-another-the-big-contract-fights-coming-in-2026/#respond Sun, 11 Jan 2026 16:34:53 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293351 The coming year could keep the strikes rolling through steel mills, state offices, telephone lines, axle plants, baseball diamonds, and hospitals from coast to coast. Union contracts expiring in 2026 could open up major fights by manufacturing, education, entertainment, and government workers. FIBER AND WIRES The contract covering 20,000 Verizon workers in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic expires [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/one-battle-after-another-the-big-contract-fights-coming-in-2026/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/billionaires-mouthpiece-searches-for-reasons-to-avoid-taxing-billionaires/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/billionaires-mouthpiece-searches-for-reasons-to-avoid-taxing-billionaires/#respond Sat, 10 Jan 2026 16:15:57 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293325 The Washington Post, which exists mainly to serve the interests of its mega-billionaire owner Jeff Bezos, unsurprisingly thinks taxing the wealth of billionaires is a bad idea (FAIR.org, 12/11/19). Its recent editorial (1/1/26) warning California not to institute a tax on extreme wealth—headlined “California Will Miss Billionaires When They’re Gone”—illustrates that when you’re telling the boss exactly what [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/billionaires-mouthpiece-searches-for-reasons-to-avoid-taxing-billionaires/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-employers-invest-in-our-kids/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-employers-invest-in-our-kids/#respond Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:26:22 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293297 The Trump administration has suspended over $10 billion of federal childcare funds for five Democratic-led states over alleged fraud. So what if childcare in the United States is already outrageously expensive, much higher than in other developed countries? But why is it that childcare costs in the US are so high? Socialist and feminist economist [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/will-employers-invest-in-our-kids/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/five-things-steward-training-gets-wrong/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/five-things-steward-training-gets-wrong/#respond Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:21:02 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293294 Recently I did some training with a group of newly elected officers and business agents. We used their International’s steward training manual, but I felt it missed the mark on several issues. When I reviewed manuals from other unions, these mistakes kept coming up: 1. Representing two members who get in a fight One new [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/five-things-steward-training-gets-wrong/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-deepening-labor-crisis-and-myanmar-election/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-deepening-labor-crisis-and-myanmar-election/#respond Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:07:37 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293288 Workers in Yangon’s industrial zones are enduring severe, long-term economic losses driven by a stark disparity between basic salaries and the actual cost of living. Although the minimum daily wage was legally increased to MMK 7,800 (equivalent to US$ 1.95 with market exchange rate) for an eight-hour workday effective 1 October 2025, this is often [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-deepening-labor-crisis-and-myanmar-election/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/united-states-invaded-venezuela-and-how-degrowth-can-end-all-wars/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/united-states-invaded-venezuela-and-how-degrowth-can-end-all-wars/#respond Thu, 08 Jan 2026 16:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293228 There is no doubt that the invasion of Venezuela is about oil. Trump said so himself. Using the charge of narco-terrorism against Maduro is a pretext for holding a higher moral ground that the United States continues to think it has in the World. To maintain this higher moral ground the US engages in regime changes [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/united-states-invaded-venezuela-and-how-degrowth-can-end-all-wars/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-ndps-last-chance-cooperatives-or-extinction/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-ndps-last-chance-cooperatives-or-extinction/#respond Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:10:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293187 As Canada enters 2026, the New Democratic Party stands on the edge of irrelevance. In the April 2025 federal election, the NDP suffered its worst defeat in history: reduced to just seven seats and a mere 6-7% of the popular vote, losing official party status and watching its support collapse across the country. Union households [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-ndps-last-chance-cooperatives-or-extinction/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-spectacles-of-violence-cant-hold-back-the-growing-tide-of-discontent/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-spectacles-of-violence-cant-hold-back-the-growing-tide-of-discontent/#respond Tue, 06 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293171 My family is scared to step outside,” a student admitted during my class. Around him heads nodded. All were born in the U.S. but most know undocumented people. Donald Trump painted a big target on their backs. “We’re not criminals, you know. We’re just trying to work, and survive.” After class, I looked at the news [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-spectacles-of-violence-cant-hold-back-the-growing-tide-of-discontent/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/corporations-are-ready-to-cash-in-on-venezuela/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/corporations-are-ready-to-cash-in-on-venezuela/#respond Mon, 05 Jan 2026 20:58:30 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293136 Just weeks before the American military operation in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro, the US energy giant Halliburton filed an unusual lawsuit in international court claiming the Venezuelan government owed them damages for US sanctions against the country. A separate case against Venezuela is also being pursued by another fossil fuel giant whose board includes an oil magnate whose family has delivered large [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/corporations-are-ready-to-cash-in-on-venezuela/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/king-of-cannibal-island/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/king-of-cannibal-island/#respond Mon, 05 Jan 2026 20:53:38 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293134 The tulip bubble​ is the most famous financial bubble in history, but as historical examples go it is also, in one crucial respect, misleading. That’s because anyone can see the flagrant irrationality which was at work. At peak tulip madness in 1637, rare bulbs were so expensive that a single one was worth as much [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/king-of-cannibal-island/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-dangerous-to-overestimate-the-lefts-strength/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-dangerous-to-overestimate-the-lefts-strength/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2026 20:31:22 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293128 Even with a couple of months’ distance, Zohran Mamdani’s election still feels almost unreal, like a dispatch from an alternate universe. But it’s happening: America’s largest city is now led by a young socialist, a Jacobin subscriber, and a committed member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). For many of us on the New York left, this [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/its-dangerous-to-overestimate-the-lefts-strength/feed/ 2 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labor-market-trends-in-germany-in-2026/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labor-market-trends-in-germany-in-2026/#respond Fri, 02 Jan 2026 17:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293006 What is commonly known as the labor market remains an inevitable feature of an economic system that converts everything into a commodity. Not surprisingly, the economist who understood this system better than many others started his three-volume seminal opus with “commodities” – the defining element of capitalism. In capitalism, two features are attached to every [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labor-market-trends-in-germany-in-2026/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-is-not-a-ceasefire-the-israeli-genocide-continues/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-is-not-a-ceasefire-the-israeli-genocide-continues/#comments Wed, 31 Dec 2025 21:20:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292941 On 19 January 2025, a ceasefire took effect to halt the Israeli bombing of Palestinians in Gaza. This ceasefire emerged from a mediation process by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, which had been sealed in June 2024 with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735. However, the Israelis rejected the agreement and waited until Donald [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/this-is-not-a-ceasefire-the-israeli-genocide-continues/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/noam-chomsky-an-ordinary-persons-reflection/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/noam-chomsky-an-ordinary-persons-reflection/#comments Wed, 31 Dec 2025 21:10:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1292943 Noam Chomsky has been in the news lately for titillating and unpleasant reasons. For me, his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is relatively unimportant. All it proves is that Chomsky–currently unable to communicate and thereby defend himself because of a stroke suffered several years ago–is a human being at bottom: not always with perfect judgement and [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/noam-chomsky-an-ordinary-persons-reflection/feed/ 7