Regulatory capture is at the root of the affordability crisis in electricity. Public power could offer a way out.
pricing
Posted inEconomic Policy
Prices in the Machine
AI’s real contribution to humanity could be maximizing corporate profit by preying on personal data to raise prices. In fact, it’s already happening.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Selling the Poor on Spending Like They’re Rich
How plutonomy, premiumization, and social media squeeze the middle class
Posted inEconomic Policy
The Historic Reversal of Cultural Affordability
America used to be a pioneer in democratizing culture.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Six Ways Zohran Mamdani Can Make New York City Affordable Again
Mamdani begins his term with something few mayors ever have: an energized following and an international megaphone. His administration could launch a 100-day affordability sprint, using executive and emergency powers creatively and expansively to lower costs for ordinary people.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
‘TrumpRx’ Is Another Pretend Solution for High Drug Prices
The proposed government website will just refer people to the drug companies, which use direct-to-consumer pricing to distract from continued high profits.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Supermarket Shaping
Critics say Zohran Mamdani’s public grocery store proposal will never work. But Mamdani’s idea isn’t the problem—market consolidation is.
Posted inEconomic Policy
First-Ever Ban on Surveillance Pricing Introduced in Congress
A bill authored by Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) would stop companies from setting individualized prices and wages based on spy dossiers they assemble on Americans.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Anti-Bureaucracy Measure Runs Into Bureaucracy
Judges and administrative procedures make it hard to make it easy to cancel subscriptions.
Posted inPolitics
Colorado’s Governor Greenlights Price-Fixing Algorithms
Democrats in Colorado’s legislature unanimously passed a bill reining in price-fixing software like RealPage. Once again, Gov. Jared Polis broke away from his party and vetoed it.