LBO sample articles

These articles are taken from various issues of LBO, from 1992 through 2008.

ARTICLES

After non-collapse The system didn't collapse. What now? [1994]

After the war After the Kosovo war: ethnic purification in humanitarianism's name. [1999]

Tariq Ali interview The Lahore-born, London-based Ali comments on September 11, the roots of Islamic fundamentalism, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan... [2001]

Anti-market forces The failure of monetarism. The nonsense of efficient market theory. State power and the creation of markets. Mexico: disaster in the making. The transition to capitalism makes East Europeans nostalgic. Betrayal and weakness by the established left. [1994]

Antisocial insecurity The Social Security bankruptcy scam. Why the problem is political, not economic or demographic. [1998]

Argentina collapses The star student of neoliberalism hits a wall. [2001]

Asia melts The Southeast Asian crisis of 1997-98 .[1998]

Awe, shocks! A review of Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine. [2008]

Blows against Empire Review of Hardt and Negri's Emipre. [2001]

Boom for whom? Latest U.S. income & poverty stats. [2000]

The Burger International

and

The Burger International Revisited
Organizing McDonald's and other retail outlets (by Liza Featherstone). First piece with emphasis on a campaign in British Columbia [1998]; second, updates that and looks at Indonesia, Russia, and Europe - and thinks about what it will take to make progress [1999].

The contract with Mexico The Mexican crisis of late 1994-early 1995. The fraudulent boom, the bubble, and the bailout. How Mexico will pay dearly for its rescue. [1995]

Costs of crime Cost of U.S. crime - is it $175 billion or $27 trillion? How bad numbers become law (by Josh Mason). [1996]

Crappy little countries "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall." - Michael Ledeen. Imperialism in theory & practice, Bush-style. [2003]

Crime wave The US is a terribly violent country, but there's no explosion in crime. Crime rate flat, incarceration soars. Victims mainly downscale and nonwhite. Pandemic bastardy no explanation. [1994]

Crisis update The global financial crisis of 1998 . Where it came from, what it means. [1998]

Dissent goes to war Editorial staff whoops it up for war, led by guest Gen. David Rieff. Dissenter Jo-Ann Mort says this piece is "disgusting." [1999]

Dow 7000 Why the market is so high, what it means, and why the market should return -68% in real terms over the next 10 years. How little the stock market has to do with real investment, and how much with power. [1997]

Dow 36,000 Why the stock market should quadruple, almost overnight. People actually believe this. [1999]

Driving madness Why Americans must drive less for the sake of life on earth. [2004]

EMU European Monetary Union: goverment by central bankers. [1998]

Cynthia Enloe: an interview On war, oil, masculinity, and torture. [2004]

Enron collapses The supercool, weightless, New Economy star implodes. [2001]

Financial crisis averted The collapse that never happened. Derivatives: tomorrow's crisis? [1992]

The foundation culture How foundations (and the broader nonprofit sector) constrain culture and politics -- an article you won't read in the foundation-supported press. A sidebar on their stock portfolios and marketing gimmicks (by Gina Neff). [1995]

Globalization, antiglobalization Is "globalization" really the enemy? The International Forum on Globalization. Doug Tompkins and his sweatshop-funded Foundation for Deep Ecology. David Korten's awful book, When Corporations Rule the World. Plus a follow-up to the original article. [1996]

How jobless the future? Has the cyber-revolution made human workers obsolete? Does Stanley Aronowitz have any idea what he's talking about? [1996] Aronowitz responds. [1997]

Income news Income and poverty reports, international and domestic. Poverty worst in US, of course. [1993]

2004: income down, poverty up Some expansion! [2005]

An interview with Slavoj Zizek The Sage of Ljubljana on Iraq, Bush, Chomsky, fantasy [2003].

Jerry Brown Flake -- or fraud? Stupid tax schemes, written by Arthur Laffer. [1992] Jerry says this is all old news; for his side, click here.

Joseph Stiglitz interview An interview with the Nobel prizewinning economist. An edited transcript of a radio interview. Listen to the original audio here. [2002]

LBO At 20 Reflections on this newsletter's 20th birthday, and the difficulties that American culture poses leftists. [2006]

Let George do it A review of George Soros' The Crisis of Global Capitalism [1999]

Life after the IMF and Bank are gone Patrick Bond and Walden Bello imagine a world after the Bank and Fund are put out of business [2000].

The long, strange career of Jeffrey Sachs From Dr Shock to Bono's travelling companion: what's up with this guy? [2005]

The mess we're in The perils of third party or independent politics. Where's Ralph? [2003]

Microcredit, microresults Small loans for small business to the poor, especially women -- fashionable among neoliberal politicians, liberal philanthropists, and sensitive bankers. Gina Neff investigated, and found a lot of nothing: Grameen Bank leaves women poor, and is no challenge to patriarchy. [1996] Plus, a follow-up article, a report on the Feburary 1997 Microcredit Summit. Poverty alleviation, brought to you by Citibank, MasterCard, and Monsanto. [1997]

Myth smashing Small business isn't that great. And downsizing doesn't produce miracles. [1994]

A nation of (yesterday's) immigrants The economics of immigration. [2006]

The New Economy & after The boom, the bust, the productivity miracle, the bull market.... [2004]

New Party How New is the New Party? Not terribly, it seems. A focus on New York City's politics and economy. Party goes to Canada to learn how to betray its members. [1993]

Not such a good year, 2001 Income & poverty update. Incomes down, poverty up, inequality at a 70-year high. [2003]

1.75 cheers for Ralph A very qualified endorsement of Nader for President in 1996. Full of critique of his economics and employment practices. [1996]

Paying for health The state of US health care finance. Written just before Clinton's failed proposal was unleashed. [1993]

Pension schemes World Bank says: privatize public pensions. Cutting retirement supports to the bone. Is Social Security really going bust, or is the disaster scenario the result of impossibly bearish economic forecasts? [1994]

Politics of counting The CPI revision scam. The fraud of "generational accounting," and tales of 84% tax rates.

Poverty in the US Who's poor? [1993]

Race and income Black middle class holds its own, still well below average white incomes; black poor take a nasty hit. [1995]

Race, unemployment, and pay How race and unemployment help determine pay: Blanchflower & Oswald's wage curve, with a twist, by Heather Boushey [1998]

Ralph 'n' stuff Nader, Kerry, lesser evilism, and the promises of disappointment. [2004]

Sex and income White guys slipping, but they're still on top. Women of all colors gain relative to men, but they still have a ways to go. [1994]

Social Security revisited The latest, and characteristically definitive, piece on Social Security privatization [2005].

Studying arrogance An insider's report of the greed and smugness at the Columbia Business School [2000].

This Kosovo thing A polemic about that awful war. [1999]

Up to the eyeballs Debts everywhere: the economic risks. An old story that gets relevant at certain times in the economic cycle. [2001]

A very European war An interview with anthropologist Robert Hayden about Yugoslavia, etc. [1999]

War September 11, and the war in Afghanistan. [2001]

Wealth distribution Wealth rises to the top, debts sink to the bottom. Top 1% richer than bottom 90%! [1997]

Where's the payoff? With all that computer investment, where's the productivity kick? [1997]

Whose bubble was it? Who are the guilty parties in inflating the U.S. late 90s bubble? How The Nation got it wrong. [2002]

Why TV sucks A review of Bourdieu's On Television. Why too much is made of concentration and not enough of how the competitive structure of journalism for profit explains why it's so bad [1998].

Work & its future Is work disappearing? Will machines replace us - or is high tech really our savior? Skills crisis - or "attitude problem"? Does Jeremy Rifkin have any idea what he's talking about - ever? [1996]

World Bank news The purge of Ravi Kanbur, and some funny numbers from Bank economists. The mysterious case of the disappearing paper by the aptly named Dollar [2000].

Would you like change with that? The febrile disorder of Obamamania. [2008]

Note that like all items on this website, these articles are copyright, and are for personal use only. Any sale or republication or recirculation without permission is not only illegal, it's evil.

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After non-collapse	The system didn't collapse. What now? [1994]
After the war	After the Kosovo war: ethnic purification in humanitarianism's name. [1999]
Tariq Ali interview	The Lahore-born, London-based Ali comments on September 11, the roots of Islamic fundamentalism, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan... [2001]
Anti-market forces	The failure of monetarism. The nonsense of efficient market theory. State power and the creation of markets. Mexico: disaster in the making. The transition to capitalism makes East Europeans nostalgic. Betrayal and weakness by the established left. [1994]
Antisocial insecurity	The Social Security bankruptcy scam. Why the problem is political, not economic or demographic. [1998]
Argentina collapses	The star student of neoliberalism hits a wall. [2001]
Asia melts	The Southeast Asian crisis of 1997-98 .[1998]
Awe, shocks!	A review of Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine. [2008]
Blows against Empire	Review of Hardt and Negri's Emipre. [2001]
Boom for whom?	Latest U.S. income & poverty stats. [2000]
The Burger International and The Burger International Revisited	Organizing McDonald's and other retail outlets (by Liza Featherstone). First piece with emphasis on a campaign in British Columbia [1998]; second, updates that and looks at Indonesia, Russia, and Europe - and thinks about what it will take to make progress [1999].
The contract with Mexico	The Mexican crisis of late 1994-early 1995. The fraudulent boom, the bubble, and the bailout. How Mexico will pay dearly for its rescue. [1995]
Costs of crime	Cost of U.S. crime - is it $175 billion or $27 trillion? How bad numbers become law (by Josh Mason). [1996]
Crappy little countries	"Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall." - Michael Ledeen. Imperialism in theory & practice, Bush-style. [2003]
Crime wave	The US is a terribly violent country, but there's no explosion in crime. Crime rate flat, incarceration soars. Victims mainly downscale and nonwhite. Pandemic bastardy no explanation. [1994]
Crisis update	The global financial crisis of 1998 . Where it came from, what it means. [1998]
Dissent goes to war	Editorial staff whoops it up for war, led by guest Gen. David Rieff. Dissenter Jo-Ann Mort says this piece is "disgusting." [1999]
Dow 7000	Why the market is so high, what it means, and why the market should return -68% in real terms over the next 10 years. How little the stock market has to do with real investment, and how much with power. [1997]
Dow 36,000	Why the stock market should quadruple, almost overnight. People actually believe this. [1999]
Driving madness	Why Americans must drive less for the sake of life on earth. [2004]
EMU	European Monetary Union: goverment by central bankers. [1998]
Cynthia Enloe: an interview	On war, oil, masculinity, and torture. [2004]
Enron collapses	The supercool, weightless, New Economy star implodes. [2001]
Financial crisis averted	The collapse that never happened. Derivatives: tomorrow's crisis? [1992]
The foundation culture	How foundations (and the broader nonprofit sector) constrain culture and politics -- an article you won't read in the foundation-supported press. A sidebar on their stock portfolios and marketing gimmicks (by Gina Neff). [1995]
Globalization, antiglobalization	Is "globalization" really the enemy? The International Forum on Globalization. Doug Tompkins and his sweatshop-funded Foundation for Deep Ecology. David Korten's awful book, When Corporations Rule the World. Plus a follow-up to the original article. [1996]
How jobless the future?	Has the cyber-revolution made human workers obsolete? Does Stanley Aronowitz have any idea what he's talking about? [1996] Aronowitz responds. [1997]
Income news	Income and poverty reports, international and domestic. Poverty worst in US, of course. [1993]
2004: income down, poverty up	Some expansion! [2005]
An interview with Slavoj Zizek	The Sage of Ljubljana on Iraq, Bush, Chomsky, fantasy [2003].
Jerry Brown	Flake -- or fraud? Stupid tax schemes, written by Arthur Laffer. [1992] Jerry says this is all old news; for his side, click here.
Joseph Stiglitz interview	An interview with the Nobel prizewinning economist. An edited transcript of a radio interview. Listen to the original audio here. [2002]
LBO At 20	Reflections on this newsletter's 20th birthday, and the difficulties that American culture poses leftists. [2006]
Let George do it	A review of George Soros' The Crisis of Global Capitalism [1999]
Life after the IMF and Bank are gone	Patrick Bond and Walden Bello imagine a world after the Bank and Fund are put out of business [2000].
The long, strange career of Jeffrey Sachs	From Dr Shock to Bono's travelling companion: what's up with this guy? [2005]
The mess we're in	The perils of third party or independent politics. Where's Ralph? [2003]
Microcredit, microresults	Small loans for small business to the poor, especially women -- fashionable among neoliberal politicians, liberal philanthropists, and sensitive bankers. Gina Neff investigated, and found a lot of nothing: Grameen Bank leaves women poor, and is no challenge to patriarchy. [1996] Plus, a follow-up article, a report on the Feburary 1997 Microcredit Summit. Poverty alleviation, brought to you by Citibank, MasterCard, and Monsanto. [1997]
Myth smashing	Small business isn't that great. And downsizing doesn't produce miracles. [1994]
A nation of (yesterday's) immigrants	The economics of immigration. [2006]
The New Economy & after	The boom, the bust, the productivity miracle, the bull market.... [2004]
New Party	How New is the New Party? Not terribly, it seems. A focus on New York City's politics and economy. Party goes to Canada to learn how to betray its members. [1993]
Not such a good year, 2001	Income & poverty update. Incomes down, poverty up, inequality at a 70-year high. [2003]
1.75 cheers for Ralph	A very qualified endorsement of Nader for President in 1996. Full of critique of his economics and employment practices. [1996]
Paying for health	The state of US health care finance. Written just before Clinton's failed proposal was unleashed. [1993]
Pension schemes	World Bank says: privatize public pensions. Cutting retirement supports to the bone. Is Social Security really going bust, or is the disaster scenario the result of impossibly bearish economic forecasts? [1994]
Politics of counting	The CPI revision scam. The fraud of "generational accounting," and tales of 84% tax rates.
Poverty in the US	Who's poor? [1993]
Race and income	Black middle class holds its own, still well below average white incomes; black poor take a nasty hit. [1995]
Race, unemployment, and pay	How race and unemployment help determine pay: Blanchflower & Oswald's wage curve, with a twist, by Heather Boushey [1998]
Ralph 'n' stuff	Nader, Kerry, lesser evilism, and the promises of disappointment. [2004]
Sex and income	White guys slipping, but they're still on top. Women of all colors gain relative to men, but they still have a ways to go. [1994]
Social Security revisited	The latest, and characteristically definitive, piece on Social Security privatization [2005].
Studying arrogance	An insider's report of the greed and smugness at the Columbia Business School [2000].
This Kosovo thing	A polemic about that awful war. [1999]
Up to the eyeballs	Debts everywhere: the economic risks. An old story that gets relevant at certain times in the economic cycle. [2001]
A very European war	An interview with anthropologist Robert Hayden about Yugoslavia, etc. [1999]
War	September 11, and the war in Afghanistan. [2001]
Wealth distribution	Wealth rises to the top, debts sink to the bottom. Top 1% richer than bottom 90%! [1997]
Where's the payoff?	With all that computer investment, where's the productivity kick? [1997]
Whose bubble was it?	Who are the guilty parties in inflating the U.S. late 90s bubble? How The Nation got it wrong. [2002]
Why TV sucks	A review of Bourdieu's On Television. Why too much is made of concentration and not enough of how the competitive structure of journalism for profit explains why it's so bad [1998].
Work & its future	Is work disappearing? Will machines replace us - or is high tech really our savior? Skills crisis - or "attitude problem"? Does Jeremy Rifkin have any idea what he's talking about - ever? [1996]
World Bank news	The purge of Ravi Kanbur, and some funny numbers from Bank economists. The mysterious case of the disappearing paper by the aptly named Dollar [2000].
Would you like change with that?	The febrile disorder of Obamamania. [2008]