Wall Street Takes Over More Statehouses

David Sirota / Truthdig Nov 14, 2014 No runoff will be needed to declare one unambiguous winner in this month's gubernatorial elections: the financial services industry. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Pension Jackpot for Wall Street

David Sirota / Truthdig Sep 27, 2014 Most consumers understand that when you pay an above-market premium, you shouldn't expect to get a below-average product. Why, then, is this principle often ignored when it comes to managing billions of dollars in public pension systems? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Climate and Pensions

Signe Wilkinson / Truthdig Sep 22, 2014 Dig deeper

Miss America

Signe Wilkinson / Truthdig Sep 8, 2014 Dig deeper

Journalists on the Government’s Blacklist

David Sirota / Truthdig Aug 23, 2014 As states move to hide details of government deals with Wall Street, and as politicians come up with new arguments to defend secrecy, a study released earlier this month revealed that many government information officers block specific journalists they don't like from accessing information. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Is Corruption a Constitutional Right?

David Sirota / Truthdig Aug 16, 2014 Last week, the GOP filed a federal lawsuit aimed at overturning the pay-to-play law that bars governors from raising campaign money from Wall Street executives who manage their states' pension funds. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Stadium Subsidies Financed By Pension Cuts

David Sirota / Truthdig Jul 26, 2014 As states and cities grapple with budget shortfalls, many are betting big on an unproven formula: Slash public employee pension benefits and public services while diverting the savings into lucrative subsidies for professional sports teams. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Imagine Christie’s Budget Crisis on a National Scale

David Sirota / Truthdig May 24, 2014 Two key decisions by the New Jersey governor have redistributed wealth from pensioners to hedge fund managers while throwing the state's finances into chaos. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Wall Street’s Secret Swindle

David Sirota / Truthdig Apr 26, 2014 In the national debate over what to do about public pension shortfalls, here's something you may not know: The texts of the agreements signed between those pension funds and financial firms are almost always secret. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Insider’s Economic Dictionary: P Is for Ponzi

By Michael Hudson Apr 13, 2014 Parasitism: In biology, parasites develop a strategy of gaining control of the host’s brain in order to obtain nourishment by masquerading as its natural progeny or as a part of its body. For economies, the brain in question is the government. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

In Chicago, You Have to Pay to Play With Public Money

David Sirota / Truthdig Apr 12, 2014 In America, there is regular ol' corruption, and then there is Chicago Corruption, with a capital "C." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Work Until You’re Dead?

By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch Jan 2, 2014 A sizable chunk of the adult population is going to punch a clock until they keel over in the office parking lot and get hauled off in the company dumpster. And those are the lucky ones, the so called baby boomers. By the time we get to the millennials it’ll be even worse because the economy will have been ravaged by 25 or 30 years of austerity leaving the proles to scrape by on hardtack and gruel. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )