In this election, we’re not having an argument that pits capitalism against socialism. We are trying to decide what kind of capitalism we want.

Financial Transaction Tax is a small government levy the financial sector would pay on commercial transactions like stocks and bonds. The money generated, which some estimate could be as much as $350 billion annually, could be used for social programs and job creation — ultimately to people who, without a doubt, need it more than the banks do.

As the U.S. Senate Finance Committee launched an investigation Tuesday into makers of narcotic painkillers and groups that champion them, a leading pain advocacy organization said it was dissolving "due to irreparable economic circumstances."

Consumers, not the wealthy, are the key to an economic rebound, and GOP austerity is shackling them.

The Corrections Corporation of America believes the economic crisis has created an opportunity to become landlord, as well as manager, of a chunk of the American prison gulag.

Advocates of renewable energy, who have been trying unsuccessfully to pitch a federal program in gridlocked Washington, have hailed the “clean economy bank” idea. The developments in Hawaii, as well as the Connecticut Legislature's near-unanimous approval last year of a similar program, have sparked optimism in the renewable energy sector that states will support the industry as federal funding fades.

The problem is that, without regulation, bad people take advantage of the good ones. While regulation and restrictions may hamper small business, not all regulation and restrictions are useless.

Selling water to drillers, two of the nation's biggest private water utilities may soon profit from treating the wastewater.

Corporations by today's definition, are obligated to make as much money as they can. But a new kind of corporation is changing that and potentially our economy, too.

When people move from one state to another, they often continue to collect the same benefits in both. Technology exists to control that problem — if states can be persuaded to use it.

Europanic is back in style. After a months-long reprieve initiated by the European Central Bank’s decision to offer the continent’s banks nearly unlimited quantities of low-interest medium-term loans, the sovereign debt crisis has returned. This time ground zero is Spain rather than Italy, but the pattern is familiar.

The idea that our real well-being can be measured by Gross Domestic Product is as pervasive as it is destructive. Here are some alternatives to the cult of GDP.

We hear of the sweatshops behind our computers, sneakers and other attire--yet the exploitation of farmworkers has become normalized.

For weeks Senate Republicans have been itching for a fight over rising gas prices and for months Senate Democrats have been itching for a fight over ending subsidies for large oil companies.

Game on.
 

Would you let corporations decide how climate science gets taught in your kids' classroom? That is exactly what is happening—Tennessee just became the 4th state to pass corporation-written laws dictating how global warming is taught in public schools.

American Airlines can declare bankruptcy and wipe away debt. But you can’t—and that’s just the beginning.

Experts disagree about the value of one of the most highly touted cost-control initiatives in state health policy.

In energy terms, we are now entering a world whose grim nature has yet to be fully grasped.

Finally, one man is going up against corporate theaters for excessive concession stand mark-up.

Arthur Laffer, who helped Ronald Reagan write federal tax policy in the 1980s, is a force to be reckoned with these days at the state level. A large group of Republican governors is listening to him.

In late 2010, a major regulator warned the Federal Reserve: Banks are not healthy enough to increase dividends, and the economy could implode again. But the Fed ignored that advice.

Congress has closed a loophole that allowed welfare recipients to spend their benefits at casinos and strip bars. But critics say states will end up spending more money to address a problem that is far from widespread.

If Congress doesn't renew a key 2007 law, people who get a principal reduction on their mortgages or short-sell their homes could be forced to pay taxes on their "gain."

Lux Alptraum, the new head of Fleshbot, embodies how the Internet is changing the face of the adult industry.

It didn’t take long after President Obama released his latest budget for the oil lobby to pick up the misleading cry that it’s being targeted for “new taxes.” The problem is that most of the “new taxes” are actually a proposed end to some old tax breaks — advantages not shared by other industries.

Would it make more sense to have one currency for the entire world?

The family will be eating a lot of beans, rice and frozen meat. The only thing the family plans to spend money on is fresh milk for the kids.

How Facebook’s IPO gives a stunning and unprecedented amount of power to its CEO.

All along the Eastern Seaboard, hopes for a new maritime-based economic boom are high. Less than three years from now, the Panama Canal is scheduled to open up a new channel that will accommodate ships carrying double the cargo of those that can currently fit through the canal.

With unemployment stuck at stubbornly high rates in many states, it’s no surprise that governors in 2012 are talking a lot about the need to create jobs. But while some governors are outlining lofty, sweeping promises, Maine Governor Paul LePage cut to the chase.

“As governor,” the Republican said in his state of the state address last week, “I cannot directly create private sector jobs.”
 

The company says this is a cost-saving measure, which of course it is, but that doesn't really explain why paying people to greet customers used to be worthwhile and now isn't.

Mitt Romney's wealth puts him at the top of the 1 percent, but his 13.9 percent tax rate is solidly middle class.

European political leaders may be about to agree to a fiscal plan which, if implemented, could push Europe into a major depression. To understand why, it is useful to compare how European countries responded to downturns in demand before and after they adopted the euro.

The lion's share of the wealth Mitt Romney accumulated during his years at Bain Capital was extracted not only by laying off workers and raiding their pensions, but by using what conservatives call “big government” to redistribute wealth from taxpayers to Bain's investors and partners.

Unless we act now, the current $1 trillion student debt bubble is going to look small in 18 years—and the only ones able to go to college will be the children of the 1%.

An asset price bubble pops, hitting bank balance sheets and tax revenues. As growth weakens and the economy flirts with deflation, the real burden of servicing debt increases.

An independent research group has analyzed oil industry contributions to Congress, and figures that President Obama is staring down a $12 million barrel of political opposition on Keystone XL.

A democratic shift in control of energy production is well underway in Germany.

The median average net worth of a member of the House Tea Party Caucus was $1.8 million in 2010. That's significantly higher than the comparable number for the median House member: $755,000 and also more than 130 percent above the $774,280 average net worth of the median, non-Tea Party Caucus House Republican.

Some workers, activists, academics and lawmakers are touting alternatives to the relentless privileging of capital over labor. The most vigorous of these alternatives is worker cooperative, in which workers own their shops and factories, collectively, and make decisions through the democratic process.

The roller-coaster ride for Asian currencies, which saw only the yen and yuan post significant gains for the year against the U.S. dollar, is set to continue in 2012.

The federal Affordable Care Act is encouraging all states to experiment with the model by offering to pay for 90 percent of the costs for the first two years.

For a multitude of reasons, we need to need each other.

Last week congressional leaders agreed to a $1 trillion compromise that avoided another threatened government shutdown. But what this latest negotiation actually compromises is the future of many hard-working students who are struggling to complete their education.

Just in time for the cold weather and holiday season, states have learned that Congress cut $1.2 billion from a program to provide heating and cooling assistance to low-income families.

Every time you click "Place Order," a warehouse worker weeps. (I don’t care. I want my stuff and I want it now. –B)

The American entertainment complex has placed before Congress a simple request: Give us a law to punish anybody doing business on the Internet who may help connect foreign "pirates" to consumers seeking illegal access to copyright content.

Newt Gingrich has done it again. With his new tax plan he has raised the bar from irresponsibility to recklessness.

America’s telecom companies provide dreadful service. Why won’t the president attack them?