Skip to content

LPE Blog
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: Feb 27

By

Sophina Clark on work-spreading as a non-reformist reform, Jason Jackson on the moral orders of capitalist legitimacy, and Amy Cohen on a potential post-moral turn in American capitalism. Plus, Lenore Palladino shines a slight on unregulated private capital, Lev Menand and Joel Michaels dismiss Trump’s latest tariff gambit, Beatrice Adler-Bolton speaks. . .
Symposium

Capital Without Moral Cover?

By

Jason Jackson’s Traders, Speculators, and Captains of Industry argues that capitalist societies develop a moral hierarchy of market actors, enabling certain firms to position their interests as good for society and thus deserving of regulatory protection. Though focused on India, the book also invites reflection on the recent return of. . .
Symposium

Moral Orders of Capitalist Legitimacy

By

In today’s seemingly deglobalizing economy, policymakers across the world are in a quandary over how to regulate foreign firms. Should policymakers prevent foreign firms from attaining dominant market positions in order to prop up domestic industry? Or should they permit foreign firms to establish ownership and control of domestic markets in the hope. . .
Essay

Regulating Hours, Dismantling Work

By

In recent decades, work hours have sharply diverged: high-wage workers are logging more time on the job, while low-wage workers face shrinking hours. Rather than trying to fix this imbalance by creating more work, policymakers should redistribute work through stronger overtime protections and a shorter workweek. Yet for this approach to succeed, highly paid. . .
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: Feb 20

By

Victor Pickard on the American media polycrisis and Mariana Pargendler on Brazil’s forgotten legal innovation. Plus, a fellowship in constitutional law and history, a new report on workplace democracy, an interview with Ahilan Arulanantham on third-country removals, Ivana Isailović on the Serbian student protests, Ilias Alami, Tom Chodor, and Jack Taggart. . .
Essay

The American Media Polycrisis: Cascading Layers of Capture

By

In countries facing democratic backsliding, attention often centers on state capture of the press. Recent U.S. media failures, however, demand a wider lens. Authoritarian encroachment here rests on deeper layers of capitalist and oligarchic capture. Understanding how these different layers interact and reinforce one another is a necessary first step toward. . .
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: Feb 13

By

Vincent Joralemon on the flawed legal architecture behind drug pricing, Eamon Coburn on the anti-worker character of “no taxes on overtime,” and Emmanuel Mauleón on the gradual erosion of law preceding recent events in Minnesota. Plus, a cool new paper from Laura Portuondo, Amna Akbar on what’s happening in South Minneapolis, JW Mason. . .
Essay

What is the Point of Overtime Laws?

By

When Congress eliminated taxes on overtime last summer, it framed the move as a win for workers. However, by encouraging people to spend more time on the job, the policy runs directly counter to the original purpose of overtime laws: to protect workers’ personal time and give them greater control over their lives. A better agenda would involve shortening the. . .
Essay

Martin Shkreli Had a Point

By

A decade ago, Martin Shkreli became the most hated man in America by raising the price of Daraprim – an antiparasitic essential for immunocompromised patients – from $17.50 to $750 per pill. Though Shkreli’s conduct was lambasted in the court of public opinion, the legal framework that allowed this 4,000 percent increase remains in place. And Daraprim?. . .
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: Feb 6

By

Patrick Driessen on Big Pharma’s exit strategy, and Serena Mayeri on her recent history of marital privilege. Plus, Jake Grumbach and Adam Bonica on the scourge of moderation, JS Tan and Kathleen Thelen on cloud capitalism, Jessica Shoemaker & James Fallows Tierney on Wall Street’s arrival at rural America’s gate, and the third installment of. . .
Essay

Writing a History of Marital Privilege in an Age of Retrenchment

By

As the government seeks to erase the past injustices and achievements of marginalized groups, it is worth recalling how those gains were made. Parents, partners, students, and lawyers pursued a more just future at significant personal and institutional risk. Their courage offers a lesson for the present. At stake is whether this moment marks a temporary break. . .
Essay

Big Pharma’s Get-Out-of-U.S.-Tax-Free Card

By

While many industries excel at not paying U.S. corporate taxes, the pharmaceutical industry takes the cake – despite $400 billion in prescription drug sales in 2022, Big Pharma claimed to have close to zero taxable income. One of their principal methods for maintaining this charade is the constant threat of exit, moving their headquarters abroad to. . .
Weekly Roundup

Weekly Roundup: Jan 30

By

Edie Conekin-Tooze on hidden foster care as neoliberal family governance, an open letter from seventy-two UMN law faculty, and Luke Farrell on the means-testing industrial complex. Plus, Aslı Bâli and Aziz Rana on the roots of the Trump Doctrine, Sandeep Vaheesan and Brian Callaci on building democratic state capacity, Luke Herrine on the institutional foundations. . .

LPE Masthead

Managing Editor James Brandt Editoral Board Zohra Ahmed Corinne Blalock Veena Dubal Luke Herrine Amy Kapczynski Aziz Rana Kate Redburn Ntina Tzouvala Lisa Washington Noah Zatz Student Editors Liz Brown Edie Conekin-Tooze Eve Zelickson
Student Editor Emeriti Sam Aber Ashraf Ahmed Will Bloom Adam H. Bradlow Matthew Buck Brett Davidson Isabel Echarte Tariq El-Gabalawy Berto Elysee Molly Gordon Jeff Gordon Ruthie Lazenby Talya Lockman-Fine Chloe Miller Andrew Miller Roxana Moussavian Lydia Nicholson Ure Obioma