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Eric Levitz

Features Writer, Intelligencer
@EricLevitz

Eric Levitz is a features writer for Intelligencer. He covers politics and economics.

  1. just asking questions
    We’ll Need Mass Debt Forgiveness to Recover From the CoronavirusEconomist James Galbraith argues that a debt jubilee is a “practical necessity” for reestablishing a functioning economic system.
  2. coronavirus
    7 Bits of Good News About the Coronavirus (and 7 Bits of Bad News)A new theory resolves many of the biggest mysteries about the pandemic — and suggests that banning large gatherings may be enough to contain it.
  3. vision 2020
    Joe Biden’s New Tax Pledge Is IndefensibleBy promising not to raise taxes on Americans who earn under $400,000, Biden is constraining his governing agenda for no good reason.
  4. the economy
    An Economist Who Called the 2008 Crash Says We’re In for a Long DepressionNouriel Roubini predicted the 2008 crash. Now, he’s warning that the America is hurtling toward food riots — and then a decade-spanning depression.
  5. coronavirus
    10 Bits of Good News in the War on the Coronavirus (and 10 Bits of Bad News)The outlook for a vaccine is getting sunnier — but the summer sun’s capacity to inhibit infection is looking weaker.
  6. conservatism
    Polarization Isn’t the Problem, But Human Identity Politics May Be the SolutionEzra Klein’s new book on polarization alerts liberals and conservatives to their species’ unifying affinity for identity-based divisiveness.
  7. the economy
    We’re Paying for Coronavirus Stimulus by Printing Money. And That’s Fine!Congress should learn to stop worrying and love monetizing the debt.
  8. coronavirus stimulus
    Dems Nix Anti-Recession Policy After Learning It Would Help Too Many PeoplePelosi cut automatic stabilizers from her party’s messaging bill because a CBO score made the policy look expensive (because it helps so many).
  9. stimulus legislation
    Trump to Pelosi: I’ll Help GOP Governors If You Cut Taxes on RichThe president is open to providing a little more aid to states (something many Republicans want) in exchange for capital gains tax cuts.
  10. the federal reserve
    Why Trump Might Be Right About Negative Interest RatesThe Federal Reserve opposes the radical stimulus policy. But it might be necessary to promote recovery.
  11. vision 2020
    Trump’s Odds of Winning Reelection Are Higher Than You ThinkWeeks into a historic recession, the president’s approval rating remains higher than it’s been for most of his tenure.
  12. stimulus legislation
    Why Your Coronavirus Stimulus Check Isn’t Here YetThe deadline to give the IRS direct-deposit information is Wednesday at noon.
  13. markets
    Americans Expect the Stock Market to Flourish As They SufferA Federal Reserve survey finds U.S. households expressing record levels of optimism about stock prices — and pessimism about their own finances.
  14. conservatism
    The GOP Isn’t Cynical Enough to Save Us From a DepressionFor Republicans, some things are more important than winning an election — and denying aid to vulnerable workers is one of them.
  15. markets
    The Unemployment Rate Is 15 Percent. Here’s Why the Stock Market Doesn’t Mind.Investors have either lost touch with reality — or the need for a functioning society and labor market.
  16. corruption
    Trump’s DOJ Says It Can’t Prove Michael Flynn Did the Crime He Confessed ToThe Justice Department dropped its case against the former Trump adviser Thursday, citing reasons.
  17. the economy
    Meatpacking Crisis Shows Limits of Human Sacrifice As Recovery PlanTrump ordered plants to put maintaining the meat supply above keeping workers safe. But without better public-health policies, they can’t do either.
  18. trump administration
    Whistle-blower: White House Ignored Advice to Stockpile N95 MasksThe vaccine expert also alleges that he was demoted for resisting Trump’s push to mass prescribe a dangerous anti-malaria drug as a COVID-19 cure.
  19. health care
    America’s Health-Care System Has Never Been Sicker — or Harder to CureThe coronavirus is exposing everything broken in the American health-care system — and the reasons why we probably won’t fix any of it.
  20. coronavirus stimulus
    On Next Stimulus, Democrats Should Give Up a Lot to Get a LotTrump wants infrastructure and a payroll tax cut. GOP deficit hawks don’t. Democrats should offer to give him what they won’t.
  21. labor
    GOP’s Coronavirus Stimulus Priority: Make Workers Poorer, Less SafeRepublicans are fighting to cut unemployment benefits and let employers flout workplace safety standards.
  22. recession
    Ending Lockdowns Won’t Revive the Economy“Reopening the economy” won’t make consumers feel economically or medically secure enough to spend the way they did before COVID-19 arrived.
  23. just asking questions
    Why Humanity Will Probably Botch the Next Pandemic, TooA conversation with Mike Davis, author of 2005’s The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu, about nationalism, capitalism, and COVID-19.
  24. oil
    Oil Is Crashing Again. It Could Take Whole Governments Down With It.As unwanted oil overwhelms storage capacity, many petro-states are poised for existential crises.
  25. money
    Steve Mnuchin, American WinnerThe Treasury Secretary embodies the plutocratic principle that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.
  26. the left
    Why Americans Don’t Vote Their Class AnymoreDeclining unions — and rising educational attainment — have left college-educated whites more left wing than non-college-educated ones.
  27. recession
    26.5 Million Americans Lost Their Jobs in the Past 5 WeeksThe U.S. unemployment rate appears to be around 20 percent, double its Great Recession peak.
  28. the media
    The New York Times’ Deficit Coverage Is Fake NewsWhy is the paper of record still presenting deficit-hawk propaganda as objective fact?
  29. vision 2020
    The GOP Is Sabotaging Trump’s Reelection CampaignCongressional Republicans are fighting tooth and nail to help Joe Biden by making the economy weaker.
  30. vision 2020
    Biden’s VP Should Meet These 4 Criteria (But Won’t)All of the finalists in the Democratic “veepstakes” have flaws.
  31. conservatism
    It’s Insane That Federal Aid to States Is a Partisan IssueThe GOP is effectively treating “let’s make sure Oklahoma can afford to pay police officers” as an outrageous Democratic demand.
  32. bailouts
    The Postal Service Deserves a Permanent BailoutAmerica can afford to cover the losses of an overwhelmingly popular agency that provides a valuable service and good middle-class jobs.
  33. labor
    Trump’s Labor Department Fights to Protect Workers From BenefitsEugene Scalia is working hard to shield Uber drivers from the threat of income support.
  34. stimulus legislation
    Dems Must Not Approve Further Stimulus Until These 3 Demands Are MetThe party must seize its last, best chance to protect the integrity of our elections and honor the sacrifices of essential workers.
  35. vision 2021
    President Sanders Isn’t Happening in 2021. A Political Revolution Still Could.The coronavirus crisis may be as promising a vehicle for bottom-up progressive change as the socialist senator’s campaign once was.
  36. republican party
    The Wisconsin GOP Is Risking Voters’ Lives to Protect Its Minority RuleRepublicans are disenfranchising voters by holding an election mid-pandemic so that they can keep disenfranchising Democrats through gerrymanders.
  37. conservatism
    Coronavirus Is Forcing the GOP to Admit Its Ideology Is DelusionalTrump’s DHS declares undocumented workers “essential,” while Steve Mnuchin scrambles to reconstruct the “administrative state.”
  38. small business loans
    The Small-Business Loan Program Is Already Hitting 4 Big SnagsThe banks aren’t prepared, and the cap on the bailout fund is too damn low.
  39. florida
    Florida GOP Realizes Deliberately Impoverishing the Unemployed Has DownsidesRepublicans sabotaged the state’s unemployment system because they wanted to keep benefits and taxes low. Now, it’s crashing mid-pandemic.
  40. conservatism
    No, Theocracy and Progressivism Aren’t Equally AuthoritarianA Harvard Law professor called for turning the U.S. into a Catholic theocracy. Conservatives offered an interesting defense.
  41. recession
    10 Million Americans Lost Their Jobs in the Past Two WeeksBefore the coronavirus, weekly jobless claims had never exceeded 700,000.
  42. bailouts
    The Small-Business Bailout Just Got a Lot BetterFirms with fewer than 500 employees can walk into any FDIC bank and collect enough money to cover eight weeks of payroll on Uncle Sam’s dime.
  43. intelligencer chats
    Should Networks Stop Airing Trump’s Falsehood-Filled Coronavirus Briefings?A daily dose of presidential misinformation might not be what America needs right now.
  44. coronavirus
    Coronavirus Creates an Opening for Progressivism — Also BarbarismThe pandemic spotlights both the necessity of solidarity and the widespread appeal of abandoning out-groups in times of crisis.
  45. the economy
    Fed Projection: Coronavirus Crisis Could Drive Unemployment to 32 PercentThe pandemic could force 47 million Americans out of work, according to new projections from the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
  46. coronavirus
    Trump Condemns New York for Planning Ahead on CoronavirusThe president criticized New York Monday for requesting more ventilators than it currently needs, in preparation for a still-to-come peak in cases.
  47. federal reserve
    The Coronavirus Crisis Reveals How Undemocratic America Has BecomeWe are outsourcing some of the most consequential policy decisions any republic can make to unelected bureaucrats.
  48. senate
    Senate Decides Now Would Be a Good Time for a Monthlong VacationAmerica is on its way to being the epicenter of a global pandemic and depression. But our leaders could use some rest and relaxation.
  49. bailouts
    What’s Good, Bad, and Mediocre in the Coronavirus Stimulus BillThe legislation is great news for unemployed workers in the short term, bad news for reining in plutocracy in the long run.
  50. coronavirus
    No, Trump Can’t Revive the Economy Through Human SacrificeSome conservatives are eager to endorse trading thousands of lives for a stock market rally even though that isn’t actually an option.
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