oligarchy

6 Stories

Russian Oligarchs Have a Most Persistent Teen on Their Tails

Jack Sweeney, who's been tracking Elon Musk's private jet, is also keeping tabs on Russia's richest

(Newser) - The teen who irked Elon Musk for tracking his private jet now has a new lineup of aircraft he's shadowing. The Hill reports that 19-year-old college freshman Jack Sweeney has set up the Russian Oligarch Jets Twitter account , in response to multiple requests to track the planes of Russia'...

US Becoming 'Democracy in Name Only'
US Becoming 'Democracy
in Name Only'
paul krugman

US Becoming 'Democracy in Name Only'

Income inequality threatens 'whole nature of our society': Paul Krugman

(Newser) - A new CBO report tells the same old story, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times : The very rich are getting much richer at the expense of everyone else. Cue the think tanks and "obfuscators" who say it ain't so for all kinds of reasons. They're...

Paul Krugman: Wisconsin Union Battle About Power, Not Budget

 Wisconsin Battle 
 About Power, 
 Not Budget 
paul krugman

Wisconsin Battle About Power, Not Budget

Gov. pushing oligarchy as unions seek democracy: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - Wisconsin’s battle over union rights shares a key element with the protests in Egypt: In the end, it’s all about power, writes Paul Krugman for the New York Times . Gov. Scott Walker’s team is trying to make his state, and eventually the entire country, "less of...

Burma, Inc: Tycoons Rule as Junta's Puppets

Generals use elections, privatization to formalize oligarchs' power

(Newser) - Myanmar's ruling junta allowed the country's first elections in 20 years last week—so it could install a bunch of friendly oligarchs in the newly formed parliament, then give them first dibs in the government's firesale of state-owned entities. Unlike in China, privatization has not established an environment of open...

The Lowest Points of the 'Decade of the Oligarchs'
The Lowest Points of the 'Decade of the Oligarchs'
aughts in Review

The Lowest Points of the 'Decade of the Oligarchs'

Bush put US on path to banana republic status

(Newser) - The 2000s were dominated by George W. Bush and the new American oligarchy he represents, writes Juan Cole. He lists hit 10 lowest points of an awful decade:
  • “The constitutional coup of 2000,” in which “ugly racial and other low tricks” and a “far right-wing Supreme
...

How the US Became a Banana Republic
 How the US Became 
 a Banana Republic 
GLOSSIES

How the US Became a Banana Republic

America is a textbook IMF case—but one without a solution

(Newser) - As chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, MIT professor Simon Johnson saw a pattern in bankrupted countries from Argentina to Indonesia: "The powerful elites within them overreached in good times and took too many risks." The current US crisis, Johnson writes in the Atlantic, is "shockingly...

6 Stories
Most Read on Newser