Author: Robert Reich

Why do we glorify “self-made” billionaires? Being “self-made” is a seductive idea. It suggests that anybody can get to the top if they’re willing to work hard enough. It is what the American Dream is all about. If Kylie Jenner can become a “self-made” billionaire at age 21, so can you and I. Even as wages stay stagnant and wealth inequality grows, it is a comfort to think that we are all simply one cosmetics company and some elbow grease away from fortune. Unfortunately, a nice idea is all it is. Self-made billionaires are a myth. Just like unicorns....

The latest Republican plot to sabotage our elections could remove American voters from the process of selecting their president. A case headed to the Supreme Court could let Republican controlled state legislatures overrule the will of the people and pick the next president without you. This all hinges on a radical idea called the “independent state legislature theory.” It’s at the heart of a case the Supreme Court will decide called Moore v. Harper. The decision in this case could give state legislatures the power to disregard the popular vote and substitute their own slate of electors pledged to...

Joe Biden’s message on August 1 evening was clear. American democracy is under attack. This was a rare primetime address on the most important challenge facing the nation. But the media treated the speech as if it were just another in an endless series of partisan vollies instead of what it was – a declaration by the president of the United States that America must choose between democracy and authoritarianism. The major networks did not broadcast the speech. The media coverage of the speech on the following day was just more he-said/she-said reaction. The New York Times quoted the...

The Clean Air Act of 1970 authorized the government to regulate air pollution. The Inflation Reduction Act, which Joe Biden signed into law this past week, allocates more than $300bn to energy and climate reform, including $30bn in subsidies for manufacturers of solar panels and wind turbines. Notice the difference? The Inflation Reduction Act is an important step toward slowing or reversing climate the crisis. It also illustrates the nation’s shift away from regulating businesses to subsidizing businesses. From 1932 through the late 1970s, the government mainly regulated businesses. This was the era of the alphabet soup of regulatory...