A compendium of the best reporting and commentary surrounding the pivotal 2024 elections in the United States. You won't find horse race coverage here, or the standard "both sides" BS that passes so often for political journalism. What you will find are links, with brief commentary, to work that I believe advances the conversation we should be having about America's – and the world's – future. Remember: Everything is at stake this year. (Unfortunately, some of the work I point to is behind paywalls.)
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are largely driving the surge in enthusiasm nationally. In March, 55% of Democrats and Democratic leaners said they were more enthusiastic than usual about voting; now, 78% are. Republicans and Republican leaners, who held a slight edge in enthusiasm in March, now trail Democrats by a significant margin, with their current 64% enthusiasm score up slightly from 59% in the spring.
Here's a measure, from a reputable survey research company, of how powerfully Biden's departure and Harris' ascent to the nomination have reshaped what pollsters call voter "enthusiasm" – eagerness to participate – in this year's elections. It's important to note that Republicans are also moving up in this measure, but the Democrats' surge is downright stunning. These numbers may moderate as we get closer to the election, because negative campaigning will turn off some voters.
Labor Secretary Julie Su, FTC Chair Lina Khan, DOJ Antitrust Division chief Jonathan Kanter, and NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo signed a memo of understanding “to strengthen worker protections and fair competition by collaborating on labor issues in antitrust merger investigations.” It comes in the midst of a federal trial in Oregon on the proposed merger of two huge supermarket chains, Albertsons and Kroger, which have been sued by the FTC for violating antitrust laws. As is standard in such cases, the FTC is arguing that the merger will lead to higher prices. As is not standard in such cases, the FTC is breaking new ground by arguing that the merger will also lead to a less competitive job market for supermarket employees, damaging their pocketbooks not only as a result of higher prices but also as a result of lower wages.
Workers are consumers, too – and they are getting screwed by the increasing concentration in our economy. Monopolies and cartels are bad news for everyone but the monopolists and cartel players. They raise prices, reduce quality, dominate suppliers, and increasingly treat workers with contempt. They're doing it in sector after sector. So the alliance of government regulators and agencies doesn't just make sense. It's a vital initiative. Myerson has smartly connected the dots here.
Vance, a U.S. Marine turned venture capitalist, has a troubling history of articulating illiberal views about the use of government power. He argued on the Senate campaign trail that conservatives should "seize the administrative state" and use it "for our own purposes." He then floated the idea that a Republican president could simply ignore court rulings he doesn't like.
Reason magazine, where this appears, is a libertarian outlet. It is also bipartisan in its disdain for politicians who abuse power. Needless to say, it doesn't like either of the two main contenders for the presidency, but this piece testifies to special contempt for the Republicans' vice presidential candidate.
In the years since Trump’s 2016 election, a lot has been written about his autocratic instincts, about his scorn for ethical norms and about his attempt to retain power after losing the 2020 election. But as illustrated by the story of his real estate company’s reliance on dubious shell companies, Trump was already operating in an alternate ethical universe long before he became president, a world where the rules that most ordinary people live by are easily broken. Inside this domain, anonymously owned companies and funds based in offshore tax havens hide what could be as much as 10 per cent of the world’s GDP. This is money earned from organised crime or narcotics operations, stolen from legitimate institutions, or simply hidden, legally, with the aim of avoiding taxation, alimony or embarrassment. In this world, theft is rewarded. Taxes are not paid. Law enforcement is impotent and underfunded. Regulation is something to be dodged, not respected. The climate of this alternate reality is so different from the ordinary world that many have sought to find a name for it. The journalist Oliver Bullough called it “Moneyland”, the title of the book he published in 2018. Tom Burgis, then an FT reporter, named it “Kleptopia” in his book of 2020.
This superb commentary reminds us that the world's wealthiest people – many of whom are crooks – have used financial secrecy to hide what they do. As Applebaum says, for them "Theft is rewarded." Worse, they undermine the rule of law in general, and democracy is a notable casualty. They are laughing at the rest of us. They are a clear and present danger. She goes on to suggest ways that governments and others could work to bring transparency to a system. (Note: You may have to register with the Financial Times to read this, but there shouldn't be a paywall.)
And what’s more — what’s worse — they don’t seem to want to change. Editors and reporters, with a few exceptions, really don’t see the problem as they normalize Trump. Nor do they appear to listen to valid criticism. They may not even be aware of it, or may think, “well, when both sides are mad at us, we must be doing it right.” Maybe they simply fear being labeled liberal.
What prompted this commentary from Margaret Sullivan – whose journalistic credentials are impeccable – was yet another example of how wretched the New York Times' political coverage remains after years of public, embarrassing failures. In the case at hand, the Times published a story headlined, “Harris and Trump Have Housing Ideas. Economists Have Doubts,” – a story, as Sullivan explained with incredulity, that "takes seriously Trump’s plan for the mass deportation of immigrants as part of his supposed 'affordable housing' agenda. For a decade, the organization's political coverage – and most of Big Journalism's coverage – has engaged not just in false balance of this kind. But the Times has been especially terrible in its relentless normalization of Trump and his extremist allies and followers. It's disheartening to those of us who once revered the Times. I would go further than Sullivan (a friend) on the Times' recent responses – which amount to "go away" – to all the valid criticism. I believe they have contempt for us.
Voting is just part of democracy, but it's the essential place to start. Make sure you're registered. Doublecheck in the fall, well before Election Day, because in some states Republican officials are removing people, mostly those who tend to vote for Democrats, from voting rolls.
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I spend a lot of time looking for essential coverage, and hope you'll help me by letting me know about the good stuff you find. Let me know.
Jeffrey M. Jones
Harold Meyerson
Stephanie Slade
Anne Applebaum
Margaret Sullivan
