Arsenal for Democracy

Description: Bill, Rachel, and Kelley discuss airline deregulation and bankruptcies, the post-9/11 and covid-19 airline bailouts, and why the US should obviously nationalize the passenger airline industry. Links and notes for ep. 310 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AFD-Ep-310-Links-and-Notes-Airline-Bailouts-and-Deregulation.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

Description: It’s the Second Gilded Age and the technology monopolies are back in full force. What is to be done? Kelley returns to the show to join Bill and Rachel for a discussion. Links and notes for ep. 309 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/AFD-Ep-309-Links-and-Notes-Part-5_-The-Early-US-Oil-Industry-Modern-Parallels-to-the-Rise-of-Gilded-Age-Monopolism.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird. See also: Part 1, … Read more

Description: Beyond “natural monopolies,” the second industrial revolution beginning in the 1870s probably required the formation of monopolies like Standard Oil, but did those monopolies have to be in private hands? Bill and Rachel investigate. Links and notes for ep. 308 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/AFD-308-Links-Notes-Part-4_-The-Early-US-Oil-Industry-Part-4-Are-Monopolies-Bad_.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird. See also: … Read more

Description: Rachel and Bill discuss the railroad shipping rate discount wars of the 1870s northeastern United States and their role in the rise of Standard Oil. (See also part 1 and part 2.) Links and notes for ep. 307 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/AFD-307-Links-and-Notes-Part-3_-Understanding-Rail-Price-Wars.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

Description: Rachel and Bill explain how Rockefeller pushed his way to the top position in the early U.S. oil industry in the early 1870s and began to form a monopoly. (This episode is a continuation of the narrative in part 1.) Links and Notes for Ep. 306 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/AFD-306-Links-and-Notes-Part-2_-The-Rise-of-Standard-Oil.pdf Theme … Read more

Description: With crude oil prices crashing into the negatives for the first time ever, Rachel and Bill go back to the industry’s volatile beginning — the Pennsylvania oil rush. AFD 305 Links and Notes (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AFD-305-Links-and-Notes-Part-1_-The-Early-US-Oil-Industry.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

Description: Bill and Rachel discuss why coronavirus pandemic coordination between governors is not technically an “interstate compact” and what the 19th century Supreme Court said about interstate disease control. AFD Ep. 304 Links and Notes (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AFD-304-Links-and-Notes-Interstate-Compacts-Revisited.pdf Return to episode 92 from July 2014: http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/2014/07/16/july-16-2014-arsenal-for-democracy-92/ Original theme music by Stunt … Read more

Description: What the coronavirus pandemic highlights about the problems of privatized and semi-privatized healthcare, especially in the management and operation of hospitals. Greg, Rachel, Bill. Ep. 303 Links & Notes: http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AFD-Ep-303-Links-and-Notes-Hospital-economics.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

In this extended episode, Bill and Rachel discuss the failure of market liberal democracies to prevent or respond to the pandemic adequately and how the overnight unique economic collapse is forcing employers and employees alike to rethink how we organize our society. Links and notes for ep 302 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Ep-302-Links-and-Notes-Bring-to-Birth-A-New-World-From-the-Ashes-of-the-Old.pdf … Read more

Description: Rachel and Bill continue their discussion of corporate and individual tax avoidance in the US, including offshore havens and onshore havens like Delaware and Nevada. Ep. 301 Links and Notes (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AFD-Ep-301-Links-and-Notes-More-on-Tax-Havens.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird. Return to ep. 298. Return to ep. 147 (Oct 2015).