Scenes From an Economic Collapse
The staggering spike in unemployment isn’t just throwing individual families into poverty. It’s gutting entire communities — in ways they might never recover from.
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The 5.31.20 Issue
Highlights
CreditIlona Szwarc for The New York Times Can America’s Middle Class Be Saved from a New Depression?
As the pandemic guts the livelihoods of formerly stable families, the federal government seems unwilling to act on the necessary scale.
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CreditLyndon French for The New York Times Amazon’s Big Breakdown
The pandemic briefly brought the Everything Store to its knees — by prematurely bringing about a future it has long been planning for.
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CreditIllustration by Tyler Comrie For Families Already Stretched to the Limit, the Pandemic Is a Disaster
The Sydnor-Joneses had finally moved into an actual home by scrimping and saving. But the pandemic has stymied their resourcefulness.
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CreditHannah Price for The New York Times
In Louisiana, Covid-19 Has Achieved What Big Oil Protesters Could Not
A plunge in oil prices has hammered the state’s economy — but also shown a glimpse of a different possible future.
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CreditEli Durst for The New York Times When the Casinos Were Shuttered, the Money Dried Up in Las Vegas
By mid-May, 27.9 percent of Nevada’s work force had filed for unemployment — not accounting for the undocumented population finding itself out of work.
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CreditIlona Szwarc for The New York Times At the San Antonio Food Bank, the Cars Keep Coming
Last month, aerial photos of a packed parking lot became a nationwide symbol of economic insecurity. If anything, the anxiety has only deepened.
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CreditDan Winters for The New York Times An American Jobs Crisis with Few Reporters to Cover It
In the rural West and around the country, newspapers are stuck at the intersection of a shrinking industry and crumbling local economies.
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CreditJamey Stillings for The New York Times What Is the Stock Market Even for Anymore?
With the economy in free fall, the resilience of share prices defies the misfortunes of most Americans.
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CreditPhoto illustration by Joan Wong
As Meatpacking Plants Look to Reopen, Some Families Are Wary
The plants have been hotbeds of viral spread. Will cleaning and safety measures be enough to protect workers from new outbreaks?
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CreditCalla Kessler/The New York Times Hannah Gadsby on Comedy Trolls, Anti-Vaxxers and Burying Her Dog
People who want to hate me — there’s nothing I can do about it.
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CreditMamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times TalkShould a Parent of Two Children Split Inheritance Equally?
The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on dividing your estate equally among heirs, taking advantage of the CARES Act and using PayPal to pay contractors.
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CreditIllustration by Tomi Um The Ethicist‘Soup’ So Vibrant, It’s Called ‘the Elixir of Life’
You can sip it or have it with rice and yogurt. You can treat it like a soup or a glass of savory juice.
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CreditGentl and Hyers for The New York Times (Photography and Styling) EatMy Father Leaned on Routine to Create Stability. Now I Do, Too.
His routines were essentially acts of faith. And like even my daily iced coffee, so have mine been.
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CreditIllustration by Andy Rementer Letter of Recommendation
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