Money Makes the World Go ‘Round
Ben Lerner on the art market, an excerpt from Nell Zink's new novel, and the state of the global economy
U.S., China, and the World Economy
[ J U N E • 1 9 5 7 ]
George Steiner outlines how a cold-eyed, practical approach toward Communist China might yield bigger dividends—in terms of America's long-range goals—than our present emotional policy.
Read “A Better Way to Deal With China”
[ F E B R U A R Y • 2 0 1 9 ]
Kishore Mahbubani on how the United States and China can avoid war.
[ J U L Y • 2 0 2 2 ]
“The emergence of China as an economic and military powerhouse has decisively ended the ‘unipolar moment’ of the Nineties and Aughts.”
Read “Empire Burlesque: What comes after the American century?” by Daniel Bessner
[ N O V E M B E R • 2 0 1 5 ]
“As our biggest manufacturers and traders and investors succeed in China, they also come to depend on China for future profits—which brings them increasingly under the sway of a Chinese state that holds the power to cut those profits off.”
Read “The New China Syndrome” by Barry C. Lynn
Judge, Jury, and Executioner
[ M A R C H • 2 0 1 7 ]
On the death penalty as a conservative conundrum.
Read “A Matter of Life” by Mary Cuddehe
[ M A Y • 2 0 2 1 ]
The death penalty under Trump and the execution of Dustin Higgs.
Read “The Lightning Farm” by Caroline Lester
[ A P R I L • 1 9 6 4 ]
“I have never been in favor of capital punishment, but until about ten years ago I wasn't exactly against it, either. What finally made up my mind was an experience I had at a state prison in the South.”
Read “The Phone Call” by Calvin G. Reid
Where, Oh Where, Are Art Buyers?
[ D E C E M B E R • 2 0 1 3 ]
“What would it mean to think beyond the economics of the art world, to move beyond both vandalism and the market it exposes?”
Read “Damage Control” by Ben Lerner
[ J U L Y • 1 9 8 3 ]
“Abandoning the elitist alienation that was the hallmark of their predecessors, they have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the art market, a world increasingly embracing salesmanship and public relations.”
Read “Painting for Dollars” by Carey Lovelace
[ S E P T E M B E R • 1 9 4 0 ]
On America’s burgeoning art market.
Read “Can Artists Make A Living?” by George Biddle
Spotlight: Nell Zink
[ A P R I L • 2 0 2 5 ]
Read a selection from Nell Zink’s novel Sister Europe, which appears in our April issue.
[ N O V E M B E R • 2 0 1 9 ]
On maladaptive decadence in the Amazon basin.
Read “The Bird Angle” by Nell Zink
[ J U L Y • 2 0 1 9 ]
“On a November Saturday in 1990, Pam went over to Joe’s place to listen to records. It was raining in sheets that whipped around the corners of buildings and blowing so hard that women in heels were taking men’s arms to cross the street. Cars were plowing bow waves through puddles of scum.”
Read “Marmalade Sky” by Nell Zink