The great rebuild

The coronavirus has laid bare the flaws in our economy. Can we remake it to be more inclusive of all Americans?

The Covid-19 pandemic is a tragedy, a massive policy failure, and an existential threat to the livelihood and health of millions of Americans — with the pain disproportionality falling on Black Americans.

A problem this big demands a bold solution.

With more than 5 million cases worldwide, 165,000 Americans dead, more than 16 million US jobs eliminated, and schools and businesses shuttered, half measures won’t cut it. It didn’t have to be this way. However, there is still much we can do to recover — and not just recover, but rebuild.

Tapping the voices of prominent American thinkers, economists, and policymakers, The Great Rebuild imagines how we could marshal the power of the federal government and the potential of its citizens to fight back against the catastrophic effects of Covid-19, and in the process create a system steeped in fairness, inclusion, and sustainability.

The Great Rebuild is made possible thanks to support from Omidyar Network, a social impact venture that works to reimagine critical systems and the ideas that govern them, and to build more inclusive and equitable societies. All Great Rebuild coverage is editorially independent and produced by our journalists.

What would Keynes do?

What the 20th century’s most influential economist can teach us about rebuilding the US economy.

By Ezra Klein

The failed dream of the American small business

Small businesses were once pillars of communities, but economic and systemic forces left many fighting for survival. Then came the pandemic.

By Laura Entis