Robert Reich: Mitt Romney’s Casino Capitalism

Robert Reich: Mitt Romney’s Casino Capitalism

Robert Reich: Mitt Romney’s Casino Capitalism

Romney and his kind turned much of our economy into a betting parlor—how did he ever become a serious candidate for the presidency?

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Romney and his kind turned much of our economy into a betting parlor—how did he ever become a serious candidate for the presidency?

Mitt Romney, above all else, epitomizes the deep inequality in our society. In this episode of Nation Conversations, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich explains to Managing Editor Roane Carey how Romney’s casino capitalism used tax benefits to not only enrich himself and his fellow CEOs, but bankrupted the country while they were at it. Read Mitt Romney and the New Gilded Age, in which Reich describes why Romney reflects the deep structural crisis we currently face, in this week’s double issue.

Subscribe to Nation Conversations on iTunes for exclusive audio of Nation editors and writers digging into the topics and issues that shape the magazine. Check back for a new episode each Thursday.

Note: This episode was first published on June 29th. New episodes of Nation Conversations will return Thursday, August 23rd

Independent journalism relies on your support


With a hostile incoming administration, a massive infrastructure of courts and judges waiting to turn “freedom of speech” into a nostalgic memory, and legacy newsrooms rapidly abandoning their responsibility to produce accurate, fact-based reporting, independent media has its work cut out for itself.

At The Nation, we’re steeling ourselves for an uphill battle as we fight to uphold truth, transparency, and intellectual freedom—and we can’t do it alone. 

This month, every gift The Nation receives through December 31 will be doubled, up to $75,000. If we hit the full match, we start 2025 with $150,000 in the bank to fund political commentary and analysis, deep-diving reporting, incisive media criticism, and the team that makes it all possible. 

As other news organizations muffle their dissent or soften their approach, The Nation remains dedicated to speaking truth to power, engaging in patriotic dissent, and empowering our readers to fight for justice and equality. As an independent publication, we’re not beholden to stakeholders, corporate investors, or government influence. Our allegiance is to facts and transparency, to honoring our abolitionist roots, to the principles of justice and equality—and to you, our readers. 

In the weeks and months ahead, the work of free and independent journalists will matter more than ever before. People will need access to accurate reporting, critical analysis, and deepened understanding of the issues they care about, from climate change and immigration to reproductive justice and political authoritarianism. 

By standing with The Nation now, you’re investing not just in independent journalism grounded in truth, but also in the possibilities that truth will create.

The possibility of a galvanized public. Of a more just society. Of meaningful change, and a more radical, liberated tomorrow.

In solidarity and in action,

The Editors, The Nation

Ad Policy
x