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Basav Sen talks to The Verge about the role of oil in the invasion of Venezuela. Already, he says, financial speculators “are making money right now based on this invasion.”

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Basav Sen talks to The Verge about the role of oil in the invasion of Venezuela. Already, he says, financial speculators “are making money right now based on this invasion.”

Common Dreams quotes Basav Sen on the Trump administration’s withdrawal from dozens of international organizations, conventions, and treaties, including those focused on climate.

He notes that the US is “the world’s largest cumulative greenhouse gas emitter, and the largest producer and exporter of oil and gas today.”

“By walking away from the UNFCCC and the IPCC,” Basav warns, “the Trump regime is sending a clear message to the world that the US refuses to take responsibility for its own actions.”

Read the full article in Common Dreams.

Washington Monthly interviewed Chuck Collins about his new book, Burned by Billionaires, which argues that the rise of the billionaire class has profoundly damaging impacts on ordinary Americans’ lives and on the functioning of democracy.

“I actually am very optimistic after the last month of being out talking to people about this book because I feel like there’s an awakening. People understand implicitly the harms that are caused by these great fortunes and extreme concentrations of wealth, and they’re trying to find places to push that agenda forward,” noted Collins.

Read the full interview.

Truthout highlights IPS’s January 2 billionaire wealth analysis, based on data from Forbes, which found that U.S. billionaires’ assets surged by a whopping 21 percent in 2025.

The 935 billionaires in the U.S. now control $8.1 trillion in wealth, the analysis found — nearly double the amount of wealth held by the bottom 50 percent of Americans, which comprises over 170 million people.

Read the full article in Truthout.

Ohio Capital Journal highlights IPS’s January 2 billionaire wealth analysis, which found that the combined wealth of 935 U.S. billionaires surged to a staggering $8.1 trillion at the end of 2025.

The article was also republished by Cleveland Scene, Mahoning Matters, Tiffin Ohio, and other local and state outlets.

Khury Petersen-Smith speaks with Law & Disorder/KPFA about U.S. strikes on Venezuela and the implications for Iran (and elsewhere in the Middle East,) as well as violations of the ceasefire in Gaza and dwindling prospects for the Gaza peace plan.





Common Dreams highlights IPS’s January 2 billionaire wealth analysis, which found that the combined wealth of 935 U.S. billionaires surged to a staggering $8.1 trillion at the end of 2025.

“The affordability crisis is hitting ordinary Americans particularly hard as we head into the new year, but not everyone is feeling the pain: Billionaires are raking in staggering profits off the backs of ordinary workers,” said Chuck Collins. “These extreme concentrations of wealth and power undermine our daily lives and further rig our economy in favor of the ultra-rich and corporations, while ordinary Americans get a raw deal once again.”

IPS released its analysis days after Bloomberg reported, based on its Billionaires Index, that the world’s 500 richest people gained a record $2.2 trillion in wealth last year.

Omar Ocampo, an IPS researcher, said that in the US, billionaires are “paying far less in taxes compared to the huge amount of wealth they amass,” allowing them to continue accumulating vast fortunes, supercharging inequality, and using their wealth and influence to subvert reform efforts.

“Not only are a small number of Americans holding more wealth than the rest of America, but they’re also not paying their fair share in taxes,” said Ocampo.

Read the full article in Common Dreams.




“The billionaire class had their wealth nearly triple in the last six years, and a one-time wealth tax will only put a 5% constraint on their wealth accumulation,” said Omar Ocampo of the Institute for Policy Studies. “It will not significantly impact their lives, their consumption or spending habits.”

Read the full article in CBS News.

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