Justin H. Vassallo

Writer

Brooklyn, NY

Writer and researcher specializing in American political development, comparative political economy, and the future of governance. Columnist at Compact Magazine

Justin H. Vassallo

Writer

Brooklyn, NY

Writer and researcher specializing in American political development, comparative political economy, and the future of governance. Columnist at Compact Magazine

The Left has forgotten its philosophy
It has given up the fight on violent inequality The Left has let inequality run wild. Spencer Platt/Getty Images diverseEconomyLiberalismMarxismPhilosophySociety Justin H. Vassallo November 2, 2024 6 mins A mere glance at the headlines underscores what mo
UnHerd
Featured
Rust Belt Rebound
W o r d F a c t o r y Few contemporary Democratic politicians have defied the odds like Ohio’s Sherrod Brown. In his bid to win a fourth term to the Senate, Brown evinces the same earthy determination that catapulted him to prominence in the House during
The Baffler
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Kamala Harris must grapple with America’s Founding Fathers
As she strives to project joy and stability amid catastrophic hurricanes in the American South and an escalating war in the Middle East, Kamala Harris still faces an unusual task in the countdown to election day. At the same time that she must persuade un
New Statesman
Featured
The Next Prairie Populist?
After a presidential election cycle once again defined by trench warfare in a few swing states, an unlikely insurgent in deep-red Nebraska could have a major impact on national politics come January. Dan Osborn, an independent candidate and union leader w
Commonweal
Featured
The Looming Industrial Downturn
Since the pandemic, ordinary Americans’ perceptions of the economy have confounded liberal-leaning experts and commentators, who have hailed the US recovery as the envy of the industrialized world. Brought on by global supply-chain shocks, including China
Compact
The next President will be beholden to regional elites A radical consensus is off the cards
Can Kamala Harris disturb the regional balance of power? (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) Democratic PartyDonald TrumpKamala HarrisNeoliberalismPoliticsPost-neoliberalismRepublican PartyUS It has become conventional wisdom in the waning
UnHerd
Kamala Harris’s Liberal Fusionism
Ours is a surreal moment in US politics. In a matter of weeks, the Democratic Party has engineered a near-seamless transfer of political power from President Biden to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, thereby reviving the party’s prospects in all seven of the s
Compact
Featured
Can Kamala Harris end America’s interregnum?
Democrats elated by Kamala Harris’s candidacy for president and further buoyed by the apparent strife inside the Republican campaign are no longer so panicked over the odds of beating Donald Trump in November. But as the dust settles from this summer’s dr
New Statesman
Learning to Walz won’t save Kamala
Democrats should not overestimate their VP's power Harris reveals her choice of VP (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) 2024 us electionBlue WallDemocratic PartyKamala HarrisPoliticssun beltUS Safe yet shrewd is how Kamala Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as her runni
UnHerd
Featured
Harris’s Choice
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in Tucson, Arizona, April 12, 2024(OSV News photo/Rebecca Noble, Reuters). Kamala Harris’s elevation to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket has transformed the race. Party leaders have rallied to her side and
Commonweal
Featured
When Liberals Fought Free Trade
One of the more pervasive habits of mainstream commentary is to mystify the origins of economic populism. This is most readily evident in the categorical vilification of whole swathes of the American population as bumpkin brownshirts. Yet it’s also reflec
Compact
Featured
How Democrats Should Handle the Pro-Labor Right
In a keynote address to the Republican National Convention last Monday night, Teamster president Sean O’Brien devoted most of his seventeen-minute speech to assailing corporate control of the economy and celebrating the muscle of independent, democratic t
liberalpatriot.com
Taking on China the Right Way
U.S.-China relations have become increasingly volatile over the past decade. President Biden’s industrial strategy—a mix of tax credits, tariffs, and other protectionist measures that significantly expands upon the legacy of Trump’s U.S. Trade Representat
liberalpatriot.com
Why Biden’s Post-Neoliberalism Is Failing
With five months to go before the presidential election, the latest inflation data tell the same basic story of the last two years: Disinflation is continuing, yet overall prices since the pandemic remain burdensome for too many working Americans. Accordi
Compact
Biden’s Healthcare Problem
Since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, there has been crucial—if labored—progress toward de facto universal healthcare in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of non-elderly uninsured people declined from roughly 48 mi
Dissent Magazine
Featured
Lessons in Development: Revisiting Martin J. Sklar’s Corporate Liberalism
Ten years ago, Martin J. Sklar, a historian and pioneer in the field of American political development, passed away at age seventy-nine. Over the months and years that followed, a handful of essays by former colleagues and students cautiously commemorated
American Affairs Journal

About

Justin H. Vassallo

I'm a freelance writer who specializes in American political development and comparative/international political economy, with an additional focus on social democratic and progressive economic policymaking. I like to study the relationship between development and welfare, as well as the impact of ideology and party system coalitions upon each of these issues. I'm looking for freelance opportunities across a wide range of media platforms as well as major research assignments or full-time employment opportunities with think tanks and policymakers.