Library’s Cairns & Beacons series continues Nov. 2

Library’s Cairns & Beacons series continues Nov. 2

LUDINGTON — Mason County District Library (MCDL), and partner libraries throughout Michigan, will host Michael Tomasky, presenting his ideas on reimagining capitalism and creating economic policies that work for America’s poor and working poor on Thursday, Nov. 2 from 7 to 8:30 p.m..Part of the Cairns & Beacons: Finding Our Way in a Post-Pandemic World series, this presentation is free and available on Zoom from anywhere, and in person at Ludington library, 217 E Ludington Ave.

Tomasky has served as editor for The New Republic since 2021 and is founder and editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, as well as author of

The Middle Out: The Rise of Progressive Economics and a Return to Shared Prosperity. Tomasky, together with a host of others from both the political right and left, has been exploring the next group of ideas and values guiding American economic policy for several years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These new ideas for our economy have circulated by a number of different terms, including ‘industrial policy,’ ‘deliverism,’ and more recently ‘Bidenomics,’ though the ideas come from people of both major political parties,” said Brooke Portmann, one of the directors of the series.

“MCDL’s Head of Circulation Thomas Trahey and I have long been impressed by Tomasky’s tough, clear-headed thinking. And we have admired his willingness to walk-back ideas that don’t seem to address problems well and his courage to continue to bring diverse people—that is, again, from both parties—around the table to discuss important ideas on how to proceed.

“Early on in our search for presenters, Thomas discovered the journal Democracy, and that it is freely available through a quick search on Google. That’s rare for one of the ‘small’ journals. Soon after that we observed Tomasky giving a presentation. He is very ‘user-friendly.’ Audiences are able to follow his thinking even if they don’t usually listen to people speaking about America’s economic policy. He’s an interesting, enjoyable speaker.”