Today’s Water Cooler: Beyond trade war with China, Biden, Sanders, Iowa caucus, “divisiveness,” jobless claims, manufacturing, new home sales, trucking deterioriates, robot trucks, Tesla plunges, Apple services, Amazon, infrastructure debacle, Friday climate strikes, Jack London, dopamine
Thursday, May 23, 2019
How Trump’s ‘America First’ Trade Strategy Is Accelerating America’s Decline
Why Trump ‘s narrowly nationalistic trade agenda, combined with his nostalgia for a 1950s style economy, will undermine U.S. economic prosperity and U.S. global hegemony.
Is Theresa May Finally Over?
Is the bell finally tolling for Theresa May?
FAA Won’t Say When Boeing 737 Max Might Fly Again; Foreign Regulators Uppity
The FAA is a big casualty of the Boeing 737 Max debacle.
Documenting the Train Wreck: Atmospheric CO2 Is Now Higher Than Ever in Human History, and Rising
CO2 levels have crossed a threshold that ought to be causing alarms, yet the finding was just another news story. What can be done to cut through the climage complacency?
2:00PM Water Cooler 5/22/2019
Today’s Water Cooler: Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders, impeachment, 2018 voter turnout, DCCC, Apple, Facebook and marijuana, China’s rare earths, contract law, bees and 5G, virtual pipelines, feral horses, #MedicareForAll House Budget Committee, philanthropy (so-called), Appalachia, Fortnite
Bankruptcy: An Option for Taxi Drivers Crushed by Medallion Loans?
Contrary to what the NYT asserts, taxi drivers who can get competent legal advice might find bankruptcy allows them to escape onerous medallion loan burdens – and keep their medallions.
FDA Allowed Medtronic to Shield Info on Heart Device Failures
Medtronic allowed to report in secret the failures of its heart device – concealing information from patients, their doctors, and consumer advocates.
Trump’s Sneak Attack on Social Security
Trump budget proposal incorporates an attack on Social Security, advocating a switch to the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) to index the federal definition of poverty, a step that would result in lower benefits.
Public-Private Partnerships Fad Fails
After the failure and abuses of privatization became apparent, public-private partnerships have since been promoted to mobilize private finance for the public purpose. PPPs have socialized costs and losses while ensuring private financial gains.
2:00PM Water Cooler 5/21/2019
Today’s Water Cooler: Biden, Gravel, Moulton, Sanders to Walmart, Trump, IA, Rahm Emanuel, impeachment, DCCC blacklist, home sales, rare earths, store closures, Instagram breach, robot trucks, climate change and microorganisms, labor in China, how the rich game the SATs, Margaret Hamilton
EPA Changes Math to Allow Burning of More Coal
EPA proposes methodology change to allow states to opt to burn more coal.
