Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Is It Time to Tax Ultra-Processed Foods Because of the Massive Harm That They Do to Society?

Yes, Virginia, ultra-processed food is a health hazard. But what to do?

Links 12/5/2023

Pfizer and BioNTech Are Suing Poland Over Its Refusal to Pay for More COVID-19 Vaccines. Are They Also Suing Hungary?

Even by the normal standards of investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS), Pfizer and BioNtech’s lawsuit against the government of Poland for refusing to pay for more unwanted vaccines is especially egregious.

Elections Won’t Fix What Ails the West

e body politic in the West is not at all healthy. Why is there so much denial about that?

Is American Banking Safe? You Might Not Like The Answer from Two Fed Veterans

Walker Todd and Bill Bergman expose the untold story of banking instability, regulatory battles, and the struggle to protect the public.

CDC Director Cohen Must Reject HICPAC’s Shoddily Evidenced, Unreviewable, Statistically Invalid, Non-Performing, Conflicted, and Un-Peer-Reviewed Infection Control “Guidance”

What it says on the tin.

2:00PM Water Cooler 12/4/2023

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Open Thread ~

Links 12/4/2023

EU and US Ukraine Funding Even More in Doubt as War Effort Falters

Things are going from bad to worse for Ukraine, and at an accelerating pace too.

Evidence – And an Explanation – For the Recent Surge in Inflation Inequality

Though firms passed rising upstream costs on to retailers at similar absolute rates, the increases for low-end products are disproportionately large when measured in percentages – a pattern with real consequences for consumers.

NATO/West or Global Majority? Unipolar Destruction or Multipolar Development? The World Must Choose

Yves here. While there is a lot of merit in the latest discussion between Radhika Desai and Micheal Hudson on their favorite topic of mutlipolarity, I feel compelled to correct some imprecisions. The video depicts the “German government” as having “raised” the debt brake but then “not being allowed” with no depiction of agency, to […]

The Etymologies of Capital, Capitalist, and Capitalism: A Brief Sketch

How English added capital, capitalist, and capitalism to its word hoard.

Links 12/3/2023

FTC Chief Gears Up for a Showdown With Private Equity

Over the past three years, FTC and Department of Justice officials have signaled they would apply more scrutiny to private equity acquisitions in health care, including roll-up deals in which larger provider groups buy smaller groups in a local market.

Links 12/2/2023