Fearless commentary on finance, economics, politics and power

Today’s Water Cooler: Tariffs, Biden, Beto, election shenanigans, AOC, DSA, callout culture, housing market, e-commerce, Elon Musk, Carlos Ghosn, Tim Cook, Medicare for All, constitutional law, SEIU, brainwaves

New research shows that ‘master’ fingerprints can bypass smartphone fingerprint ID systems – thus striking another blow at the biometric ID fairy.

My inability to place an online order at Powell’s Books despite multiple attempts says something is very wrong.

Young climate change activists and AOC push Pelosi for a Green New Deal, despite expected hostility in the Senate.

Why the worries about the US budget deficit and China buying Treasuries are overblown.

Concerns are building over the extent of leveraged lending, among regulators and politicians and the private sector alike. Some, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren see troubling signs that recall risks that triggered the Great Financial Crisis.

The IMF is back again, flexing its muscle in Argentina and Mexico, pushing the neoliberal Washington Consensus, says Vijay Prashad in this Real News Network interview.

Hope you can join our Birmingham meetup!

Labour wants to play a game of chicken with May over Brexit.

Politicizing the SWIFT payments system is leading other nations to the search for alternatives to the dollar.

How a reader documenting a horse dump problem in Chicago’s Loop led to a clean-up.

By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Readers, sorry for the “late” post. My habit is to set my clock a little ahead, as a lash and a spur to actually press the submit button by deadline, but the Mac’s latest OS seems to get huffy if my time is set “incorrectly,” and so I accidentally reset […]