Author Archives: Conor Gallagher

KHN: $50 Billion in Opioid Settlement Cash Is on the Way. We’re Tracking How It’s Spent.

Citizens struggle to track how states are using all the money health care executives paid for their get-out-of-jail cards after they killed or addicted millions.

Senators Alarmed By Use of Rent-Setting Algorithm, Say It’s Helping Drive Inflation

How much is “information sharing” between mega property management companies driving the rise in housing costs?

‘The Billionaire Bailout’: FDIC Chair Says the Biggest Deposit Accounts at SVB Held $13 Billion

“The bailout really did protect billionaires from taking a modest haircut.”

As Longterm Partnership With Us Fades, Saudi Arabia Seeks to Diversify Its Diplomacy – And Recent Deals With China, Iran and Russia Fit This Strategy

US policy takes a hit in the Middle East.

Links 3/28/2023

US Continues Its Abuse of the EU With Recent Inflation Reduction Act Agreement

The deal allows European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to sell a breakthrough without accomplishing anything for Europe.

Eurasian Integration Including Iran Proceeds Despite US “Maximum Pressure” Campaign

The Riyadh-Tehran rapprochement could bring much-needed infrastructure investment in Iran, which is situated at the center of China and Russian-led Eurasian integration efforts, but countries will have to defy or work around US sanctions.

Links 3/20/2023

Turkey’s Opposition Leads in the Polls. Would They Move the Country Closer to the West?

The Turkish opposition’s “memorandum of understanding on common policies” reveals which way they’re likely to steer the country should they win May’s election.

Links 3/19/2023

Are Oil Stocks Too Good For ESG Investors To Pass Up?

“Environmental, social, and governance” investors ditch the make-believe, but it was fun while it lasted.

Interest Rate Hikes and IMF Bailouts: the US Tries to Roll Back Chinese Influence in the Global South

As higher interest rates and inflation hit developing countries, the IMF is trying to use bailout terms to sideline Beijing.

US ‘Imperial Anxieties’ Mount Over China-Brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia Diplomatic Deal

One American intelligence expert urged the U.S. to maintain friendly relations with “barbarous, but long-standing allies” in the Middle East lest China fill the vacuum.