Author Archives: Yves Smith

How the American Economy Is Rigged to Serve the Rich, and Why Tariffs Won’t Change That

The money to support well-paid American jobs exists—it’s just being hoarded by the rich.

Trump Wants World to Subsidise US Empire

A Trump advisor argues, in all seriousness, that other countries should help bear the cost of US empire because it confers so many benefits on them.

What Science Says About Food Additives

RFK Jr. has said the U.S. should end the use of synthetic food additives. How would that affect public health?

Satyajit Das: On Cinema –Surviving Childhood

A look at some prime cinematic treatments on the coming of age, not the treacley or heroic sort, but nuanced portraits.

Links 4/19/2025

Trump and Rubio Signal US on Verge of Halting Ukraine Peace Negotiations

As we had predicted from early on, the Ukraine peact talks are failing. Trump is threatening to pull the plug.

Come-Gimme! Why Do We Shrug When Apes Cross the Language Barrier?

Despite startling breakthroughs, the first words and signs of great apes are rarely publicly celebrated by scientists.

“Is Trump About to End Democracy in the USA?”

Trump asked the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to determine whether to use the Insurrection Act to secure the southern border

Trump Makes Presumed Empty but Loud Threat to Fire Fed Chair Powell, Showing that Trump Will Continue to Wreck Markets and the Economy to Prove His Manhood

Trump is now taking on Fed chair Powell over Powell’s refusal to cut rates to bail Trump out of the economic messes he created.

Tariffs, the Dollar, and Equities: High-Frequency Evidence from the Liberation Day Announcement

Sales of US equities by foreign owners played a meaningful role in the falll of the dollar after the Trump tariff rampage began.

Trump Back on Track to Failed Iran Negotiations and Likely War

After only one US exchange with Iran, new noises from Witkoff and others show the US upping its demands to a level not acceptable to Iran

Trump’s Tariffs Just Torched His Own Energy Agenda

How Trump tariffs are whacking shale development and in turn, Trump’s prized energy dominace strategy.

‘You Don’t Need a Tariff, You Need a Revolution’

Chinese point out that Americans are exploited by oligarchs. But the tariffs, like it or not, are part of a radical right counter-revolution.