Book Review: How Genetics Shapes Our Ideas About Vice and Blame
IMHO, the book “Original Sin” makes a wildly unsound case for the genetic roots of sin, vice and guilt, and our attitudes toward punishment.
Read more...Author Archives: Yves Smith
The Controversy Over Deep-Sea Mining, Explained
Deep-sea mining backers want metals for clean tech. Indigenous Pacific Islanders call it a threat to life, culture, and the ocean itself.
Read more...Iran War: Trump Faffs About, Extending Deadline for Strike Threat by 10 Days as US Military and Energy/Materials Shortfalls and Shortages Expected in Weeks; Iran Allows Transit of Trapped “Friendly” Ships
Today’s Iran war update: Trump and his inner circle seem astonishingly oblivious to accelerating damage to the economy and the military.
Read more...Two Verdicts in Two Days: How American Courts Are Rewriting the Rules for Big Tech and Children
Will two verdicts against tech platform operators over the danger to children lead to a tidal wave of lawsuits? That jury is out.
Read more...Australia’s Fuels Dependence Turns Into a Crisis
Australia is on its way to becoming the first advanced economy major victim of the Iran war due to baffling policy choices.
Read more...Iran War: Accelerating Economic Damage Creates Urgency on Strait of Hormuz Closure; Shambolic US Assault Preparations Continue; Iran Demands Recognition of Sovereignity Over Strait; Houthis Set to Strangle Red Sea Traffic if US Makes Ground Attack
Trump’s fight with the Iran war tar baby is at great risk of creating even more dangerous escalation.
Read more...Satyajit Das: The Modern ‘Share the Scraps’ Economy
A clinical look at the extractive behavior that all that share, erm, sharing economy talk obscures.
Read more...How the US Became an International Serial Killer
An Iran-focused update on America’s shameful, destabilizing status as global killer in chief
Read more...Easing Capital, Reviving Risk: The Quiet Return of Too Big to Fail
Less capital, more risk. The latest move on big-bank rules suggests that too big to fail was never solved, only deferred.
Read more...Iran War: Mainstream Media Starting to Acknowledge Potential Iran Victory as Trump Flails About, Readying Ground Assault; EU Reversal on Russia Oil Sanctions, Emergency Actions in Asia, Even China, Shows Accelerating Economic Damage
Today’s Iran war update: the current reduction in temperatures does not mean a resolution of the war or damage to the global economy is nigh.
Read more...Concentration Camps, US Style: Dehumanization for Fun and Profit
Rebecca Gordon describes US concentration camps, um, detention centers, as money-driven vehicles for authoritarianism and abuse.
Read more...Economic Questions: The Robert Nozick Question
On the simplistic reasoning Robert Nozick used to justify inequality and a minimal state
Read more...Links 3/24/2026
Iran War: US/Israel Attacks Near Iran Energy Infrastructure; Temporary TACO as Boots on the Ground Moves Continue? Postol on How Iran Nukes Israel in Retaliation and the Horrific Consequences; Gulf States Double Down on Loyalty to US
Today’s Iran war update: Trump moves toward a ground attack as positions on all sides are hardening and the global economy bleeds out
Read more...The Economic Consequences of a Low-Skilled Immigration Sudden Stop: Evidence from Korea’s Guest Worker Programme
The example of South Korea suggests that a halt in immigration by low-skilled workers does not boost pay or job conditions for natives.
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