Author Archives: Yves Smith

IMF Surcharges: A Lose-Lose Policy for Global Recovery

The IMF seems unable to drop its punitive, self and “client” destructive habits.

Michael Hudson: America’s Real Adversaries Are Its European and Other Allies

America has gone off the deep end re Ukraine. It’s pressuring allies to engage in economic self-harm, which is not a relationship-builder

News Flash: CalPERS Invents Time Machine! Not News: CalPERS Again Lies in Suit Over Illegal Secret Board Meeting and Smears Former Board Member Margaret Brown as Diversion

CalPERS digs its hole even deeper in its effort to keep parts of a board transcript secret. What dirt does it contain?

Blinken’s Booby Traps – How The US Propaganda Paper Released In Madrid Proposes to Go to War With Russia While Claiming to Do The Opposite

The US seems to think it is too clever by half in dealing with Russia. But some parties close to the action, like Europeans, aren’t so keen.

Links 2/5/2022

Senators Have Re-Introduced the Highly Unpopular EARN IT Bill That Would Scan All Online Messages

The EARN IT Act would authorize a massive new private surveillance system, rolling back important privacy and security features

Building a State One Step at a Time: Evidence from France

Some theories about government-making from France….but do they hold up?

Ending Drug Price Gouging: A Regulatory Framework for Pricing of Medicine Innovation

regulators can step in to ensure drug pricing both supports patient access and drug development.

What Does Climate Change Have to do with Snowstorms?

An easy-to-present example of how climate change affects weather.

Links 2/3/2022

Could the U.S. Defend Ukraine?

It’s no secret that the US can’t help Ukraine on the ground, charitably assuing Russia intends to Do Something. So what is the point?

What Happens If a Cryptocurrency Exchange Files for Bankruptcy?

Law professor Adam Levitin explains why cyptocurrency exchange customers face a world of hurt if their exchange fails.

Nuclear Power Is Clean, Safe and Cheap. We Need It to Stop Global Heating

Climate activist: The arguments made against nuclear power today are the same as I was making a decade ago, and I was wrong.