Author Archives: Yves Smith

Links 5/28/2021

When Is a Co-Op Not a Co-Op? When Vested Interests in California Want to Keep Platform Workers From Having Power

California Assembly Bill 1319 is a convoluted scheme to create so-called co-ops designed to keep gig workers disempowered.

What if Large Businesses Are Really Macroeconomic Entities?

Mega businesses are a huuge problem. But what to do?

Amid a Pandemic, a Health Care Algorithm Shows Promise and Peril

A private health data service/vendor has developed a triage algo in a rapid and non-transparent manner. Why aren’t more doctors concerned?

Links 5/27/2021

Federal Judge Nixes Proposed Monsanto Glysophate Settlement, Deepening Black Hole for Bayer

More on the well-deserved Monsanto litigation world of hurt.

Larry Summers Doubles Down On His Inflation Prediction

Unfortunately, Larry Summers still gets attention, most recently for inflation hawkery. Fortunately, it’s not hard to see through him.

Musical Interlude (“On the Path of Decent Groove”): Outback

Road music from the Australian group Outback. You are in for a surprise!

How Enforcement of the USMCA Will End a Corporate Race to the Bottom

USMCA, which promised to help American workers by improving labor bargaining rights, is being put to its first road test. Will it perform?

A Neoliberalism Meets Covid Vignette: Barriers to Getting a Vaccine, Publix Edition

We had to jump through way too many hoops to get a Covid vaccine at Publix. Is this normal for pharmacies?

Michael Hudson: Why Biden Won’t Cancel Student Debt

Michael Hudson gives a hard look at the typical excuses for not cancelling student debt and finds them wanting.

West’s Selective Support for Press Freedom: Only in Countries We Don’t Like

Belarus is a bad actor in forcing a passenger jet to land so it could seize a prominent dissident/journalist. But who wrote this playbook?