Author Archives: Yves Smith

Housing Market Goes Nuts, Everyone Sees it, But it Can’t Last

A contrarian take on housing.

Goldman Gets Off Easy in 1MDB Scandal Despite Further $2.9 Billion in Payments, Criminal Charge Against Malaysian Sub

Despite the big numbers, Goldman gets the kid glove treatment relative to the severity of its 1MBD misconduct.

The East Mediterranean Crisis Could Ignite a Greek-Turkish Proxy War

Greek-Turkish relations are more rocky than usual. A look at some of the drivers.

CalPERS: Poster Child of Private Equity Cargo Cultism

CalPERS’ zealous defense of private equity looks pathological. So we hazard a diagnosis.

With Bankruptcies Mounting, Faltering Oil and Gas Firms Are Leaving a Multi-Billion Dollar Cleanup Bill to the Public

Yet another example otf how the oil industry is subsidized, here by another way it dumps environmental costs on the public at large.

How To Break the Covid Doom Loop

Are repetitive short lockdowns a viable way to tame Covid-19?

An Indictment of the “Standard Model” for Pension and Endowment Investing

A lucid and daming explanation of why public pension funds and other instutitional investors regularly fall short of popular indexes.

Brexit: Standoff

Will Johnson pull the Brexit plug today, or decide to fight another day?

Latest Election Stunt Proves Uber and Lyft Are Their Own Worst Political Enemies

Quelle surprise! Uber and Lyft are acting in bad faith in their struggles to get out of being classified as employers.

Pandemics and Inequality: A Historical Overview

The record of pandemics past shows that only devastating mortality rates reduce inequality.

Links 10/15/2020

College Enrollments Drop Due to Covid, Adding to Budget Damage

College enrollments fall, consistent with predictions that Covid would hit them hard.