Author Archives: Yves Smith

America Sits on Its Hands as Covid-19 Cases Rise

More signs of Covid-19 breakdown.

Massive Credit Losses to Hit European Banks in Q2 and into 2021, Particularly When Debt Moratoriums Are Lifted

Keeping tabs on the wobbly state of EU banks.

The Hidden Deaths Of The COVID Pandemic

Why the Covid-19 death toll is higher than you might think.

Can the Aspen Institute’s Elite Economists Beat the Coronavirus Depression?

A careful look at a new set of rescue schemes devised by some Serious Economists. Honestly, even Larry Summers could do better than this.

Board Member Margaret Brown Sues CalPERS, Board President Over Gang-Style Retaliation for Efforts to Oppose Its Incompetence

Board member Margaret Brown has finally had it with CalPERS’ dirty tricks.

Who Benefits From New Technologies?

Do the benefits of new technologies accrue primarily to inventors, early investors, and highly skilled users, or to society more widely?

Grim Prospects for New York City as Few Office Workers Return Post Lockdown; How Hard Will Other US Cities Be Hit?

An update on getting back to normal (not) in New York City.

Who Pays for Stranded Assets? Taxpayers Are Footing The Bill For 100-Year Old Oil Wells

Why shuttering oil wells is a physical, economic, and political mess.

Links 6/20/2020

What Do Struggling Small Businesses Need Most? Time – and Bankruptcy Can Provide It

Can a leisurely bankruptcy process help small businesses?

Let’s Make Sure We Get the Green New Deal Right

vid-19 throws a wrench in many of the assumptions underlying existing Green New Deal proposals.

The Bank of England Votes for More QE – But This Is a Road That Will Run Out

Yves here. Richard Murphy’s observations about QE hitting its limits are clearly relevant to the US. Sadly, things will have to get worse before ideas like a job guarantee or Green New Deal-type work schemes even get a hearing. By Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant and a political economist. He has been described by the Guardian […]

How America’s Covid-19 Rescues Look Set to Increase Inequality

Why the Covid-19 bailouts are coming at a high social cost.

The Costs Of Safely Reopening A High-End Restaurant

A restaurant case study.

The Police Weren’t Created to ‘Protect and Serve.’ They Were Created to ‘Maintain Order.’ A Brief Look at the History of Police in America

America’s police started out as muscle deployed against labor organizers.