Author Archives: Yves Smith

Austerity Has Made People Less Prepared for a No Deal Brexit

The government says it’s preparing for a Brexit crash out. But ten years of spending cuts have made the people of Britain intensely vulnerable to economic shock.

Bleak Financial Outlook for US Fracking Industry

The poor economics of fracking may finally be coming home to roost.

Links 8/9/19

Deskilling Among Manufacturing Production Workers

More evidence of how manufacturing workers have taken it on the chin.

New IPCC Report Warns of Vicious Cycle Between Soil Degradation and Climate Change

This Real News Network interview with Diana Ruiz of Greenpeace covers yet another dangerous effect of global warming: soil degradation and its knock-on effects.

CalPERS Staff Caught Out in Yet Another Power Grab, Tries Gagging the Board With Staff’s “Board Code of Conduct”

The CalPERS board continues to waste time on tinpot tyranny rather than focusing on the challenge of the penion system’s substantial underfunding.

Links 8/8/19

5 Reasons Why Trump’s Venezuela Embargo Won’t End the Maduro Regime

Why the sanctions on Venezuela aren’t all they are cracked up to be.

Doctors Argue Plans To Remedy Surprise Medical Bills Will ‘Shred’ The Safety Net

A PR campaign presenting the consumer fraud known as surprise billing as beneficial doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Australia Debates: Communist Party China the New Nazi Germany?

A row Down Under as a prominent and well placed MP says some not-nice things about China.

Tightening Nickel Supply Threatens Electric Vehicle Boom

Nickel supplies are a new electronic vehice maker worry.

Apollo Doth Protest Too Much: Our Leon Black-Jeff Epstein Post Elicits Intervention by Apollo’s Flack

Apollo looks unduly anxious.

Low on Water, California Farmers Turn to Solar Farming

Some California farmers are shifting their “crops” to reduce water use. But is it too little, too late?