Author Archives: Yves Smith

The Incoherence of Larry Summers, a Serious Economist

Larry Summers as a negative indicator.

Links 3/7/19

2018: A Banner Year for China, Other US Trade Partners, and Corporate America

China wins big in trade in 2018.

Cities And Counties Unlikely To Heed FDA Warning On Importing Foreign Drugs

The FDA goes to bat for the right of drugs makers to price gouge Americans.

Links 3/6/19

Brexit: Slouching Towards Bethlehem

No one knows what is set to happen on Brexit day.

The Possible Chinese-US Trade Deal

A review of opinions in the English-speaking blogosphere on the likely content of the US-China deal and the message this agreement sends to the world.

Trump Looks To Nationalize 5G

Wellie, if the government owns the 5G network, you won’t have any doubt as to who has access to what you did over it.

Hubert Horan: Can Uber Ever Deliver? Part Eighteen: Lyft’s IPO Prospectus Tells Investors That It Has No Idea How Ridesharing Could Ever Be Profitable

Lyft’s prospectus doesn’t even pretend that the company might become profitable, let alone justify a $20-25 billion valuation.

CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost Gives Contradictory, Nonsensical Justifications for Muscling the Board to Approve Private Equity Scheme in March

Frost’s justifications for CalPERS new private equity scheme becomes more incoherent as time goes on, but that is unlikely to prevent the captured board from giving it a green light.

Do Real Estate Markets Make Our Cities Less Livable?

Author Samuel Stein talks about how capitalism shapes cities.

CalPERS Surveys Employee Toilet Paper Preferences as Underfunding Worsens

CalPERS manages to outdo itself in dubious managerial practices.

Have We Already Passed World Peak Oil and World Peak Coal?

Gail Tverberg extends her peak oil analysis to coal and finds a similar pattern.