Author Archives: Yves Smith

Forcible Removal of US Sen. Alex Padilla Signals a Dangerous Shift in American Democracy

Trump’s war against the Constitution, Congressional oversight powers, and legislation escalates with the man-handling of Senator Padilla

Those Who Would Be King

Trump’s June 14 spectacle is an exploitation of the military for personal and political gain. Will No King protests make a dent?

Yanis Varoufakis: The Economics of Europe’s Descent into Warmongering

The long path that has led Europe to see big defense spending will be a lifeline, hence the need to stoke war fever.

Israel Launches Attacks Against Iran; Iran Begins Retaliation

Parsing emerging information on the Israel campaign against Iran, and Iran’s initial response.

Kennedy’s HHS Sent Congress ‘Junk Science’ To Defend Vaccine Changes, Experts Say

More on RFK, Jr. making shit up but attempting to wrap it in the mantle of science.

Climate Adaptation and Inequality: Lessons from Cape Town’s Drought

Cape Town’s drought illustrated that when climate crises become acute, the rich care for themselves irrespective of bigger effects.

Rob Urie: Why Retaliation Rhymes with Negotiation, US – Russia Edition

On not-well-known elements of the US-Ukraine-Russia conflict, the fecklessness of the left, and the abject stupidity of Western leaders

Satyajit Das: A Fist Full of Dollars

Two recent books seem unduly complacent about the status of the dollar as reserve currency.

“Is All Economic Growth Good?”

It can’t be said too often: what most economists call growth is too often what we here call groaf.

The Projected Death Count from Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill

Researchers projects that “big beautiful bill” cuts to public health insurance coverage may lead to upwards of 51,000 deaths a year.

Do AI Models Think?

A new paper confirms early doubts that LLMs could ever meet AI boosters’ claims that they were intelligent.

Links 6/10/2025

The 2025 Trade War: Dynamic Impacts Across US States and the Global Economy

Estimating the costs of the Trump trade war to Americans and foreign players.