Author Archives: Yves Smith

Embracing the Silver Economy

Does the silver economy, meaning one where the over 65 age cohort is growing faster than other age groups, have a silver lining?

Links 4/11/17

IMF Blames Fall of Middle Class on Globalization and Technology

An IMF report comes up with some orthodoxy-reinfocing conclusions by failing to address some key issues.

Wells Fargo Fake Accounts Investigation Whitewashes Glaring Risk Management Failures

Wells’ law firm Sherman & Sterling issues a tough-sounding report on the fake accounts scandal that is really a coverup for its board.

Business Press Waking Up to Bank Legacy IT Risk

Reuters discusses the challenge of moving off legacy systems. While the piece is a long overdue, it still seems more than a tad optimistic.

Student Debt Bubble Sucks Even More Out of Economy and Ruins Lives, Yet Officials Keep Inflating It

The student debt problem is only getting worse and no one in power has any interest in addressing it.

Trump’s Idea of Running Government Like a Business is Bad for Citizens

Michael Hudson gives a high level debunking of a pet Republican canard: that government should operate like a business.

John Michael Greer, James Howard Kunstler, Chris Martenson, Frank Morris, and Dmitry Orlov Discuss Trump, the Inequality Taboo and Other Hot Topics

A lively panel with provocative and colorful views.

President of Richmond Fed Leaks Insider Information and Gets to Walk Free

Bill Black discusses the travesty of the kid glove treatment of former Richmond president Jeffrey Lacker in a leak of FOMC information.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

A useful overview of artificial intelligence.

The Clean Carbon Bad Joke

How viable are “cleaner” coal technologies? And can carbon sequestration save the day?

Trump, Syria, and Chemical Weapons: What We Know, What We Don’t, and the Dangers Ahead

A closer look at how the West avoided war over the last alleged chemical weapons attack by Assad, in 2013. Can saner heads prevail again?

Philippines President Duterte Orders Troops to Occupy South China Sea “Islands”

Philippines’ President Duterte decides to hot things up a bit in the simmering South China Sea hostilities.

US Launches Airstrikes Against Syria (Updated)

The US has just attacked Syria. Unless the Russians abandon Syria, this looks like the war the neocons wanted.

Globalization and the End of the Labor Aristocracy, Part 1

How labor benefitted from imperialism, and how its advantages were eroded as multinationals became important as international enforcers.