Author Archives: Yves Smith

The Heavy Price of Economic Policy Failures

Why economic failures argue for the need for more democratic control over policy, or at least the ability to cut the power of institutions that get it wrong.

Links 1/15/16

Gaius Publius: Wall Street Reviews What Sanders Plans for Wall Street

An overview of the Sanders Big Finance reform proposal, and some of the ways it has been caricatured or flat-out misrepresented

The Deeper, Uglier Side of TPP

A good, high level discussion of the dangers of the investor state dispute settlement process in the TPP and the TTIP.

Academics in Turkey Who Stand Up for Human Rights Threatened With Jail, Even Death

Authoritarianism in Erdogan’s Turkey is taking an even uglier turn.

Eurozone Delays and Half Measures

Are the eurozone’s continuing woes the result of its incomplete construction or because of policy errors in responding to the crisis?

Links 1/14/16

Why is CalPERS Understating Its Cost of Investing in Private Equity by Roughly $1.6 Billion, Meaning 80%?

CalPERS keeps putting its hand in the buzzsaw by presenting misleading or outright false information about private equity fees and costs.

Bond Investors Get Skittish as Record Wave of Acquisitions Push to Close Financings

Standard & Poors warns of the worst drop in the “net outlook bias” for bond investors since the financial crisis.

Neoliberal Capitalism, Its Crisis, and What Comes Next

The fundamental contradictions of neoliberal capitalism are pushing it to the breaking point.

Links 1/13/16

Why Larry Summers is Wrong and Bernie Sanders is Right on Glass Steagall

Larry Summers, acting as a proxy for Team Clinton, attacked Sanders’ reform proposals, particularly the an updated Glass Steagall. Her’s why Summers is wrong.

Michael Klare: Plunging Oil Prices – A Recipe for More War?

Low and generally volatile oil prices are a prescription for more political instability in major oil producing nations.

Does The U.S. Have A Middle East Strategy Going Forward?

This post describes how the US is running its Middle East policies by the seat of its pants, with not surprising bad results.