Author Archives: Yves Smith

Links 12/10/15

Demise of the US Middle Class Now Official

A study by Pew gives a new look at the fall of the middle class and how the accompanying rise in income stratification is playing out.

San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Attacks CalPERS Over Half-Baked Plan to Lower Return Targets

CalPERS comes under fire on a new front: its fight with Governor Jerry Brown over how quickly to lower return targets to realistic levels.

Gauis Publius: Making the US a Petro-State – White House Keeps Alive GOP Hopes for Lifting the Oil Export Ban

Why lifting the oil export ban is “appeasement” of Big Oil and needs to be stopped.

Timothy Geithner Corrupting Youth, Um, Telling His Version of the Crisis

In case living through the crisis and its aftermath wasn’t bad enough, you can hear Timothy Geithner’s version of events…at your expense.

The Puzzle of Technical Dis-Employment and Productivity Slowdown

How can recent technical change could both be a major source of dis-employment and not be associated with productivity improvement?

Links 12/9/15

Michael Hudson: The IMF Changes Its Rules….for Ukraine

The IMF has now been drawn into the U.S. Cold War orbit.

Is France Building an Apartheid State?

In France, members of Arab and African communities languish in a spiral of poverty, relegated to second-class citizenship and physically separated through deliberate planning.

How CalPERS Fails to Use Its Leverage in Private Equity

CalPERS ‘ belief that it cannot change the rules of the game in private equity is a symptom of learned helplessness, not power relationships.

How CalPERS Violated California Open Meeting Laws to Stifle Private Equity Skeptics and Keep the Board in the Dark

If CalPERS breaks the law routinely and casually to silence private equity skeptics, what is it capable of doing when the stakes are higher?

Links 12/8/15

The Importance of Wealth Concentration and Why It is So Difficult to Measure

As bad as available data says wealth concentration is, it is probably even worse.