Author Archives: Yves Smith
Obamacare Bogus Numbers: Why Results Touted in West Virginia as Sign of Success Are Either Wrong or a Proof of Failure
Michael Olenick unearthed an anomaly that is so extreme that it raises doubts about the numbers that the Department of Health and Human Services is reporting for Obamacare signups and enrollments to date.
Read more...Bill Black: The U.S. Attorney Who Prosecutes JP Morgan Will Be Its First Witness
The lead investigator in the Federal prosecution against JP Morgan has said he doesn’t think it makes sense for banks to have made bad loans.
Read more...Mathew D. Rose: Germany’s Potential “Grand Coalition” – Bad for Germany and Europe
In Germany, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party and its sister party the Bavarian Christian Social Union are inexorably heading for a “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats. This would give the coalition well over a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament, making constitutional changes a mere formality. What does this mean for Germany and what will its effect be upon the European Union and a resolution of its current economic crisis?In Germany, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party and its sister party the Bavarian Christian Social Union are inexorably heading for a “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats. This would give the coalition well over a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament, making constitutional changes a mere formality. What does this mean for Germany and what will its effect be upon the European Union and a resolution of its current economic crisis?
Read more...Links 11/4/13
Gaius Publius: The Rich – “A Class of People for Whom Humans are Disposable”
I want to give you a picture of our rulers, our betters. You may think of them as far-seeing modernists (Eric Schmidt, stand up please) or vaguely boorish (Mr. Trump? Mr. Adelson?). But even the lowest of your visions of them would, in the main, be generous.
Their depravity and psychopathology is worse than your worst imaginings.
Read more...Wolf Richter: Nobel Peace Prize, Asylum For Snowden – Germans Turn Up Heat
Yves here. The last two Snowden revelations have kicked up the public and even official unhappiness over pervasive NSA spying a notch further. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the NSA and hear all the consternation.
Read more...Jamie Dimon, the Lance Armstrong of Finance
I’m sure some readers will protest that comparing Jamie Dimon to Lance Armstrong is unfair. After all, Dimon is better looking than Armstrong. But this post will demonstrate that the big reason that Armstong’s reputation has crashed while Dimon’s remains largely intact is first, that bank CEOs have a powerful and largely compliant messaging apparatus in the financial media and second, that we hold sports stars to much higher standards than titans of finance and commerce.
Read more...Links 11/3/13
Seeking Reader Comments on Latest Draft of Redesign
We are getting closer!
Read more...The Global Corporatocracy is Almost Fully Operational
Yves here. I hope you don’t mind additional coverage of the pending trade pacts, this from a European perspective. This is bar none the single most important geopolitical initiative underway, yet it’s getting virtually no media play. While this discussion overlaps with our chat on Bill Moyers, many of you have friends, family members, and colleagues who don’t have time to watch a video but would read an article. Please use whatever route you think will work best with the people you know to get the word out.
Read more...Links 11/2/13
Your Humble Blogger and Dean Baker Speak with Bill Moyers About the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Budget Brinkmanship
I hope you’ll enjoy this chat. Moyers gave Dean Baker and me over a half-hour on his show, so we were able to give a decent treatment of the issues surrounding the mislabeled trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership as well as the ongoing budget battle
Read more...Regulators Opening New Major Front With Banks on Foreign Exchange Trading Probe
The Financial Times story revealing that regulators in Switzerland, Hong Kong, the UK and US have starting probing foreign exchange markets, based on evidence that currency traders were rigging markets, is thin on details because the inquiries are still underway. Nevertheless, these investigations have the potential to unearth a Libor-level scandal.
Read more...Robin Hood Tax: How Reformers Sabotage Themselves with Terrible Branding
If I were a still a Wall Street type, I don’t think I could have done a better job of sabotaging an effort to impose transaction taxes on big financial firms than the left has managed to do itself with lousy branding.
Read more...