Category Archives: Banana republic

Google Rigged Its Own Advertising Auction In Favor of Facebook for a Price (and What That Means for the So-Called Free Market)

Google fiddles with the weights and measures of commerce.

2021 Will Be Volatile

Richard Murphy’s 2021 forecast.

Critics Warn Repeal of Section 230 ‘Would Be Devastating for Human Rights, Social Movements, and Marginalized People’

No, Section 230 is not about Facebook. It protects you from liabilty if you forward an e-mail, so you should think twice about a repeal.

Larry Wilkerson: No Evidence of Massive Russian Hack

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson says so far the anti-Russia hysteria about an alleged hack looks like the phony claims about WMD in Iraq.

4 Burning Questions on the Global Vaccine Rollout

Warnings of “corruption and incompetence coming together,” as vaccine distribution begins.

A Hard Look at Rent and Rent Seeking with Michael Hudson & Pepe Escobar

An in-depth discussion of financial capitalism versus earlier models and the Chinese and Russian approach, with a focus on the role of rent.

Polarization, Then a Crash: Michael Hudson on the Rentier Economy

Michael Hudson discusses the chokehold of pro-finance, pro-rentier capitalism reaching into the present COVID-19 crisis.

Alaska Tribes, Conservation Groups, and Businesses Sue to Save the Tongass National Forest

Environmentalists, tribes, and small businesses has sued to roll back the Trump rescission of the roadless rule in the Tongass National Forest. Will the Biden administration do so if the courts won’t?

How The Fracking Revolution Is Killing the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry

The latest installment in Mikulka’s excellent series, linking the fracking bust to the decimation of the U.S. oil and gas industry.

Analysis: Some Said the Vaccine Rollout Would Be a ‘Nightmare.’ They Were Right.

COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been deficient and disorganized, suffering from flaws that plague the U.S. for-profit health care system.

Quick Notes on the Brexit Deal

Brexit: an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.

Larry Summers’ Opposition to $2000 Covid Payments Confirms Our Classic: “Why Larry Summers Should Not Be Permitted to Run Anything More Important than a Dog Pound”

Larry Summers is at it again.

Someone Should Ask Biden Cabinet Candidate Ursula Burns If She Supports Child Labor in Africa

Ursula Burns, a candidate for Commerce Secretary, is a director of Nestlé, which defended its use of child labor before the Supreme Court.

Will Trump Pardon Himself? Why the Hell Not?

Will Trump pardon himself, complicating any future federal investigations into his possible misdeeds? I think so. And I would bet on him doing the same for family members.