Category Archives: Banana republic

The Bullshit Economy Part 2: Payday Loans 2.0, aka Early Paycheck Apps

Payday loans suck. Giving them a new name does not make them suck less.

Cabin Fever: Americans (of Means) Keen to Travel. How Many Will Play it Safe?

The travel genie is about to leave the bottle.

New CDC Guidelines to Reopen Schools, Based on Outdated, Cherry-Picked, and Misinterpreted Data, Put Students, Teachers, and Communities at Risk

Pushing to reopen schools based on outdated science is poorly timed in face of coronavirus resurgence.

How Employers Punish Workers for Forming Unions

How employers play dirty tricks even after unions are voted in. The PRO Act, up for a Senate vote, would stop the worst practices.

Scoring the $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan and Earlier Covid Relief Programs

How to do a better job of getting relief to those who need it.

Another Blow to Tax Evasion and Money Laundering: UK Targets Art Market After US Goes After Anonymous Shell Companies

The US and UK are making life a bit harder for tax cheats.

Stock Market Leverage Spikes in Historic Manner: Another WTF Chart of a Zoo that Has Gone Nuts

In an investment environment where nothing matters anymore – until old fasioned worries like leverage suddenly do.

CalPERS Laughingstock: Marcie Frost, Who Previously Pursued Non-Existent Dual Bachelors/Masters Degree, Designates Herself Law School Grad and Bar Member; Investment Committee Chair Theresa Taylor Admits Not Knowing What SPACs Are

CalPERS’ leadership has such an advanced case of Dunning Kruger effect that they can’t recognize when they are making fools of themselves.

CalPERS Board Member Theresa Taylor Outs that a Staff Member Has Committed Fraud; When Will Giant Pension Come Clean?

Yet more misconduct at CalPERS.

Yanis Varoufakis: Draghi’s Outrageous Deployment of McKinsey, Europe’s Predicament, DiEM25’s Proposals

Yanis Varoufakis decries how McKinsey is undermining democracy in a putative first world country, a big step up from South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

The Long Term Damage of Economic Downturns

As the well off sail on, either unaffected by or profiting from Covid’s impact, for many, the economic damage is severe and lasting.

Nomi Prins: To Build or Not to Build? The Infrastructure Question

For all sorts of bad reasons, American has a huge infrastructure spending backlog. But can we even do the job well?

Meet the “New Koch Brothers” – the Hedge Fund Activists Wrecking America’s Green New Deal

Wealthy predators are playing stock market games with companies needed to develop and produce clean technology.

Brazil’s Catastrophic Management of COVID-19 Threatens the Entire World

Bolosonaro is responsible for Brasil’s botched Covid response. But the consequences extent far beyond the country’s borders.

Mayberry v. KKR: Pitched Battle as Attorney General and Defendants Try to Block “Tier 3 Plaintiffs” Pursuing Claims Aggressively

The mudslinging! The disingenuous arguments! The clever retorts! The crafty lawyering! Welcome to Mayberry v. KKR, the Tier 3 chapter.