Category Archives: Banana republic

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.

A Tale of Two Elections: U.S. and Bolivia

US sanctimoniousness about the importance of elections respecting popular will does not apply outside our borders.

Antitrust Spring

Regulators and officials are dusting off antitrust rule books to go after tech monopolists.

Covid, the Politicization of Science, and More Questions About the Pfizer Vaccine Approval

How political considerations are getting in the way of science-based policy, as in not unduly tainted by commerce, special interests, or fashion.

Do Billionaires Destroy Democracy and Capitalism?

The US can draw on its Gilded Age to bring its billionaires to heel.

Study of 50 Years of Tax Cuts For Rich Confirms ‘Trickle Down’ Theory Is an Absolute Sham

Another nail in the trickle down economics coffin. Too bad that vampire-like, it keeps coming back.