Category Archives: Economic fundamentals

Yanis Varoufakis: Time to Blow Up the Electricity Markets

How the EU’s neoliberal Rube Goldberg electricity market has made the energy shortage problem much worse than it needed to be.

Why Black Wednesday Still Matters – It Was the Start of Markets Telling Politicians What to Do

Alexis Stenfors assesses the importance of Black Wednesday as a juncture in the history of central banks. By showing they could beat the Bank of England, traders changed the entire power relationship.

Truss’s Plan to Hike Defence Funding and Ignore the Climate Is a Disaster

How Liz Truss’ defense budget math does not work…or does really well if the point is to roll social support back to Victorian workhouses.

Using the Payments System to Enforce an Russian Oil Price Cap Likely to Cause Supply Shock

The G7 plans to use its payments system to enforce a Russian oil price cap, because that worked so well in the shock and awe sanctions.

The Russian Situation Comedy Is No Lying Matter – The Joke Is on the Office of Foreign Assets Control

How Russian comedy producers and broadcasters are laughing their way to the bank thanks to Western sanctions.

US Is Becoming a ‘Developing Country’ on Global Rankings that Measure Democracy, Inequality

High levels of inequality are correlated with poor social indicators, so the US falling in global scores should come as no surprise.

Gasoline Demand Destruction Accelerates Despite Plunge in Prices: Consumption Drops to August 1997 Level

Gasoline purchases show a softening economy, but the Fed is likely to ignore that memo.

Russian Aviation Industry Corrects Yeltsin Yaw – Boeing, Airbus Ditched

Russia is moving ahead with aviation import substituion. In theory, this should be within Russis’s grasp. But what about timelines and costs?

Fog of War, Military and Economic

Some questions about quality of Ukraine war commentary.

Michael Hudson on Student Debt Relief, Inflation, Ukraine Disaster Capitalism, Petrodollar Challenge

Michael Hudson gives a newswap with Ben Norton: student debt forgiveness, inflation, Ukraine, dollar rows, and the death of the Queen

EU Wrangling Over Energy Plans That Amount to Band-Aid Over Gunshot Wound

Even with energy-hungry businesses shuttering or reducting operations, most EU officials don’t grasp how bad things will become.

Truss Energy Shambles

New Prime Minister Liz Truss is aleady managing to underperform the low expectations for her.

Tiny Algae Could Help Fix Concrete’s Dirty Little Climate Secret – 4 Innovative Ways to Clean Up This Notoriously Hard to Decarbonize Industry

Some possible ways to make concrete less of an environmental problem.

Gorbachev Paved Way for Oligarchs – Aleksandr Buzgalin

By opposing deep democratic reforms from below, Gorbachev laid the groundwork for privatization and the looting of the 1990s.

“Lehman Event” Looms For Europe As Energy Companies Face $1.5 Trillion in Margin Calls

Why energy price spikes are threatening the financial system. And any derivatives bailout will take prescedence over businesses and housholds.