Category Archives: Free markets and their discontents

New USPS Delivery Network: Radically Cutting Rural Service, Headcount; Likely to Further Slow Delivery

The gutting of USPS is accelerating. A step backwards for what passes as American civilization.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chokepoint Capitalism Strangles Us All

Capitalism works in insidiuous ways.

“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.

Europe’s Economic Controlled Flight Into Terrain

More on Europe’s economic suicide.

How France Underdevelops Africa

Most French colonies in Africa became independent in the 60s. But most are in poverty, much worse off than other African economies.