Shotgun Marriage: Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank Discuss Merger
Even by the low standards of necessity-driven bank mergers, the proposed tie up of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank looks particularly dodgy.
Read more...Category Archives: Politics
“Middle Class” Once Meant Stability and Now Means Fragility
The middle class used to be the bedrock of American institutions. Now its members are coping with an uncertain future.
Read more...Who’s Behind Trump’s Claim the Green New Deal Will Cost $100 Trillion?
President Trump’s claim that the Green New Deal would cost $100 trillion can be traced back to the Manhattan Institute, a think tank backed by fossil fuel investor Paul Singer and companies like ExxonMobil.
Read more...Of Course We Can Pay for a Green New Deal, but We Can’t Escape Hard Choices
A high-level discussion of some of the operational issues posed by a Green New Deal.
Read more...Brexit: The Kindness of Strangers
The Thursday Brexit votes put the UK officially at the mercy of the EU.
Read more...A Way-Too-Early Handicapping of the 2020 Presidential Race
2020 is already in the news. so you might as well start working on your scoresheet!
Read more...Mars or Mercury Redux: How Geopolitics Influence Bilateral Trade Agreements
Quelle surprise! US trade agreements depend more on the US being a reliable military ally than many like to think.
Read more...Brexit: Send in the Clowns
May takes yet more body blows….while the no deal threat is not yet disarmed.
Read more...Martin Wolf: Why Economists Failed as “Experts”—and How to Make Them Matter Again
Economists should stop pretending to be scientists and go back to the core of the discipline—as a field of inquiry and way of thinking
Read more...Brexit: Chaos Visible
Things continue to go badly for Theresa May’s Brexit.
Read more...The EU Is Facing Gigantic Questions About Its Future That Are Hidden in Obscure Bank Policy Decisions
The ECB again rides in to try to paper over fundamental problems with the EU’s structure and to offset is austerity bias by restarting QE. But the EU needs more government spending. Will it take another crisis to get there?
Read more...The 2020 Democrats of the ‘Anti-Green New Deal Coalition’
The Green New Deal proposal has exposed widening rifts within the Democratic Party as presidential candidates begin fleshing out their 2020 platforms.
Read more...Medicare for All (the Perplexed)
A French lesson on Medicare for All.
Read more...Is a War With Iran on the Horizon?
Why the US might be dumb enough to start a hot war with Iran.
Read more...India Bans Plastics Waste Imports, While Fossil Fuel Plastics Pushers in US and China Ramp Up to Party On
Kudos to India for banning plastics waste imports, to focus on solving its own waste management problem. Meanwhile, fossil fuel interests ramp up plans to produce more plastics.
Read more...