Category Archives: Politics

Disaster Profiteers vs. the People of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico shows how distress and grifting too often go hand in hand.

Brexit Notes: Tory Conference and DUP Demands Yield More Insanity

Brexit has officially gone around the bend.

DOJ Sues to Overturn California Net Neutrality Law

Trump’s DoJ yesterday filed a lawsuit to overturn California’s net neutrality law, signed by Governor Jerry Brown earlier during the day.

Insider Attacks, Blowback, and a Generation of American Folly in the Middle East

Is anything the U.S. doing, anyone it is empowering or arming, likely to make the Middle East or America any safer?

A Rational Backlash Against Globalization

“In a democratic society that values equality, globalization cannot survive in the long run.”

Why Dodd-Frank Is a Protection Racket for Banks

How Dodd-Frank left banks’ massive lending and safety-net subsidies intact.

The US-Mexico Trade Deal Dies

How the US effort to push a trade agreement with Mexico over the line fell apart.

California Treasurer John Chiang Calls for an Independent Investigation of CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost’s Hiring Misrepresentations

California Treasurer John Chiang objects to CalPERS efforts to treat documented evidence of CEO Marcie Frost making repeated misrepresentations about her background as a PR problem and calls for a serious investigation.

Joseph Stiglitz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Talk Social and Economic Justice

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continues to be in the limelight. Is she getting her political footing yet? And will she live up to her “democratic socialist” brand, or is she getting more cozy than necessary with establishment Democrats?

Hard-Brexit Lobbyists Demand UK Roll-Back Environmental Standards to Strike Free Trade Deals with India, China and US

Another ugly but far-from-secret element of what was in store with a Glorious Brexit.

Trump Escalates Tensions With China Through Taiwan Weapons Deal

Trump disses China in a big way by giving Taiwan quasi-recognition through an arms sale.

IPCC Manipulating Climate Report Summary to Favor Wealthy Nations

The upcoming IPCC report overview is being airbrushed so as to cut unwarranted slack to developed economies.

First Set of High Seas Treaty Negotiations Concludes in New York

The first set of of four negotiating sessions to produce a UN treaty on the high seas by 2020 concluded last week in New York; this would extend the existing law of the sea framework beyond each nation’s territorial waters.

Does the U.S. Have the Ingredients to Win a Trade War?

In winning the trade battle with China, Trump may lose the war against inflation.

SEC Enforcement Wanes on Trump’s Watch

SEC co-director of enforcement Stephanie Avakian delivered a speech in Dallas last week defending the agency’s enforcement record, as the number of cases brought and amount of fines collected both continue to drop.