Category Archives: Politics

CalPERS Backs California Treasurer John Chiang’s Private Equity Transparency Legislation; Where is CalSTRS?

Can CalSTRS be trusted to do the right thing on proposed private equity transparency legislation in California?

Tom Engelhardt: The Fog of Intelligence, or How to Be Eternally ‘Caught Off Guard’ in the Greater Middle East

An in-depth look at the US’s big-ticket intelligence apparatus that can’t shoot straight in the Middle East. A bug or a feature?

Michael Perelman: The Essential Handbook for Engineering an Unequal Society

While the thrust of Perelman’s post is no doubt familiar to readers, take note of how simple and few in number are the essential principles for creating a highly unequal society, and how easy it is to describe them them in antiseptic language.

Occupy the SEC Condemns Securities Lawyers for Bullying the SEC, Demanding Preferential Treatment for Clients

A video shows how the very premise of the SEC’s role, and that of regulations generally, is under intense assault by the private bar.

Sanders Debate “Results” as Case Study of the Modern Versailles Hall of Mirrors

Bernie Sanders by all objective measures “won” the first Democratic party debate. Yet pundits almost universally said the reverse. What does that tell us about the state of American politics?

Gaius Publius: Slave Trafficking, TPP & the 2016 Presidential Contest

Progressives have been handed a wonderful opportunity to make a “strong move” against both TPP and slave trafficking — but only if they’re willing to take it.

Michael Hoexter: Should the US Federal Government Invest $4-$6 Trillion Per Year on Climate Protection? (Part 2 of 2)

Further discussion of why the excuses to do nothing or too little on the climate change front don’t hold up to serious scrutiny.

Former Chief Investment Officer Slams CalPERS, CalSTRS, Other Funds for Doing Nothing When Told Blackstone Was Cheating Them

More on the appalling dereliction of duty of pension fund officials when they failed to act after Blackstone told them it was cheating them.

Michael Hoexter: Should the US Federal Government Invest $4-$6 Trillion Per Year on Climate Protection? (Part 1 of 2)

Why the excuses to do nothing or too little on the climate change front don’t hold up to serious scrutiny.

Come Join Lambert for the Democratic Presidential Debate

Since some of you will no doubt be watching the first Democratic presidential debate tonight, Lambert has graciously agreed to host a special feature

After NC, Media Coverage of CalPERS and CalSTRS Private Equity Fee Lapses, California Treasurer John Chiang Calls for Legislation

California Treasurer John Chiang takes a big step forward by demanding legislation for much greater disclosure of private equity fees and costs

Russia’s Move In Syria Threatens Energy Deals With Turkey

Will the Turkish Stream project be a casualty of Putin’s bold moves in Syria?

TPP Intellectual Property Chapter is “A Disaster for Global Health”

Yet another damming take on the TPP.

Mark Blyth: “Austerity Cures Nothing”

This is a bracing, no-nonsene talk from economist Mark Blyth of Brown University, who is the author of Great Transformations: Economic Ideas and Institutional Change in the Twentieth Century and Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea.