Countries Rejecting Trade Deal Provisions that Let Investors Override National Regulation
This is a welcome bit of good news. Countries are finally standing up for the rule of law over rule by multinational corporation.
Read more...Category Archives: Politics
A U.S.-Saudi Move to Lower Oil Prices to Hurt Russia?
Could the U.S. unleash a flood of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve that would drive down prices in order to punish Russia?
Read more...Wolf Richter: German Industry Goes To See Uncle Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin might have had a field day listening to Obama’s Brussels speech threatening more economic sanctions, except he was otherwise engaged.
Read more...Joe Firestone: Inequality – Envy or Honest Outrage?
Yves here. Even though I applaud Joe for his effort to take on the “class warfare as jealousy” meme, I think it needs to be attacked much more aggressively.
Read more...The Government Hack Trying to Squash Discussion of Government Corruption – Cass Sunstein – Doesn’t Understand BASIC Math Or Law
Yves here. This piece is heated, but looking at Cass Sunstein’s work does that to people.
Read more...Yanis Varoufakis: Think Big, Think Bold – A Green New Deal
Yves here. One of the common frustrations expressed by the NC commentariat is that we spend a lot of time on diagnosis and not as much on solutions. I actually don’t think our emphasis on forensics and analysis is misplaced. Too often, people are uncomfortable with examining deep-seated problems and thus rush to devise remedies that are incomplete or worse, counterproductive.
A second frustration, which I sympathize with, is that many of the solutions recommended by economists to our current problems (income disparity, high unemployment, increasing looting of the private sector and government) is based on restoring growth, which will make redistribution and other measures less contentious. Readers correctly point out that more growth is a 20th century remedy, when the 21st century is faces with global warming (meaning an need to start containing and better yet, reducing energy consumption) and resource constraints.
Yanis Varoufakis addresses both issues in his outline of what he calls a “Green New Deal”.
Read more...Has Anglo-American Capitalism Run Out of Strategies?
In this Real News Network interview, George Irvin, research professor at the University of London takes a broad historical perspective to show how the rise of a low-wage, debt driven economy and the pressure to reduce the role of government have painted Anglo-Saxon capitalism in a corner.
Read more...Delaware Chief Justice to Shareholders: Drop Dead
We’ve argued that the notion that companies are obligated to maximize shareholder value is a theory made up by economists and eagerly adopted by corporate executives, with little to no foundation in law. We received confirmation of our thesis in the form of a Columbia Law Review article by the chief justice in Delaware, Leo Strine, arguing that shareholder activism needs to be curbed. As if CEOs are really breaking a sweat over those pesky shareholders.
Read more...Joe Firestone: Progressives Need to Up Their Game Against Social Security’s Enemies
Yves here. I must confess I find it difficult to counter the simple-minded and inaccurate arguments of the deficit scaremongers. Joe Firestone offers some pointers
Read more...Who In Ukraine Will Benefit From An IMF Bailout?
Economists Jeffrey Sommers and Michael Hudson discuss how oligarchs and the Russians will be the true beneficiaries of an IMF bailout of Ukraine.
Read more...How Do the Powerful Get the Idea That They ‘Deserve’ More? Lessons from the… Laboratory
The distribution of power and wealth can be, and usually is, highly arbitrary and independent of ‘marginal productivity’, ‘risk taking’ or, indeed, any personal characteristic of those who rise to the top. So how do those at the top convince themselves that they are more deserving?
Read more...Democracy Now Discusses Wells Fargo Foreclosure Document Fabrication Manual
It’s good to see that a lawsuit providing critical new evidence of systematic foreclosure abuses is getting the attention it warrants.
Read more...A New Wall Street Looting Scheme: Disaster Savings Accounts
As famed short seller David Einhorn says, no matter how bad you think it is, it’s worse. We’ve got proof of his dictum in the form of a new looting scheme, the Disaster Savings Account Act. Since the financiers haven’t yet gotten their hands on Social Security, they are looking for new worlds to plunder.
Read more...Mathew D. Rose: Hello European Deflation! Good-bye Periphery!
What do the Catholic Church and the Eurozone have in common? More than one thinks
Read more...Joe Firestone: Progressives Re-Arrange the Deck Chairs for Obama’s Austerity Budget
With friends like the austerity-loving Congressional Progressive Caucus, who needs enemies?
Read more...