Category Archives: Regulations and regulators

Misunderstanding Volcker

A reappraisal of Volcker, who was more hostile to workers and less hard on financiers than the press would have you believe.

BBVA Compass Fails to Dispute, Much the Less Remedy, Retaliatory Swatting, Disclosure of Confidential Information, and Reckless Treatment of Elderly Customer

BBVA has not denied that an officer swatted an elderly woman on fabricated grounds as retaliation for documenting his reckless advice.

Financialization of the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry

A takedown of the pharmaceutical industry’s assertion that it need to price gouge so it can invest in R&D. Profits go almost entirely to various forms of looting.

US Targets Wage-Repression Model in Mexico, Demands Inspections, Industry Has a Cow

A proposed provision in the so-called “NAFTA 2.0” to increase autoworker wages in Mexico is raising hackles south of the border.

Why Hospitals Never Have Enough Nurses: The Explanatory Power of “Prasad’s Law” of Wealth Concentration

Nurses, or more accurately, nurse staffing levels demonstrate a central bad incentive in American medicine.

‘Dark Waters’ Tells the Origin Story of a Public Health Nightmare. We’re Still Living It.

On a docu-drama that recounts the first major suit against toxic “forever chemicals” and what’s being done about them now.

Opening of Formerly Secret FDA Database Exposes Medical Device Failures, Spurring Lawsuits

The FDA kept a database of medical device malfunctions secret for decades.

An Introduction to the State of Energy Storage in the U.S.

A look at energy storage options in connection with wind and solar power is not entirely reassuring.

Decrying ‘Utterly Inadequate’ Efforts to Tackle Climate Crisis, UN Chief Declares ‘Our War Against Nature Must Stop’

Climate change: “The point of no return is no longer over the horizon,” António Guterres warned ahead of COP 25. “It is in sight and hurtling toward us.”

Oil and Gas Industry Rebukes Fracking Ban Talk as UN Shows Just How Much Fossil Fuel Plans Are Screwing Climate Limits

American Petroleum Institute steps up lobbying efforts to thwart a fracking ban, notwithstanding the climate crisis.

Federal Prosecutors Initiate Criminal Probe of Six Opioid Manufacturers and Distributors

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have initiated an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against at least six opiods companies.

BBVA Compass Branch Manager Retaliates Against Elderly Customer Via Trying to Have State Agency Deem Her Incompetent on Fabricated Grounds

A BBVA Compass vice president retaliates against a long-standing customer for seeking an Americans With Disabilities Act accommodation and documenting his incompetent, high-handed responses.

Repo Madness: Fed Plumbing Gone Awry

How the Fed’s fingerprints are all over the repo mess.

Sir Ivan Rogers Plays Cassandra Again, Warns of Likely 2020 Brexit Trade Negotiations Train Wreck

Another incisive Brexit reading by Sir Ivan.

Health Care Dysfunction Makes It to the Presidential Debate

A damning compendium of what ails the US health care industry.