“Modern” elements of enterprise were present in Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC and the institutions supported long-term growth
Friday, December 26, 2025
2:00PM Water Cooler 5/23/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Pandemics; can the Democrats allow Trump to take office, White House issues corrections, Marijuana policy (“and boogie they will”) ~
Masks Work, Our Comprehensive Review Has Found
Finally, a rigorous study on mask use shows definitively that masks do indeed work, as in reduce transmission of respiratory diseases.
Satyajit Das: The Economic Costs of Modern War
How economic, military and political costs and consequences are intersecting in the Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts
Why Corporations Choose Lawlessness to Fight Unions
Workers at companies like Apple and Starbucks face armies of union-busting lawyers advising employers to repeatedly violate labor laws.
Collapse of the Thwaites Glacier Has Accelerated
The timetable for the collapse of the Thwaites Glacier is collapsing, and why that matters.
2:00PM Water Cooler 5/22/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, syndemics, Stefanik files ethics complaint against Merchan, Greenhalgh publishes ginormous, magisterial study, stomps anti-maskers and droplet dogmatists, “trust your immune system.” ~
Israel Gaza Starvation Ploy Intensifies With Seizure of Rafah Crossings
The Rafah operation is speeding the pace of genocide in Gaza. That looks to be its primary aim.
Gresham’s Law Comes for Science
Science publication has become so corrupted that entire journals have been shut down over running fake research. How did we get here?
“Am I An Extremist? ”
How the UK is using the extremist label to act against people holding mainstream views. The US is not far behind.
Housing, Not Handcuffs
US policy towards the homeless becomes ever more mean-spirited, apparently to justify not dealing with the problem of unaffordable housing.
2:00PM Water Cooler 5/21/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, syndemics, Trump trial winding down, Biden’s path to victory, a one-liner to revert Google search results to a list of blue links again ~
From the History of Israel−Palestine Conflict: The First Palestinian Intifada Against the State of Israel (1987−1993) and its Political Consequences
For those looking for the libretto to the Middle East version of Gotterdammerung, a compact retelling of the First Intifada.
