Sunday, December 21, 2025

The Contempt in Tangy Ranch Doritos

Doritos as a case study in companies flavor-reverse-gaslighting their customers.

Links 8/25/2021

Imperialism Then and Now: Wealth, Unemployment and Insufficient Demand

Prabhat Patnaik on imperialism and capitalism: to accumulate wealth, somewhere demand must be suppressed to provide cheap inputs.

“All-Electric Future Comes At A Huge Cost”

Tempering some of the enthuiasm for “all-electric” schemes.

2:00PM Water Cooler 8/24/2021

By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Bird Song of the Day A Veery. * * * #COVID19 At reader request, I’ve added this daily chart from 91-DIVOC. The data is the Johns Hopkins CSSE data. Here is the site. I feel I’m engaging in a macabre form of tape-watching…. Vaccination by region: South still fiddling and […]

How the Economics of Walking About Helps Predict Unemployment, or the Value of Soft Data

On the short-sightedness of over-reliance on hard data.

Links 8/24/2021

Spain’s Supreme Court Rules Against Using Vaccine Passports to Restrict Access to Public Spaces

It’s the first time a high court of a European Member State has challenged the use of vaccine passports domestically.

The Coming School Opening Covid Train Wreck

Covid warning for the fall: assume the brace position.

Notes on the ‘Loss’ of Afghanistan

Cleaning up some misperceptions about the US operation in Afghanistan, including the idea that it was a country.

2:00PM Water Cooler 8/23/2021

~ Today’s Water Cooler ~

Waste Watch: UK Enacts Right to Repair Rules

UK enacts right to repair rules, which should make spare parts for some electrical devices and large household appliances more widely available.

Links 8/23/2021

CalPERS Officially a Laughingstock Around the World: London Newsletter Sniggers Over Failed Chief Investment Officer Search Even While Omitting or Getting Worst Facts Wrong

Even commentary meant to be hard on CalPERS manages to understate how bad things are.

50th Anniversary of Powell Memorandum: Neoliberalism Has Wrecked Its Hosts

Commemorating a desructive anniversary, that of the Powell memo that set forth how big business would wage war against ordinary citizens.