The pernicious effects of the Hallmarking of holidays. Valentine’s Day happiness comes from spending time sharing pleasant experiences, rather than spending money on the perfect gift.
Recent Items
Thursday, July 23, 2026
Valentine’s Day: The Pressures of Shopping for Romance
Topics: Curiousities, Ridiculously obvious scams, Social values
Posted by Jerri-Lynn Scofield at 6:50 am | 23 Comments »
Commodities Price Increases and Prospect of Shortages Feeding Inflation Fears
Many commodities, particularly metals and energy, are in short supply, which points to even higher prices.
Topics: Auto industry, Commodities, Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Federal Reserve, Free markets and their discontents, Pandemic, Politics, Russia
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:08 am | 32 Comments »
On-Time Rent Payments Sag Amid Massive Spike in Rents
Rents are up a lot in most places in the US of any consequence. Not all tenants are keeping pace.
Topics: Economic fundamentals, Free markets and their discontents, Guest Post, Income disparity, Pandemic, Real estate, Regulations and regulators, The destruction of the middle class
Posted by Yves Smith at 5:02 am | 37 Comments »
Arbitration Antics: Warren, Porter, Press Regulator to Explain Yet Another Way Wells Fargo Found to Game the System
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep Katie Porter press regulator for answers as to how Wells Fargo apparently gamed the arbitration system.
Topics: Banana republic, Banking industry, Legal, Ridiculously obvious scams
Posted by Jerri-Lynn Scofield at 1:25 pm | 13 Comments »
Links 2/13/2022
Topics: Guest Post, Links
Posted by Jerri-Lynn Scofield at 6:55 am | 206 Comments »
How to Deal with a “Bretton Woods Moment”
A new global economic system has to be based on a key principle of Bretton Woods: multilateralism
Topics: Banana republic, China, Economic fundamentals, Europe, Globalization, Guest Post, Politics
Posted by Jerri-Lynn Scofield at 6:50 am | 21 Comments »
Links 2/12/2022
Topics: Links
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:55 am | 242 Comments »
Faster Internet Displaces Social Capital in the UK
Confirmation of the notion that the Internet displaces social time with real people.
Topics: Guest Post, Social values, Technology and innovation
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:42 am | 23 Comments »
What Are Taxpayers Spending for Those ‘Free’ Covid Tests? The Government Won’t Say.
The officialdom is not giving straight answers to simple questions about how much it spent procuring those “free” Covid tests.
Topics: Banana republic, Dubious statistics, Guest Post, Health care, Pandemic, Politics, Regulations and regulators, Ridiculously obvious scams
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:15 am | 43 Comments »
2:00PM Water Cooler 2/11/2022
~ Today’s Water Cooler ~
Topics: Guest Post, Water Cooler
Posted by Lambert Strether at 2:00 pm | 130 Comments »
Update: Supreme Court to Weigh EPA Authority on Greenhouse Pollutants
Additional briefs shed light on possible outcomes of major Supreme Court case scheduled for oral arguments this month.
Topics: Environment, Global warming, Guest Post, Legal, Politics, Regulations and regulators
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:55 am | 20 Comments »
Resource Nationalism on Rise in Latin America, As Fever for “White Gold,” aka Lithium, Grips the World
Countries in the region are taking greater control of the revenues generated by the minerals and hydrocarbons produced within their borders, in particular when it comes to lithium.
Topics: Auto industry, Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Energy markets, Environment, Global warming, Guest Post
Posted by Nick Corbishley at 6:57 am | 7 Comments »
Links 2/11/2022
Topics: Guest Post, Links
Posted by Lambert Strether at 6:55 am | 198 Comments »
Hubert Horan: Can Uber Ever Deliver? Part Twenty-Nine: Despite Massive Price Increases Uber Losses Top $31 Billion
Uber burns through yet more cash, but analysts and reporters fail to question its extremely misleading financials.
Topics: Guest Post, Investment outlook, Politics, Regulations and regulators, Ridiculously obvious scams, Uber
Posted by Yves Smith at 5:53 am | 6 Comments »
Resource Limits to American Capitalism & The Predator State Today
James K. Galbraith discusses the shift of the US from industrialism to his so-called predator state: finance-led, military-centered corporatism
Topics: Banana republic, Banking industry, Corporate governance, Dubious statistics, Economic fundamentals, Free markets and their discontents, Guest Post, Income disparity, Infrastructure, Macroeconomic policy, Politics, Regulations and regulators, The destruction of the middle class
Posted by Yves Smith at 4:27 am | 17 Comments »



