Is Victorian writer Walter Bagehot, whose adage “lending freely against good collateral at a penalty rate” has been gospel for central bankers, still relevant in a post-Great Financial Crisis world?
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Musical Interlude: “Know Your Rights” by The Clash
An incandescent concert in Harvard Square, and lyrics for today.
There Is No Labor Shortage, Only Labor Exploitation
Conservatives and corporate employers are weaving an insidious web of myths, lies and exaggerations to justify maintaining low-wage jobs.
2:00PM Water Cooler 6/11/2021
~ Today’s Water Cooler ~
Space Trip: Bon Voyage Jeff!
A story in yesterday’s WSJ says space tourists fly at their own risk. But do they?
New York State Senate Passes Right to Repair Bill
The New York State Senate passed a comprehensive electronics right to repair measure, but the legislative session ended without State Assembly Action, so the legislation remains stalled.
Standard Inflation Theory Leaves Out Social Conflict and Costs
What That Means For Biden’s Inflation Policy Trilemma
Parking Reform Could Reenergize Downtowns – Here’s What Happened When Buffalo Changed its Zoning Rule
Rezoning cities to prioritize people instead of parking would free more space for affordable housing and encourage use of public transportation.
A Nation that Runs on Bribes: Civics Lessons from our Vaccine Rollout
If we start bribing citizens to get vaccinated, what else are we going to end up needing to bribe them to do?
2:00PM Water Cooler 6/10/2021
By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Readers, I have thrown in the towel on fixing my trackpad — clearly a software issue, since the mouse works on the login screen — and so I am reinstalling MacOS (just like we used to do for Windows). It’s only going to take three hours, also like Windows. Ugh. […]
Can a Subscription Model Fix Primary Care in the US?
The big bet of One Medical and companies like it is that greater spending on primary care will fatten their bottom lines while reducing overall health costs for their clients.
Keystone XL Developer Abandons Pipeline Project
In an apparent victory for environmentalists, the developer of the Keystone XL pipeline has pulled the plug on the project.
