~ Today’s Water Cooler! ~
Saturday, July 5, 2025
Outsourcing: A Personal Window on the Rise of Grifting
Some vignettes from the rise of outsourcing.
New Jersey’s “Best in US” Plastic Ban Still Very Limited, Makes Concessions
A new law in New Jersey makes clear how far we have to go on getting rid of plastic.
China Takes Step Against Securitization, Consumer Borrowing With Suspension of Ant IPO
With its smackdown of Ant and its billionaire founder Jack Ma, China has made clear that financiers do not call the shots.
How Kurdistan Is Taking Advantage Of Iraq’s Oil Crisis
Iraq is in bad enough shape that the Kurds look able to score a rare win.
2:00PM Election Day Water Cooler 11/4/2020
~ The hottest hot takes ~
How Covid-19 Is Increasing Support for Social Spending
Quelle surprise! Americans want better social safety nets, particularly now with the Covid wolf at the door.
The Other Eviction Moratorium: Storefront and Office Tenants are Hanging on. But for How Long?
New York City’s struggle between commercial landlords and their tenants over rents owed versus lousy recovery prospects reveals a lot about perverse incentives.
Six Charts That Reveal America’s Deep Divides
A brief political economy history, in charts: the rich got richer!
Musical Interlude: “One Day More” from Les Miserables
A musical mental health break to help you cope with our regular programming.
2020 Election Night Live Blog/Open Thread
Trump/Pence v. Biden/Harris
2:00PM Election Day Water Cooler 11/3/2020
~ Happy Election Day ~
Notes Toward a Definition of the Democrat Party
The Democrat Party is a rotting corpse that can’t bury itself. Why is that?
