While the chip shortage will sort itself out in the next six months, the US can’t remedy its dependence on foreigners for critical supplies.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Big Money Drove the Congressional Elections—Again
The press account of the 2020 Congressional races got the money part completely wrong: Republican outspending was key to their wins.
Why Amazon Is Fighting So Hard to Stop Warehouse Workers From Unionizing
Amazon has much to answer for, like wage theft and brutal workplace condidtion, and is throwing its muscle behind not being held to account.
2:00PM Water Cooler 2/11/2021
~ Today’s Water Cooler ~
Why U.S. Labor Laws Need a Major Update—The PRO Act Is a Great Start
Biden is proposing some significant changes to labor law. Does the legislation live up to its billing?
The Most Fragile Oil Price Rally In History
Some of the economic forecasts underlying the bullish oil price views are so sunny I’m gonna need shades.
As Pandemic Surged, Contact Tracing Struggled; Biden Looks to Boost It
Biden still wants to ramp up contact tracing. But will it really do much good in the US?
The Dangers of Sustainability Metrics
A favorite topic: the downside of fetishinzing metrics.
2:00PM Water Cooler 2/10/2021
~ Today’s Water Cooler ~
Monetary Policy and Racial Inequality
Monetary policy does not lift boats in at all the same way.
Criminal Tax Cheat Robert Smith of Private Equity Firm Vista Gets a Pass for Conduct Worse Than Apollo’s Leon Black, Now in Epstein Doghouse
Neil Weinberg and David Voreacos published an in-depth account at Bloomberg of how private equity baron Roger Smith escaped being indicted for criminal tax fraud despite having concealed over $200 million in income. The very short version is that Smith and his allies got to Attorney General William Barr, both through Barr’s former firm Kirkland […]
Is There Really a Problem with Left Wing Extremism in the UK, or Is the Government Seeking Excuses to Suppress Fair Protest?
Governments on both sides of the pond are in “never let a crisis go to waste” mode. Aggression by the right is cause to stomp on a weak left.
Guantánamo Prisoner to Joe Biden: ‘The Last Two Decades of My Life Have Been a Nightmare Without End’
Guantánamo is a daming example of American lack of concern over the lives it casually ruins.
