Warnings of “corruption and incompetence coming together,” as vaccine distribution begins.
Sunday, September 14, 2025
A Hard Look at Rent and Rent Seeking with Michael Hudson & Pepe Escobar
An in-depth discussion of financial capitalism versus earlier models and the Chinese and Russian approach, with a focus on the role of rent.
2:00PM Water Cooler 12/29/2020
By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Patient readers, I’m going to be keeping Water Coolers shorter than usual through the New Year. In order to make the year turn toward the light more rapidly, I will make the proportion of frivolous material greater than usual. –lambert. Bird Song of the Day Here is was a warbler […]
Wall Street Mega-Landlord Blackstone Prepares to Reap the Spoils of Another Crisis
Blackstone was a big winner of the last crisis. Now, it hopes to repeat the feat, albeit using a somewhat different playbook.
Polarization, Then a Crash: Michael Hudson on the Rentier Economy
Michael Hudson discusses the chokehold of pro-finance, pro-rentier capitalism reaching into the present COVID-19 crisis.
2:00PM Water Cooler 12/28/2020
~ Today’s Water Cooler ~
Alaska Tribes, Conservation Groups, and Businesses Sue to Save the Tongass National Forest
Environmentalists, tribes, and small businesses has sued to roll back the Trump rescission of the roadless rule in the Tongass National Forest. Will the Biden administration do so if the courts won’t?
How The Fracking Revolution Is Killing the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry
The latest installment in Mikulka’s excellent series, linking the fracking bust to the decimation of the U.S. oil and gas industry.
DoJ Launches Nationwide Lawsuit Against Walmart for Opioids Violations
Feds file civil charges against Walmart for opioids violations – eschewing criminal corporate charges even for obvious drug pushing.
Analysis: Some Said the Vaccine Rollout Would Be a ‘Nightmare.’ They Were Right.
COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been deficient and disorganized, suffering from flaws that plague the U.S. for-profit health care system.
The Fall of Byron and the Oscar Wilding of Johnny Depp
Lord Byron and his fictional ilk came to unseemly ends, which seems fiting punishment for romantic indiscretions. So why are they being written out?
