Friday, January 2, 2026

The Stormy Birth of “Europe”

A review of major institutional and political developments that created modern Europe.

Links 11/7/19

How Misleading Economic Analysis Is Corrupting Our Democracy

Illustrating some ways that so-called economic studies in the political sphere are cooked to sell a point of view.

Police Deadly Force: Then and Now

Some important findings from efforts to develop a more comprehensive picture of the police use of “deadly force” in the US.

Why The Kurds Still Don’t Have a Country

How the Kurds always wound up on the losing end of imperial map-drawing.

2:00PM Water Cooler 11/6/2019

Today’s Water Cooler: China milk imports, Biden, Buttigieg, Harris, Sanders, Trump, Warren, Kentucky, Maine, Virginia, Washington, propaganda, productivity and costs, Twitter, chip fabrication, Boeing, Iraq’s marshes, Laos tigers, elephants v. poverty/corruption, Dr. Bronner, sexual objectification, blogging

Carbon Taxes and Carbon Pricing Are Not Solutions to the Climate Crisis

A short-form debunking of a popular but unsound idea for addressing carbon emissions.

Links 11/6/19

Another Health Industry Initiative to House the Homeless

Some small-scale initiatives to aid the homeless demonstrate how inadequate our respojnses are.

The Myth of Shareholder Primacy

A surprising alliance of big business, activists and left-wing politicians have condemned the shareholder value paradigm. But did it ever really exist?

German Finance Minister Pumps for EU-Wide Deposit “Reinsurance” But Expected Details Mean Lots of Gaps Likely

The lead story in the Financial Times tonight is that Germany’s finance minister Olaf Scholz is pushing for an EU-wide deposit scheme…of sorts. Even though Scholz’s plan appears to be more modest than the headlines indicate, even a halting move towards EU-level fiscal commitments would be a significant departure from Germany’s traditional stance of barring […]

2:00PM Water Cooler 11/5/2019

Today’s Water Cooler: China and EV batteries, Sanders, Steyer, Trump, Warren, AOC, impeachment, Warren’s #MedicareForAll plan, employment, services, international trade, luxury real estate, Bitcoin, California dams, Russian nuclear dumps, how many bathrooms does Jeff Bezos need?

CalPERS Follows Naked Capitalism Recommendation: Does 180 on Emerging Managers by Dumping Managers, Slashing Commitments, Defying Board-Authorized Plan Through 2020

CalPERS has belatedly followed our advice and is radically cutting back on its so-called emerging managers.

Links 11/5/19

Manufacturing Fear and Loathing, Maximizing Corporate Profits! A Review of Matt Taibbi’s Hate Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another

Matt Taibbi’s must-read new book Hate Inc. describes how the media stokes fake conflicts to prevent consideration of real issues.