A review of major institutional and political developments that created modern Europe.
Recent Items
Friday, January 2, 2026
The Stormy Birth of “Europe”
Topics: Europe, Free markets and their discontents, Guest Post, Macroeconomic policy, Politics
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:55 am | 11 Comments »
Links 11/7/19
Topics: Links
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:55 am | 184 Comments »
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.
Topics: Banana republic, Dubious statistics, Guest Post, Media watch, Politics, The dismal science
Posted by Yves Smith at 4:41 am | 17 Comments »
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.
Topics: Dubious statistics, Guest Post, Income disparity, Legal, Politics, Social policy
Posted by Yves Smith at 3:56 am | 15 Comments »
Why The Kurds Still Don’t Have a Country
How the Kurds always wound up on the losing end of imperial map-drawing.
Topics: Guest Post, Middle East, Politics
Posted by Yves Smith at 1:56 am | 47 Comments »
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
Topics: Guest Post, Water Cooler
Posted by Lambert Strether at 2:00 pm | 149 Comments »
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.
Topics: Carbon credits, Doomsday scenarios, Dubious statistics, Energy markets, Environment, Free markets and their discontents, Global warming, Globalization, Politics, Taxes, The dismal science
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:55 am | 88 Comments »
Links 11/6/19
Topics: Guest Post, Links
Posted by Lambert Strether at 6:55 am | 233 Comments »
Another Health Industry Initiative to House the Homeless
Some small-scale initiatives to aid the homeless demonstrate how inadequate our respojnses are.
Topics: Banana republic, Doomsday scenarios, Health care, Income disparity, Social policy
Posted by Yves Smith at 4:39 am | 54 Comments »
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?
Topics: Free markets and their discontents, Guest Post, Income disparity, Investment management, Politics, Social values, The destruction of the middle class, The dismal science
Posted by Yves Smith at 4:01 am | 13 Comments »
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 […]
Topics: Banking industry, Brexit, Europe, Politics, Regulations and regulators
Posted by Yves Smith at 2:00 am | 12 Comments »
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?
Topics: Guest Post, Water Cooler
Posted by Lambert Strether at 2:00 pm | 185 Comments »
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.
Topics: CalPERS, Investment management, Private equity
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:55 am | 15 Comments »
Links 11/5/19
Topics: Links
Posted by Lambert Strether at 6:55 am | 163 Comments »
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.
Topics: Guest Post, Income disparity, Media watch, Politics, Social values
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:00 am | 175 Comments »



