Wednesday, August 20, 2025

New York Sues Big Pharma for Opioid Crisis

The Sackler family and PurduePharma profited from opioid-related “suffering and death,” NYC AG Letitia James charges. White collar criminologist and law professor Bill Black weighs in.

3 Questions That ‘Created Havoc’ in Betsy DeVos’ Department of Education

Betty DeVos has trouble answering questions on charter school fraud. Quelle surprise!

2:00PM Water Cooler 4/5/2019

Today’s Water Cooler: China trade, Biden, Buttigieg, Gravel, Sanders, Swalwell, Trump, Warren, Iowa DSA, ALEC, RussiaGate, Ray Dario on revolution, employment situation, Boeing, 5G, natural gas, the oceans, backyard chickens, Tibetan musical notation

Belief in Meritocracy Is Not Only False, It’s Bad for You

Meritocracy is a dubious ideology, save for supporting the status quo.

Links 4/5/19

The Delphic Oracle Was Their Davos: A Four-Part Interview With Michael Hudson: A New “Reality Economics” Curriculum Is Needed (Part 4)

How mainstream economics ignores the lessons from antiquity on the destructiveness of oligachies, and how early industrialists and business schools promoted anti-rentier, socialit policies.

The Biggest Problem in the War on Cash

Banks and retailers are running into strong political opposition to restricting the use of cash.

Put Bernie Sanders’ Face on Those Joe Biden Photos, Then Imagine What Party Leaders Would Be Saying

Another cut on #MeToo’s hypocisy with respect to Biden.

2:00PM Water Cooler 4/4/2019

Today’s Water Cooler: Biden, Buttigieg, Gravel, Ryan (new),O’Rourke and gentrification, Sanders, AOC, DCCC, Crosscheck, DSA in Chicago, employment situation, Tesla, robot cars, Boeing 737 MAX, global CO2 emissions, Green New Deal, pollinator-friendly solar projects, science and the slave trade, machine tools

The Media Endlessly Talks About Interest Rates—Are They Even an Effective Economic Tool at This Point?

Interest rates are a poor substitute for fiscal spending and as we’ve seen, over-reliance on monetary policy produces speculative booms and busts. More and more people recognize this formula isn’t working, but what will it take to change course?

Links 4/4/19

The Delphic Oracle Was Their Davos: A Four-Part Interview With Michael Hudson: The Inherent Financial Instability in Western Civilization’s DNA (Part 3)

By John Siman, who is also the author of Part 1 and Part 2 in this series John Siman: It seems that unless there’s a Hammurabi-style “divine king” or some elected civic regulatory authority, oligarchies will arise and exploit their societies as much as they can, while trying to prevent the victimized economy from defending […]

Brexit: Shambles

More Brexit faffing about when that’s the last thing the UK can afford.

As GOP Deploys ‘Nuclear Option’, New Reports Detail Damage Done By Trump’s Far-Right Takeover of Judiciary

In just under two years on the bench, Trump’s narrow-minded elitist judges have already harmed workers, consumers, voters, immigrants, reproductive rights, and many more.

Confirming Upcoming Meetups: Washington, Friday April 12; Boston, Thurs April 25; Milwaukee Wed May 1; Minneapolis Thurs May 2

Providing details for upcoming meetups. See you soon!