Today’s Water Cooler: NAFTA, tariffs and fish, China trade, Avenatti 2020, midterms, consumer prices, oil, Mr. Market, the press and intelligence, heat, habits, the mind
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Puerto Rico: 1427 Hurricane Maria Deaths
Government of Puerto Rico presents report to Congress acknowledging 1427 Hurricane Maria details– more than twenty times the previous estimate it had given. Meanwhile, prospects for meaningful debt relief remain slight.
73 Years After Atomic Bombing of Japan: Nuclear Threat More Immediate Than Ever
In this Real News Network interview, conducted to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the second atomic bomb drop on Nagasaki, historian Peter Kuznick reflects on how the nuclear threat is more immediate now than at any other time since the 1950s.
Empires, Past and Present
Which countries fit criteria that would lead them to be classified as empires?
When Social Policy Saves Lives: Analyzing Trends in Mortality Inequality in the US and France
Mortality data from France makes a strong case for single payer.
The Unforeseen Consequences Of China’s Insatiable Oil Demand
Working through the implications of China’s ever-rising energy needs.
2:00PM Water Cooler 8/9/2018
By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Trade “Hope Is Not a Plan: The Myth of American Manufacturing” [Industry Week]. “In building a case for an American manufacturing renaissance, economists cite increasing productivity, cheap natural gas, and rising value-added figures to show that manufacturing is in good shape and will get better. Some of these positivists [sic] […]
Fracking Fracas: BLM to Open California Public Lands
The US Bureau of Land Management yesterday took first steps to opening 1.6 million acres public lands in California to fracking, ending a five-year moratorium on such practices.
Baltimore Set To Be First Major US City to Ban Water Privatization
The city of Baltimore is poised to denounce the privatization fairy and reject privatization of its water and sewage system.
Asset Prices and Wealth Inequality
How asset prices have driven the evolution of US wealth inequality over the last 70 years.
Trump Is Giving Protectionism a Bad Name
A short overview of some protectionism successes.
2:00PM Water Cooler 8/8/2018
Today’s Water Cooler: China trade, Deval Patrick, reports from yesterday’s midterms (especially OH-12), “Witch Hunt,” consumer credit, 3D printing, Lada, International Cat Day
Once Its Greatest Foes, Doctors Are Embracing Single-Payer
A critically important constituency is increasingly backing single payer.
