Saturday, February 7, 2026

Memo to CalPERS: The Market Won’t Provide High Returns Just Because You Need Them

A professional fund manager describes why CalPERS’ private equity strategy is irrational.

Costly Confusion: Patients Caught by Medicare Not Covering Annual Physical Exams

Yves here. This post presents a classic example of why medical care in America sucks. It’s too much about billing and not enough about patient care. I know patients who can have a yearly visit to an MD covered under their plan as either a physical or a medium complexity visit for conditions for which […]

2:00PM Water Cooler 3/21/2019

Today’s Water Cooler: Boeing and China, Biden and Abrams, Gravel (!), Harris, O’Rourke, Sanders, Trump, “replacement theory,” leading indicators, employment, manufacturing, services, Facebook, Google PageRank, plate tectonics, anti-vax, MMT

Brexit Delay Will Not Postpone Deglobalisation

The world economy has experienced deglobasation phases before. How this one differs from its predecessors.

Links 3/21/19

Brexit: Opening the Seals

Brexit gets even more crazed, if such a thing were possible.

The #MMT Case for Progressive Taxes

MMT advocate typically shy away from calling for progressive taxes. A case as to why that’s a lost opportunity.

U.S. ‘’Oil Weapon’’ Could Change Geopolitics Forever

Oil production as a source of political advantage will no doubt keep official US climate change denialism alive and well.

2:00PM Water Cooler 3/20/2019

Today’s Water Cooler: China trade, Biden, Gravel (!), Klobuchar, O’Rourke, Sanders, Chelsea Clinton, mortgages, Boeing 737 MAX, AirBnB, Google, realtors, AI, electric buses, climate change and heart disease, Canada v. U.S. health care, Ramsey Orta, anti-vax, how spies use disguises

China’s Belt and Road Initiative vs Washington Consensus

An update by Jomo Kwame Sundaram on how China and the US are faring in their use of trade and development policy to foster growth and project power.

Links 3/20/19

Brexit: End of the Road

The UK has run out of time for Brexit machinations, even if that isn’t well recognized yet.

FIS and Worldpay’s Merger – Why Its “Bank in a Box” Tech Fantasy Will Go Nowhere

FIS and Worldpay are merging, hyping that they’ll be a bank in a box. Clive looks under the hood and doen’t like what he sees.

What Republicans and Billionaires Really Mean When They Talk About ‘Freedom’

Why the meaning of the word freedom very much depends on your economic standing.

Boeing Crapification: 737 MAX Play-by-Play, Regulatory Capture, and When Will CEO Muilenburg Become the Sacrificial Victim?

High-level causes of the 737 MAX debacle, and how MCAS got certified.