Sunday, February 8, 2026

Can Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg Be Trusted To Turn Facebook into a “Privacy-Focused Communications Platform?”

Spoiler alert: No.

Links 3/17/19

Who’s Behind Trump’s Claim the Green New Deal Will Cost $100 Trillion?

President Trump’s claim that the Green New Deal would cost $100 trillion can be traced back to the Manhattan Institute, a think tank backed by fossil fuel investor Paul Singer and companies like ExxonMobil.

TD Bank: America’s Most Inconvenient Bank

Why you should not bank at TD Bank.

Links 3/16/19

Outsourcing Giant Interserve with 65,000 Employees Collapses

Another UK outsourcing implosion in just over a year….what gives?

Of Course We Can Pay for a Green New Deal, but We Can’t Escape Hard Choices

A high-level discussion of some of the operational issues posed by a Green New Deal.

2:00PM Water Cooler 3/15/2019

Today’s Water Cooler: China trade, All Beto, All The Time, Sanders, Boeing 737 MAX debacle, manufacturing, employment, consumer confidence, OxyContin, robot cars, Tesla, Facebook, Bird, children’s climate strike, Caifornia drought-free, GND, WikiPedia, classical music, lucid dreams

Bill Black: Three Natural Experiments Documenting Krugman’s Bias Against MMT

Funny how considering MMT brings out the worst in some people….

Links 3/15/19

Brexit: The Kindness of Strangers

The Thursday Brexit votes put the UK officially at the mercy of the EU.

Prominent CalPERS Beneficiaries Send Forceful, Savvy Objections to the Proposed Private Equity Scheme; Contrast With Canned Letters CalPERS Pressed Allies to Submit

As important stakeholders sound alarms, more evidence that CalPERS can’t make an honest case for its “new” private equity scheme and is calling in chips in a big way to cover for that.

A Way-Too-Early Handicapping of the 2020 Presidential Race

2020 is already in the news. so you might as well start working on your scoresheet!

2:00PM Water Cooler 3/14/2019

Today’s Water Cooler: Biden, O’Rourke enters the race, Sanders, Warren, Yang, DSA, jobless claims, new home sales, import and export prices, Facebook, Gmail, Boeing 737 debacle, painted ladies, California fires, hemp co-operatives, first college bribery scam lawsuit, Pi Day

Mars or Mercury Redux: How Geopolitics Influence Bilateral Trade Agreements

Quelle surprise! US trade agreements depend more on the US being a reliable military ally than many like to think.