How some ideas for bolstering Europe’s position in the Trump era are not as well thought through as they ought to be.
Thursday, November 6, 2025
2:00PM Water Cooler 2/13/2025
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Syndemics; Yanis Varoufakis on Trumponomics; DOGE not putting up the numbers on fraud; Zephyr Teachout on the real powers the Democrats have ~
Initial Thoughts on US-Russia Talks on Ukraine War as Ukraine and EU Have Nervous Breakdowns
Plenty of people are seriously Not Happy that Trump and Putin are talking about Ukraine, and some do have agency.
‘Make America Healthy Again’ by Transforming Animal Agriculture
Will RFK, Jr., tackle the many health-harming the practices around industrial animal farming?
Global Value Chains in a World of Uncertainty and Automation
Global supply chain expansion slowed to crawl speed after the 2008 crisis. But that did not translate into much reshoring.
The Golden Goose: The Consequences of Trump’s War on American Universities
A bug or a feature? The Trump plan to cap NIH/NSF grant indirect overheads is a gut punch to the economics of top universities.
2:00PM Water Cooler 2/12/2025: DOGEbags to Infest Entire Federal Government with Bolshevik-Style Parallel Party Structure
Bird Song of the Day Patient readers, I apologize for the enormous typo. This is what I (and you) get then I deviate from my standard template. –lambert Brown Thrasher, Sippo Lake–Exploration Gateway, Stark, Ohio, United States. * * * By Lambert Strether There’s a quotation from John D. MacDonald’s Pale Grey for Guilt that […]
Trump’s Shock Doctrine: Uncertainty and the Repudiation of Contracts
How Trump’s economic revolution and the uncertainty it is creating are already wreaking havoc.
KLG: The Engineering Ideal in Biology and Its Utility or Disutility
How the engineering ideal in biology, already taken further than is realistic, has become a foundation for the quest for eternal life.
Chaos Theory: Assessing the Legal Validity of Trump’s Tariffs
A look at the legality of Trump tariffs. Sadly, another proof that international law does not count for much in practice.
Mr. Treasury Market Tells Fed It Is Even More Worried About Inflation
The Fed vigorously backpedaled on further cuts, pivoting to wait-and-see, due to long-term rates signaling inflation concerns.
2:00PM Water Cooler 2/11/2025
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, syndemics ~
Imperialism (Still) Rules
Many in the West now deny imperialism. But even the Economist now sees Trump’s revival of this US legacy.
