Today’s Water Cooler: WTO, postal rates, pipe bombs, political polarization, military candidates, Colorado fracking, Abrams v. Kemp, ME-02, architectural billings, purchasing managers index, Cass Freight index, the Volcker Rule, NAFTA and military enlistment, lavender, kind communication
Sunday, February 8, 2026
The Best Part of This Week
What you’ve told us this week about why this site and the community you’ve created matter to you.
Standoff Between Italy and European Commission Escalates as Commission Rejects Italian Budget
Italy and the European Commission are in a dispute over Italy’s budget, and no one looks likely to come out a winner in this fight.
Buried in “Hilariously Stupid” White House Attack on Socialism, An Accidentally Strong Argument for Medicare for All
Amid hysterical comparisons between Senator Bernie Sanders and Mao Zedong, the Council of Economic Advisers unwittingly makes a solid case for socialist policies.
Brexit: The Forward March of Remain? It Still Hasn’t Got Out of the Starting Blocks
Remain boosters need to focus efforts on Tory and Labour MPs with marginal seats, but they’re too distracted by painting apocalyptic pictures.
2:00PM Water Cooler 10/23/2018
Today’s Water Cooler: Steel, Gabbard and Sanders in Iowa, Trump advance work, Blue Wave prognostications, AR-02, ME-02, conventional wisdom on partisan geography, manufacturing, Tesla, for-profit college, the yield curve, beekeeping, endoterrestrials, “Late Victorian Holocausts”
Can Americans Learn to Scale Their Partisan Walls?
Connecting across differences may be the only thing that will save Americans from rule by the privileged few.
How Naked Capitalism Leaves Advertising Dollars on the Table So Nothing Comes Between You and Your Content
Horrid examples of advertising that we have hitherto been able to avoid.
Markets Edgy Over China, Italy Budget Staredown, Saudis, Brexit, Too Much Private Debt, Strained Valuations….
Markets have more reason than usual to be jumpy.
Michael Mann: We’re Already On Our Way to “Blowing Past” 1.5 Degrees Global Warming
How global warming is increasing at a faster rate than most realize.
Wolf Richter: It’s the Banks Again
Mr. Market is worried about banks, particularly European ones.
2:00PM Water Cooler 10/22/2018
Today’s Water Cooler: Steel tariffs, Sanders 2020, property taxes and the midterms, Latino voters, small donors, redistricting, national activity, Sears, Xmas containers, Softbank and the Saudis, drones, Flint water, the Rio Grande, falling paychecks, the brain, philosophy
Right to Repair Redux: The Economist Gets with the Program, While Alas, Apple Continues to Lag
Latest updates on the right to repair, discussing crucial skirmishes in the ongoing war on waste. The Economist recognizes the important issue, and US DHS supports Apple’s spurious, anti-repair claims.
