The gap between the posturing and practice of free trade.
Recent Items
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Free Trade in Rhetoric, Not in Practice
Topics: China, Economic fundamentals, Free markets and their discontents, Globalization, Guest Post, Politics, The dismal science
Posted by Yves Smith at 2:40 am | No Comments »
Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin: Corporate Fraud With a Body Count
Yves here. Some of the facts in this article are stunning. For instance, more Americans die from opoid overdose than from car accidents. And this article gives only a partial tally of Purdue Pharma’s predatory conduct. The drugmaker targeted overly-busy, not very well trained general practitioners in communities which were likely to have high incidence […]
Topics: Banana republic, Guest Post, Health care, Regulations and regulators, Science and the scientific method, Social policy, Social values
Posted by Yves Smith at 1:28 am | No Comments »
2:00PM Water Cooler 5/25/2016
Today’s Water Cooler: TTIP in Eastern Europe, Clinton email hairball, California, the press, services, housing, trade, sorcerers, AI, love
Topics: Water Cooler
Posted by Lambert Strether at 2:00 pm | 143 Comments »
Americans Increasingly Angry With Corporate Desertions via Tax Inversions
Tax inversions damage the already low credibility of Corporate America.
Topics: Guest Post, Politics, Social policy, Social values, Taxes, The destruction of the middle class
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:55 am | 21 Comments »
Links 5/25/16
Topics: Links
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:55 am | 188 Comments »
Where Did the Bernie Sanders Movement Come From? The Internet.
How the digital divide explains where Sanders did well, and not as well.
Topics: Guest Post, Politics, Technology and innovation
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:50 am | 74 Comments »
Unsealed Documents Reveal Former White House Officials Violated Fannie/Freddie Conservatorship Rules, Apparently to Advance Bank-Enriching “Reforms”
The Administration has refused to turn over over 12,000 documents in a lawsuit against how the government operated Fannie and Freddie in their conservatorship. The major bone of contention is that Treasury stripped them of all profits, which damaged the remaining private shareholders. But the unsealing of a small batch of government records shows why […]
Topics: Banana republic, Banking industry, Credit markets, Legal, Politics, Real estate, Regulations and regulators, Ridiculously obvious scams
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:00 am | 21 Comments »
Reader Note on Strikes in France: “Pass the Popcorn”
Transportation unions and airport workers are joining strikes in France to protest new labor laws,….right before the Euro Cup and tourist season.
Topics: Europe, Free markets and their discontents, Income disparity, Politics, Regulations and regulators
Posted by Yves Smith at 4:43 am | 44 Comments »
The Pentagon’s Budgetary War on Accountability
Why the Pentagon always has the money it needs, and a lot more too.
Topics: Banana republic, Guest Post, Macroeconomic policy, Politics, Ridiculously obvious scams
Posted by Yves Smith at 1:15 am | 15 Comments »
2:00PM Water Cooler 5/24/2016
Today’s Water Cooler: TTIP, delivering Sanders voters, Trump voters, housing, manufacturing, forced labor, French strikes, solar storms
Topics: Water Cooler
Posted by Lambert Strether at 2:00 pm | 116 Comments »
Helicopter Money: The Illusion of a Free Lunch
Does helicopter money come with a hidden price tag?
Topics: Banking industry, Economic fundamentals, Federal Reserve, Guest Post, Macroeconomic policy, The dismal science
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:55 am | 45 Comments »
Links 5/24/16
Topics: Links
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:55 am | 141 Comments »
SEC Official Defends Weak, Selective Enforcement When Agency Records Show Private Equity Firms Thumb Nose at Agency
Yesterday, we looked at a section of a Stanford Law School conference at the end of March. The panel on pre-IPO funding included the SEC/s head of enforcement, Andrew Ceresney. In the question and answer section, Ceresney and a member of the audience, Marc Fagel, the former regional director of the SEC’s San Francisco office, […]
Topics: Banana republic, Legal, Private equity, Regulations and regulators
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:50 am | 8 Comments »
Neoliberalism’s Press Gangs: How Markets Raise Costs
Neliberalim’s press gangs – forcing citizens to participate in capitalism when even it produces worse outcomes than public ownership would.
Topics: Banana republic, Banking industry, Credit cards, Economic fundamentals, Free markets and their discontents, Guest Post, Media watch, Politics, The dismal science
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:37 am | 25 Comments »
The 7 Biggest Myths and Lies About Social Security
An antidote to Peterson Foundation anti-Social Security Kool Aid.
Topics: Free markets and their discontents, Guest Post, Macroeconomic policy, Politics, Social policy, Social values
Posted by Yves Smith at 3:57 am | 78 Comments »


