Challenging mainstream and prevailing independent media views on Trump’s plans for Russia and Ukraine and the US role in the world.
Monday, February 24, 2025
Rethinking Unemployment Insurance: New Evidence on Hidden Costs
Taking moral hazard among employed workers into account has substantial effects on the welfare implications of unemployment insurance
Germany Holds an Election in an Alternate Reality
The likely new government looks determined to double down on Germany — and Europe’s — destruction.
The Recent Weakness in the German Manufacturing Sector
A look at the fallen state of German manufacturing seems to understate the implications of the conditions it describes.
We’ve Been Here Before: A Review of Thomas Frank’s “The Wrecking Crew”
Plus ça change… unless we get lucky or clever?
Pain Clinics Made Millions From ‘Unnecessary’ Injections Into ‘Human Pin Cushions’
“It’s not fraud; it’s a fact of life.”
Cuts to U.S. Weather and Climate Research Could Put Public Safety at Risk
Weather and climate research are yet more examples of how the DOGE slash and burn can and probably will do real harm.
“How Can Europe Respond to the Ukraine Standoff?”
An example of European paralysis as a result of the US looking likely to abandon not just Ukraine but also NATO.
2:00PM Water Cooler 2/21/2025
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Syndemics;
New Suit Seeks Clawback of >$4 Billion of Fines and Insider Trading Profits from TD Bank Executives Earned While Running Decade+ Massive Money Laundering Schemes
TD Bank engaged in over a decade of criminal misconduct. A new suit seeks to make its board and executives pay.
Claudia Sheinbaum Launches Initiative to Bolster Mexican Sovereignty As Trump Officially Declares Cartels as Terrorists
Few countries are more acutely aware of the dangers posed by a resurgence in US military adventurism than Mexico.
