Author Archives: Yves Smith
Michael Hudson: Trump’s Balance-of-Payments War on Mexico, and the Whole World
Why US trade and economic threats against Mexico could trigger a financial/currency crisis that may propagate across the Global South
Read more...President Trump Promises to Make Government Efficient − and He’ll Run Into the Same Roadblocks as Presidents Taft, Roosevelt, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush, Among Others
Why “make government efficient” and cost cutting programs are close to destined to come up short.
Read more...How Much Will Trump’s Bark Exceed His Bite? Doubts About Whether Disruptive Federal Hiring and Spending Pauses Will Produce Lasting Changes
Trump is adept at using his willingness to be wildly inconsistent to destabilize opponents. But he is unduly fond of using blunt instruments like tariffs that he can impose unilaterally, with insufficient consideration of whether they will work all that well, let alone what bad unintended effects they might generate. What Trump has done so […]
Read more...The Curse of the Household Analogy
It can’t be said too often: national government spending is not like household spending, and acting as if it is is damaging.
Read more...Building a Movement for Social Justice in the Time of Trump
Unlike many who are upset about Trump’s win, Liz Theoharis and William Hartung focus building a broad-based opposition with policy goals
Read more...More Kentucky Dirty Dealings: Attorney General Schemes to Leave Hundreds of Millions in Pension Recovery on the Table, Give Sweetheart Payout to Attorneys, To Settle Claims Against Private Equity Kingpins KKR and Blackstone, Including Ones by Plaintiffs the AG Does Not Represent
A new legal low: the Kentucky Attorney General wants to gift the pension fund’s money to KKR and Blackstone to settle claims against them.
Read more...Rob Urie: On Being Censored for the Last Four Years
Rob Urie provides damning details about the extent and nature of the censorship he has suffered. Please read and circulate widely.
Read more...Introduction: ‘To Govern The Globe’
Tom Neuburger presents Alfred McCoy’s book, To Govern the Globe, and his concept of world orders.
Read more...How ‘Dupes’, Fast Fashion and China’s Economic Slowdown Spell Disaster for the Luxury Sector
The luxury goods market is in bad shape, an indicator of how the moderately well off and “aspirational” shoppers are under income stress.
Read more...How Far Will Trump Get With Shock and Awe?
Some of Trump’s first day initiatives will run into a buzz saw of legal opposition, but others on the economic warfare front seem to pack a punch.
Read more...Links 1/22/2025
Knowing Less About AI Makes People More Open to Having It in Their Lives – New Research
A study on receptivity to AI use sadly skips over some fundamental questions.
Read more...Close to 30 Million Americans Face Limited Water Supplies, Government Report Finds
Struggles over water use and cost are set to intensify as usage outstrips supplies.
Read more...How Los Angeles Can Fireproof Communities, Not Just Houses
Ideas about how to reduce fire risk in Los Angeles do not appear to go far enough.
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