Author Archives: Yves Smith
Matt Bruenig: The “Success Sequence” Is About Cultural Beefs Not Poverty
Debunking a pet conservative meme about the need to have a family to get out of poverty.
Read more...Study: Only Wealthiest and Best Educated Benefit from Mediterranean Diet
A large-scale, well designed study on the Mediterranean diet showed unexpectedly that social status matters, big time.
Read more...Original Shareholder Value Article – Milton Friedman to GM: Build Clunky Cars
Yet another reason to doubt the supposed wisdom of the “shareholder value” theory of corporate governance.
Read more...Renegotiating NAFTA: The Role of Global Supply Chains
Unfortunately, redoing NAFTA in a way that benefits US workers is not a trivial task.
Read more...The Two Capitalisms: Electric Batteries as a Case Study in US Magical Thinking vs. Chinese Vertical Integration
Electric vehicle batteries illustrate how the Chinese use control of raw materials and end markets to built vertically integrated industries.
Read more...The US Antitrust Counter-Revolution
In case you doubted it, diminished antitrust enforcement, a rise in monopolies, and increased inequality are related developments.
Read more...How “Shareholder Value” is Killing Innovation
The prevailing “shareholder value” ideology enriches value extractors, not value creators.
Read more...Private Equity Firms Sued Over Retailer Bankruptcies
Private equity is getting more critical coverage and legal pushback, as it wrecks yet more companies.
Read more...How “Use of Machinery” Promotes Inequality and Social Upheaval
A prescient take from the 1840s on “machinery” versus labor and communities.
Read more...Link 7/29/17
Matt Bruenig: Nordic Socialism Is Realer Than You Think
Yes, Virginia, Nordic countries really are socialist success stories.
Read more...Lack of Hope in America: The High Costs of Being Poor in a Rich Land
Tying the loss of economic mobility to the loss of hope and personal despair.
Read more...Food, the UK and Brexit: An Even Messier Reprise of Corn Laws Politics?
Surprisingly, or maybe not so, food is emerging as a flash point in Brexit politics.
Read more...
