Category Archives: Free markets and their discontents

With RFK Jr. in Charge, Supplement Makers See Chance To Cash In

Why dietary supplement fans should be worried about RFK, Jr.’s plan to weaken their already lax regulation.

US Secondary Sanctions “Have Seriously Damaged” Russia-China Bilateral Cooperation

Russian experts say US secondary sanctions are damaging Russia-China commerce. But their solutions don’t seem to be close to implementation.

America First Deepens World Stagnation

Quelle surprise! America First is another leg down in the developing-country-unfriendly policies the Collective West has pursued.

EU Consumers Don’t Trust US Goods: A Look into Trump’s Trade Deficit Claims

Why trade deficits can’t always be solved by price, as in tariffs or currency manipulation.

Trump’s No-Prisoners Approach to Iran-China Oil Crackdown

The US plans further sanctions on intermediaries like tankers and broker that facilitate Iran oil sales to China. Will they work?

“We Must Fund Oppositions Properly to Save Democracy”

The Financial Times’ Martin Wolf, like quite a few others, looks for ways to save democracy from itself, as in rule by voters.

How Climate Denial is Fueling a U.S. Homeowners Insurance Crisis and Risking a 2008-Style Financial Meltdown

A climate-change-driven insurance and eventual mortgage/housing price crisis is getting momentum. And unlike 2008, price recovery is unlikely

Trump’s Shock Doctrine: Uncertainty and the Repudiation of Contracts

How Trump’s economic revolution and the uncertainty it is creating are already wreaking havoc.

Chaos Theory: Assessing the Legal Validity of Trump’s Tariffs

A look at the legality of Trump tariffs. Sadly, another proof that international law does not count for much in practice.

The Execution of the CFPB: Capitalism Survives Another Attempt to Save It

A discussion of Elizabeth Warren’s naivete about the predatory nature of capitalism.

Climate Minsky Moments: Why They May Matter Less Than Expected

“Climate Minsky moments” do not warrant delaying ambitious climate policy.

Paradise Is a Police State: Examining the Techno-Optimism of Billionaire Silicon Valley Investor (And Unofficial Trump Administration Adviser) Marc Andreessen

The unlimited AI and energy now being unleashed is supposed to usher in a new utopia centered around low wages and prices. So why are Andreessen and friends so intent on a police state as part of the grand experiment we’re all being enlisted in?

It’s Going to be Torture as the Path to Starmer’s Inevitable Demise Is Rolled Out

A Starmer death watch sighting.

ICE Faking News: Games Search Engines to Make Mass Deportations Appear Way More Massive Than They Are

Mass deportation raids have barely started, yet ICE is faking their prevalence! What gives?

AI’s Impending Information Crisis

AI coverage whistles past the graveyard of its lack of enough content to generate good output, assuring garbage in, garbage out.