Category Archives: Social policy

Senate Democrats Work with Republicans to Throw Medicare Under the Bus as Part of TPP Fast Track Sausage-Making

TAA, a training program for workers displaced by TPP, would be funded by money diverted from Medicare. It doesn’t work, either.

This entry was posted in Guest Post, Social policy, The destruction of the middle class, TPP on May 17, 2015 by Lambert Strether.

Bill Black: New Labour Leaders Want to Go Back to Blair’s Policies That Blew Up the UK

How Tony Blair sold deregulation, and why his bad prescription is so hard to kill.

William J. Astore: The American Military Uncontained, Chaos Spread, Casualties Inflicted, Missions Unaccomplished

An important, sobering description of how US military overreach became institutionalized.

This entry was posted in Banana republic, Doomsday scenarios, Middle East, Politics, Privatization, Russia, Social policy, Social values on May 15, 2015 by Yves Smith.

Ilargi: Will Austerity Be the Straw that Breaks the EU AND the UK?

Cameron thinks he’s riding a major victory, and he will now be called upon to deliver on his election promises, which just so happen to include a deepening and acceleration of austerity measures.

Gaius Publius: Sanders Raises $3 Million in Four Days; Will He Split the Party?

Why Bernie Sanders is a real contender, and how his campaign threatens Democratic party apparatchiks.

This entry was posted in Guest Post, Politics, Social policy, Social values, The destruction of the middle class on May 10, 2015 by Yves Smith.

Notes for an Elite Playbook: The Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone

Accounting Control Fraud is one play in the elite playbook; this post argues that Self-Licking Ice Cream Cones are another.

This entry was posted in Banana republic, Guest Post, Politics, Privatization, Social policy, Taxes on May 5, 2015 by Lambert Strether.

The Persecution and Assassination of the People of Greece as Performed by the Inmates of the Troika, Under the Direction of the Eurogroup

A new paper shreds the myths that justified the misguided application of austerity and wage-rate reduction policies in Greece and the Eurozone.

After Shocking Fundraising Totals, Bernie Sanders Defends European-Style Socialism

Bernie Sanders’s presidential bid is already creating more of a stir than expected. He is not just running against Clinton. He’s targeting an entire system.

This entry was posted in Politics, Social policy, Social values, The destruction of the middle class on May 4, 2015 by Yves Smith.

Syriza Emulates Nixon Going to China in a Bad Way

It’s painful to watch the Greek ruling coalition unwittingly do the creditors’ work by wringing Greece dry of cash more aggressively than Pasok or New Democracy would have dared to.

This entry was posted in Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Europe, Politics, Social policy, Social values on May 4, 2015 by Yves Smith.

Insurance in Extended Families

Yves here. Color me appalled by the premise of this post. It starts from the assumption that social safety nets are bad because they crowd out “informal institutions” namely family, as the insurer of the last resort. Note it may be unfair to single out this post, since the authors are addressing an apparently conventional […]

This entry was posted in Free markets and their discontents, Guest Post, Social policy, Social values, The dismal science on May 1, 2015 by Yves Smith.

Bill Black: Obama & TPP – Every One That Doeth Evil Hateth the Light

President Obama wants the world to know that he takes it personally that the Democratic Party’s base opposes his latest effort to sell out the people of the world to the worst corporations through the infamous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal.

This entry was posted in Banana republic, Banking industry, Doomsday scenarios, Globalization, Guest Post, Legal, Politics, Social policy, Social values on April 26, 2015 by Yves Smith.

Gaius Publius: What’s Wrong with Wyden-Hatch-Ryan’s Fast Track Bill – The Specifics

Why the proposed “fast track” authorization for misnamed “trade” deals is even worse than you imagined.

This entry was posted in Banana republic, Free markets and their discontents, Globalization, Guest Post, Legal, Politics, Social policy, Social values on April 22, 2015 by Yves Smith.

The Continuing Depopulation of Detroit

Detroit is getting the same treatment as Latvia and Ireland, and we are already seeing similar results in Greece, with most people who have good foreign job prospects taking a hike. But while Latvia and Ireland stabilized at much lower levels of output and have started to recover from their, Detroit, like Greece, looks like a failed state. And this is perversely seen as acceptable in America.