Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Tariffs and US Dollar Depreciations: Not So Surprising After All

How conventional thinking on how the dollar would respond to Trump tariffs missed a key factor: retaliation.

Links 9/3/2025

What Happens as Trump’s Losses Mount?

What will Trump do as his policy backfires become too large and frequent to deny?

Social Murder as a Necropolitical Governance Technology

What is social murder, why is it increasing, and how to fight it. 

U.S. Utilities Put in a No-Win Position by Phantom Data Centers

AI players are gaming utilities, and creating high odd of bad outcomes for other customers, by making duplicate orders for power.

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – The Two Faces of Palantir

The powerful software tools developed by Palantir are sold to defense and intelligence agencies to protect against exteranl threats, but they also have the destructive potential of enabling domestic political repression.

James Galbraith: Crash in Top Economist Hiring Contradicts Elite-Favoring “Skill Biased Technical Change” Theory

Contrary to some economists’models, salaries aren’t constantly reset based on skills or technology. They follow the economy and politics.

Links 9/2/2025

UK Consumer Study Sounds Alarm About Security Risks of Mobile Wallets

As the problem of digital bank fraud grows, one issue that will become increasingly heated is who should pay for it.

Trump’s Appellate Court Tariff Loss: It Isn’t Over Until the Fat Lady Sings

Trump is likely to win his retaliatory tariff battle at the Supreme Court and even if not, he’s too fond of this bludgeon to give it up.

The Destruction of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

A detalied history of the two incarnations of Yugoslavia and how the state unraveled.

Coffee Break: Gavin Newsom Weaponizes ‘Dark Woke’ Cringe Against Trump

California Governor Gavin Newsom is using a cringe-worthy “dark woke” approach to counter President Trump on social media that is getting positive poll results.

Links 9/1/2025

Farcical Visions of Competitiveness in the EU

What will stop these maniacs first? A popular revolt putting them in padded cells or Russian strikes?  

Book Review: This Is Your Brain On Nature

In “Nature and the Mind,” Marc Berman uses neuroscience to show how interacting with nature benefits mental health.