Friday, April 3, 2026

Coffee Break: The Fallacy of ESG, Baseball, Deep Education, and More AI Follies

Good afternoon.  Time for a break.  Given the wall-to-wall coverage by Yves and others here, nothing explicit on this Good Friday about the Ramadan War in West Asia.  Instead, herewith a few reflections during holy season of the three great Abrahamic traditions. Part the First: Ethical Capitalism?  Some argue about whether business can be ethical.  […]

What’s Cheaper: Fueling Your Car With Gas or Electricity?

A comparison on EV charging expenses state by state in the US. Any similar data in other countries based on recent electricity costs?

Links 4/3/2026

Iran War: US Continues Escalation by Striking Iran Bridge, Opening Way for Iran Destruction of Critical Links; Iran Moving to Attack Economic Targets

Today’s Iran war update: The US continues its escalation with a strike on Iran’s biggest bridge even as Mr. Market starts a belated protest.

Keir Starmer’s Schrödinger’s War

Is the United Kingdom at war with Iran or not?

AI’s Fluency in Other Languages Hides a Western Worldview That Can Mislead Users

Quelle surprise! AI, as in LLMs trained on English data sets, are not so hot when faced with non-Western cultural issues.

How the Iran War Could Reshape the Global Cultural Order

The Iran War and the Hormuz struggle could end U.S. oil and financial unilateralism, ultimately dismantling Western cultural dominance

Will Trump’s Idiotic Iran War Spell the End of NATO?

Trump attacked on Iran with no consultation with NATO allies, doing them great harm, yet angrily demands help. Who wants an ally like that?

Links 4/2/2026

Iran War: Iran Pounds Israel with Huge Missile Barrage Just Before Trump’s Unhinged Speech Doubling Down on Failed Escalation; US Greatly Exposed to Shock as Inventories Depleted During April

Today’s Iran War update: Trump doubles down on failure as investors and pundits wake up to the economic consequences of Iran’s victory.

Satyajit Das: The Wages of War

War is not only bad for living things, but is also not-so-hot for economies and of course, societies.

Beyond Oil: The Macroeconomic Impact of Commodity Supply Disturbances

Economists typically ignore the impact of non-oil commodity shocks. They look to be at least as damaging as energy shocks.

Coffee Break: AI Subprime Crisis Both a Victim and an Expression of Idiocracy

While global attention has been focused on the Ramadan War with Iran, the long-awaited collapse of OpenAI is quietly accelerating.

A Fifth of NYC Built on Bygone Water Now at Risk: Study Maps City’s ‘Blue Zones’

Researchers identified more than 500 places in NYC where water was, where it floods and that will get worse due to climate change.

Links 4/1/2026