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. […]
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Friday, April 3, 2026
Coffee Break: The Fallacy of ESG, Baseball, Deep Education, and More AI Follies
Topics: Coffee Break, Corporate governance, Curiousities, Economic fundamentals, Free markets and their discontents, Ridiculously obvious scams, Social values
Posted by KLG at 2:00 pm | 7 Comments »
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?
Topics: Auto industry, Energy markets, Environment, Global warming, Guest Post
Posted by Yves Smith at 10:17 am | 26 Comments »
Links 4/3/2026
Topics: Links
Posted by Conor Gallagher at 6:55 am | 58 Comments »
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.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Energy markets, Media watch, Middle East, Politics
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:54 am | 190 Comments »
Keir Starmer’s Schrödinger’s War
Is the United Kingdom at war with Iran or not?
Topics: Guest Post
Posted by Nick Corbishley at 6:45 am | 12 Comments »
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.
Topics: Guest Post, Social values, Technology and innovation
Posted by Yves Smith at 3:13 am | 10 Comments »
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
Topics: Coffee Break, Energy markets, Media appearances, Politics, Social policy
Posted by Curro Jimenez at 2:00 pm | 12 Comments »
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?
Topics: Banana republic, Doomsday scenarios, Europe, Guest Post, Legal, Middle East
Posted by Yves Smith at 10:15 am | 59 Comments »
Links 4/2/2026
Topics: Links
Posted by Conor Gallagher at 6:55 am | 54 Comments »
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.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Energy markets, Globalization, Investment outlook, Media watch, Middle East, Politics
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:54 am | 305 Comments »
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.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Economic fundamentals, Guest Post, Politics, Social policy, Social values
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:00 am | 11 Comments »
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.
Topics: Commodities, Doomsday scenarios, Dubious statistics, Economic fundamentals, Energy markets, The dismal science
Posted by Yves Smith at 3:23 am | 3 Comments »
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.
Topics: Coffee Break, Guest Post
Posted by Nat Wilson Turner at 2:00 pm | 41 Comments »
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.
Topics: Doomsday scenarios, Global warming, Guest Post, Risk and risk management
Posted by Yves Smith at 9:57 am | 10 Comments »
Links 4/1/2026
Topics: Links
Posted by Yves Smith at 6:55 am | 68 Comments »



