Author Archives: Yves Smith
Michael Hudson and Steve Keen: The Federal Reserve, the Constitution, and the End of US Hegemony
Steve Keen and Michael Hudson discuss empire, finance, and the coming crises.
Read more...How Living in a ‘Digital First’ World Has Made Our Lives Smaller
We are stuck in digital bureaucracies— more effective than real life ones at runarounds, time-wasting, and conditioning for resignation
Read more...‘Utterly Unsustainable’: Employer-Sponsored Health Care Costs Set to Keep Surging
Health care costs are out of control. Medicare for All would help but is not a sufficient remedy.
Read more...Iran War: Bessent Effectively Admits New Ferocious Iran Sanctions Likely to Fizzle as Treasury Intervention Fails; More Evidence of US Military Impotence; Ansar Allah Makes Drone Strikes Into Saudi Arabia
Today’s Iran war news: As Bessent and Trump flail about, a discussion of what the coming crisis might look like.
Read more...Why Working‑Class People Account for Around 1% of Lawmakers in the US – and Only 2% in the Average Democracy Around the World
Working-class members are less well represented in politics than most imagine.
Read more...Pro-Israel Pressure Group Honest Reporting Received Grant from Knight Foundation
DropSite News exposes how the too-cutely-named Israel front Honest Reporting managed to secure funds from the Knight Foundation
Read more...Iran War: Further Admission of Weakness With New Super Duper Trump Sanctions Threat; Israel Moves Against Turkiye Risk Broader Conflagration; Bessent at Odds with Fed in Move to Contain Longer-Dated Treasury Yields
Today’s Iran war news: More proof of Trump impotence via sanctions huffing and puffing, plus Bessent weirdly going to war with the Fed.
Read more...Michael Hudson: U.S. War Against Russia Has Blocked Black Sea Grain Transport as Well as the Persian Gulf Oil Trade
Russia’s blockade of Odessa, which will have a global impact on grain supplies, is not getting the attention it warrants.
Read more...Personal Bankruptcy Filings Are Soaring in 2026, Signaling Growing Economic Distress
As bankruptcy rates rise, a primer on the process and some strategies that might hold the creditor wolves at bay.
Read more...More on the Next ‘Super El Niño’
An update on near and longer-term forecasts for the impact of the arriving super El Niño.
Read more...Links 8/19/2026
Iran War: US Considers Reducing Middle East Military Presence as Conflict Widens Regionally; Market Wobbles Intensify as Government Bond Interest Rates Rise Globally and AI Bubble Implosion Seems Imminent
Today’s Iran war news: Iran ups the ante as markets look even more green around the gills.
Read more...The AI Boom Runs on an Even More Dangerous Machine (Part 2)
Silicon Valley promises abundance, but corporate America is built for extraction, and AI is their new vehicle.
Read more...The Next Energy Crisis Could Be a Water Crisis
An overview of the increased stresses on water supplies and their relationship to energy production.
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