Author Archives: Yves Smith
Iran War: Brent Ends Week at Over $90 a Barrel, Doubts About Damage to Iran and Condition of Israel Rise, Trump Doubles Down on Failing Kinetic War and Desperate Messaging
Today’s Iran war update: rumors of US force deployments as oil and gas price rises threaten the global economy and Mr. Market’s mood.
Read more...Michael Hudson: Today’s Global Choice – A U.S. Ruler-Based Order or International Law
How Trump is replacing the pos-World War II only-somewhat coercive rules-based order with openly thuggish, predatory US domination
Read more...Why Chase Taylor Swift? Stop the Corporate Looting That Makes Billionaires
A case for tackling the corporate machinery driving extreme wealth, and the reforms that could truly curb it.
Read more...Iran War: More on Systemic Impact of Strait of Hormuz Closure, US Inability to Intervene as Trump Team Doubles Down on Hare-Brained Schemes to Prevail via Force
The latest Iran war update, with more detail on the Administration’s desperate escalation scheme versus the rising damage from a Strait of Hormuz closure.
Read more...Companies Report Raging Inflation, Except in Wages & Rents
Companies tamp down on wage increases thanks to double-digit inflation in employee health insurance, hurting real household incomes.
Read more...Iran War: Systemic Risk of a Strait of Hormuz Closure, US Plan to Enlist Kurds, Hezbollah Unexpectedly Pounds Israel
Today’s Iran war update starts with a sobering, must-read analysis of the catastrophic real-world damage of a long Strait of Hormuz closure.
Read more...URGENT: Please Write the FCC to Oppose Latest SpaceX World-Changing Plan, Massively Light Polluting Reflect Orbital Satellites, Which Will End the Night Sky
American readers: please submit comments pronto to the FCC to oppose two dangerously bone-headed SpaceX schemes
Read more...Shadows Over Brussels and Kiev: Corruption Scandals Challenge Von der Leyen’s Ukraine Agenda
Ursula von der Leyen runs roughshod over accountability and transparency even as Ukraine and her own corruptions scandals loom.
Read more...Autonomous AI Agents Have an Ethics Problem
AI digital assistants not only do complex tasks on their own, but also lie and scheme. Who takes responsibility when they cause harm?
Read more...Can Sheinbaum Avoid A Death Spiral After the El Mencho Killing?
Why Sheinbaum is likely to find that decapitating cartel leaders is no more likely to succeed than Israeli decapitation has in the Middle East.
Read more...Links 3/4/2026
Iran War: More on Why US/Israel Success Impossible as Israel and US Operations Take More Hits, Trump Proposes Unhinged Strait of Hormuz Escort Scheme, Western Media Misinforming Public
The latest updates on the Iran war, from kinetic, economic, and narrative perspectives.
Read more...Even Patients Are Shocked by the Prices Their Insurers Will Pay — And It Costs All of Us
The bad incentives that lead health insurers not to balk overmuch at outrageous hospital charges.
Read more...AI and the Distribution of Income Between Capital and Labour
AI is working according to plan, further enriching the owner class at the expense of workers.
Read more...