Author Archives: Yves Smith

Jeffrey Sachs: Trump’s Empire of Hubris and Thuggery

Trump’s latest National Security Strategy memorandum treats the freedom to coerce others as the essence of US sovereignty.

AI’s Errors May Be Impossible to Eliminate – What That Means for Its Use in Health Care

Even with concerns about using AI in medicine, proponents contend doctors can properly oversee its use. Is that realistic?

Israel Is Acting with Impunity. Is It Overconfident in Trump’s Support?

More Americans support Palestine than Israel for the first time ever. But does that matter to Trump?

Trump Administration Joins EU in Russian Frozen Asset Madness

I want whatever Team Trump is smoking. Their Russian frozen assets plan has achieved impressive new levels of delusion.

U.S. Seizes Oil Tanker Off Venezuelan Coast

Some updates on the US capture of an oil tanker that had just departed from Venezuela.

Economic Questions: James Tobin’s Transaction Tax

A Tobin tax is a no-brainer for reducing speculation and financial crisis risk. That is reason enough to keep it from being implemented.

The U.S. Is Betting the Economy on ‘Scaling’ AI: Where Is the Intelligence When One Needs It?

A detailed discussion of how AI data-center investment boom is soking a societally and financially costly bubble

Wordle, the Wisdom of Crowds, and Bubbles

What Wordle play says about markets and bubbles.

How Corporate Democrats Made Trump Possible: A 10-Year Timeline

Yes, corporate Democrats did indeed grease the skids for Trump’s presidency, but the key misdeeds go back to Obama.

Trump’s Idea for Health Accounts Has Been Tried. Millions of Patients Have Ended Up in Debt.

A look at Trump’s non-solution to the looming problem of the expiration of Covid-era ACA subsidies.

Links 12/9/2025

Steve Keen Warns Crash of 2026 Will Be Worse Than 2008

Steve Keen was one of the few economists to predict the 2008 crisis. His call for a 2026 crash looks all too credible.

President Putin and Prime Minister Modi Share a Future Strategy That’s No Joke for President Trump

Even with the Putin-Modi lovefest and shared strategic aims, meeting their trade targets will be a heavy lift.

What’s the Likelihood of a NATO-Russian Non-Aggression Pact?

How Poland will play an essential role in what happens next between with NATO and Russia.

Revulsion, La Grande Bouffe, and the Spectacle of Grotesque Elite Self and System Destruction

Why our elites, starting with the top ranks in the Trump Administration, are disgusting.