Author Archives: Yves Smith

Small and Stuck: Why European Firms Can’t Scale

European businesses make it less often into the really big leads than their US counterparts. It’s not for want of trying.

Links 8/22/2026

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.

‘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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

More on the Next ‘Super El Niño’

An update on near and longer-term forecasts for the impact of the arriving super El Niño.

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.

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.