Fearless commentary on finance, economics, politics and power

Dear readers, The site from which I get the majority of my films, rarefilmm.com, is in danger of shutting down. Apparently, donations to the site have dropped considerably over the last few months. Rarefilms.com is a -treasure trove- of rare and obscure films. There are nearly 4000 movies available there! Please, please consider donating to […]

Yemen’s Ansar Allah pounded Saudi Arabia Saturday, injuring hundreds at the Riyadh airport but also halting flights at King Fahd airport in Dammam while rumors of hits on Saudi oil facilities ran rampant. Iran was active in the Strait again.

Richard Murphy makes the case for MMT in the aftermath of one of several looming crises.

The IRGC hit at least one more tanker in the Strait Friday, while Ansar Allah hit more Saudi oil facilities and airlines cancelled flights. Combat raged in Yemen with with both sides claiming territorial gans.

Michael Hudson gives an immediate and longer-term take on the state of the oil market.

At this writing three Nobel Prizes of 2026 have been awarded, so this is a good time to think about those who did not win a Nobel Prize but should have.  Science has done this in Six biology breakthroughs that should have won a Nobel Prize – but didn’t (archived link).  The list of misses […]

The UN is a dead man walking, yet BRICS members unrealistically hope for reform. What organizations could be models for moving forward?

Those resources include the world’s largest deposits of lithium, huge deposits of oil and gas, rare earth minerals, gold and silver, and the world’s largest freshwater reservoir. 

POTUS Trump seems to have TACO’d again, delaying any renewed attacks on Iran until after the US midterm elections while Ansar Allah hit Saudi airports and oil facilities and took most of the key Yemeni highland city of Taiz, and explosions rang out in the Strait of Hormuz.

Worker-managed firms not only reduce inequality but are in the main very efficient.

U.S. interference and right-wing gains across Latin America have eroded democratic legitimacy, calling into question elections elsewhere.

Democratic participation requires more than voting rights, including material security, practical knowledge, social belonging, and agency.