Friday, August 8, 2025

As the Colorado River Slowly Dries Up, States Angle for Influence Over Future Water Rights

The wrangling over who gets what out of the Colorado Rivers is one of many escalating fights over ever more scarce water.

Links 8/8/2025

Demand for Cash In Euro Area Is Rebounding Just As ECB Prepares to Launch Digital Euro

The ECB insists that cash’s role will be protected once the digital euro goes live. But can its word be trusted?

‘Disaster in the Making’: Trump to Open 401(k)s to Crypto, Private Equity Vultures

“Stuffing private equity, crypto…. into 401(k)s is about propping up scams and bailing out an industry that’s run out of buyers”

The China Shock Hits Germany

How China was hollowing out Germany’s manufacturers before the loss of cheap Russian energy made matters worse.

The West’s Ethical Framework Might Not Recover After the Israeli Genocide in Gaza

The Israeli genocide in Gaza violates the Silver Rule, the foundation of nearly all ethical frameworks

Questioning the Corporation

A review of the development and current undue power of corporations provides insightful history but goes off the rails on some current issues.

Links 8/7/2025

Federal Reserve, Using Non-Compliant Accounting, Hides Over $100 Billion a Year of Losses and Resulting Negative Equity, Due to Illegal Bank Subsidies

A former Fed economist explains in detail how the central bank has been using dodgy accounting to hide losses from impermissible subsidies

Satyajit Das: Book Essay – Understanding Iran

A look at modern Iran’s grand strategy and the danger of continued Western underestimation.

How States Are Placing Restrictions on AI in the Absence of Strong Federal Regulation

Yves here. On the one hand, it is gratifying to see that some curbs are being put on AI, even if in a piecemeal fashion by states. Restrictions on AI use in medicine, for instance, will tend to have broader impact since most providers are national and will find it too costly to run a […]

Coffee Break: Grifter as Greek God, Palmer Luckey of Anduril

Palmer Luckey, the CEO of autonomous weapons systems maker Anduril, is being heralded as the potential savior of America’s defense industry. He’s not.

Stagflation Watch for the US Economy as a Whole

Upgrading a US recession watch for the US to a stagflation watch due to inflation even as ISM indexes signal current contraction

Links 8/6/2025

When One of the World’s Most Powerful Nations Is Run By Spoiled Children 

The US cannot achieve its goals in the world by traditional economic or military means, so it increasingly prefers chaos and destruction. How do the other powers stop it?