Thursday, February 13, 2025

The Golden Goose: The Consequences of Trump’s War on American Universities

A bug or a feature? The Trump plan to cap NIH/NSF grant indirect overheads is a gut punch to the economics of top universities.

2:00PM Water Cooler 2/12/2025: DOGEbags to Infest Entire Federal Government with Bolshevik-Style Parallel Party Structure

Bird Song of the Day Patient readers, I apologize for the enormous typo. This is what I (and you) get then I deviate from my standard template. –lambert Brown Thrasher, Sippo Lake–Exploration Gateway, Stark, Ohio, United States. * * * By Lambert Strether There’s a quotation from John D. MacDonald’s Pale Grey for Guilt that […]

Trump’s Shock Doctrine: Uncertainty and the Repudiation of Contracts

How Trump’s economic revolution and the uncertainty it is creating are already wreaking havoc.

Links 2/12/2025

KLG: The Engineering Ideal in Biology and Its Utility or Disutility

How the engineering ideal in biology, already taken further than is realistic, has become a foundation for the quest for eternal life.

Chaos Theory: Assessing the Legal Validity of Trump’s Tariffs

A look at the legality of Trump tariffs. Sadly, another proof that international law does not count for much in practice.

Mr. Treasury Market Tells Fed It Is Even More Worried About Inflation

The Fed vigorously backpedaled on further cuts, pivoting to wait-and-see, due to long-term rates signaling inflation concerns.

2:00PM Water Cooler 2/11/2025

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, syndemics ~

Imperialism (Still) Rules

Many in the West now deny imperialism. But even the Economist now sees Trump’s revival of this US legacy.

Links 2/11/2025

Is Washington Setting Its Sights on Mexico’s Former President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador?

“There is a legal and judicial offensive under way in Washington to accuse the former president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of having made pacts with drug traffickers.”

KLG: “If the Overhead Cuts to NIH and NSF Grants Go Through Without Changes, Academic Biomedical and Other Research in the US Will Crumble into Dust”

Why the Musk attack on NIH and NSF funding formulas will eviscerate US medical research.

The Execution of the CFPB: Capitalism Survives Another Attempt to Save It

A discussion of Elizabeth Warren’s naivete about the predatory nature of capitalism.

2:00PM Water Cooler 2/10/2025

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, syndemics; A typical day in the Trump White House, per the NY Post; Elon on political economy (with handy diagram); Stoller on Trump gutting the CFPB; The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and the Rise of Italian Fascism ~

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  • Climate Minsky Moments: Why They May Matter Less Than Expected

    “Climate Minsky moments” do not warrant delaying ambitious climate policy.