Fearless commentary on finance, economics, politics and power

In a rare turn up for the books, the head of state of Latin America’s largest economy just accused three of the country’s four richest men of engaging in blatant accounting fraud.

Fiscal policy can play an important role in limiting hysteresis – a term coined in the 1980s – particularly by promoting government and private investment. However, the political economy of fiscal policymaking typically trades off long-term benefits for short-term gains

So much for the Biden commitment to XI after a 2 1/2 hour phone call to improve relations…..

~ Today’s Water Cooler ~

The EU pins its hopes to LNG.

Unable to inflict their desired amount of damage on Russia, the EU and NATO are aiming for a consolation prize: Serbia. 

A meaty discussion of the broader implications of the war in Ukraine.

Climate change and California are not getting on very well.

Balloon details from an aerospace engineer.

Victoria Nuland is a loser as even the newspaper of record admits defeat.

Galbraith explains why conventional views of inflation are a particularly poor fit for recent price increases and produced bad policy