Thursday, April 25, 2024
The Populist Dynamic: Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Countering Populism
Oh noes! Populism is gaining ground! A report on A/B testing of messaging in Italy to defang it.
Grocery Store Consolidation: Manipulating Supply Chains and Manufacturing, for Corporate Influence and Profit . . . Redux
More squeezing of the poors and shrinking middle class sought, via a US grocery store merger creating combined company market share of 22%
‘Does the CIA Still Do That?’
A look at the CIA’s sorry history of propaganda, psyops and assassinations.
2:00PM Water Cooler 4/24/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler ~
Making the World Safe for KFC: How Development Banks Underwrote Fast Food’s Global Takeover
How the World Bank’s IFC and others development banks supported KFC’s world conquest by backing its factory farms.
War Is Never the Answer to a Properly Posed Question
A discussion of four books about Palestine to facilitate better understanding of the war in Gaza.
Israel Economy Deterioration Worsens as Gaza Conflict and Other Hostilities Grind On
A fresh look, admittedly based on limited information, at how Israel’s economy is holding up in what is proving to be a protracted conflict
FTC Chief Says Tech Advancements Risk Health Care Price Fixing
The FTC’s Lina Khan is loaded for bear and targeting potential (as in probable) tech-facilitated price collusion in health care.
2:00PM Water Cooler 4/23/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Open thread ~
Crackdowns on Pro-Palestine Occupations on Major Campuses Bringing Gaza Conflict a Bit Closer to Home
Mild campus protests, at least by 1960s standards, against the Gaza genocide, have produced panic in the officialdom and aggressive responses.
Another Small Emerging Economy Just Dealt Another Big Blow to the Global ISDS System
Ecuador was one of the first countries to reject international investment arbitration, back in 2008. Its new ultra neo-liberal government just tried to reverse that. Voters refused to let it.
James Galbraith: Industrial Policy Is a Good Idea, but So Far We Don’t Have One
Industrial policy, despite recent lip service, is out of favor because doing ambitious things isn’t lucrative enough for the right people.
