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.

Michael Hudson: Europe's Surrender

Michael Hudson returns to current events in an interview with Nima, focusing on what the Trump tariffs deals mean for Europe, the US and BRICS

Notes on Google's Attempt at Self-Disruption

Can Google sustain itself this way, as it makes a very high stakes bet on transforming itself from gateway to gatekeeper?...ShareShare Brad DeLong's Grasping RealityThis is, at some level, gonzo:Rich Holmes: Google is destroying its own business - and still winning <https://departmentofproduct.subst

I Coulda Made a Better Deal

First off: two more of my inequality primers are now free at the Stone Center web site. The list so far:Why did the rich pull away from the rest?The importance of worker powerA Trumpian diversionOligarchs and the rise of mega-fortunesNow, on to current events.Trump has now announced a trade "deal" w

Top Links 818 Sun Block: Red State advantage eroding? Why does Israel protect the Druze and Sanssouci in Beijing.

Thank you for your support of Chartbook. Your generosity keeps this show on the road.Kate Diehn-Bitt (German, 1900-1978). Source: Rostock Art GalleryWhat if America's red states are about to lose their cheap-housing advantage?A study by Edward Glaeser of Harvard University and Joseph Gyourko of the

The Work of Raj Chetty

Raj Chetty is best known for extremely labor-intensive studies, with dozens of research assistants assembling and cleaning datasets to answer enormous questions. This approach can answer questions that nobody else can really answer, because no one else has the data! Who else has the tax records of m

What can India do to industrialize?

Photo by Previn Samuel on UnsplashI really believe that Indian industrialization is one of the most important stories in the world today. The fate of over a billion people — most of them still pretty poor — hinges crucially on the question of whether the world's most populous nation can lift itself

Means and Meaning

Welcome to the 1,148 newly Not Boring people who have joined us since our last essay! Join 247,246 smart, curious folks by subscribing here:Subscribe nowHi friends  ,Happy Tuesday! I'm getting into the bad habit of sending these essays whenever I finish them. Maybe it's a good habit. This one is ab

Did RFK just take away your cancer treatment?

Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia CommonsIt starts with a little bump on your neck. You notice it when your hand brushes against it while you're washing your hair, but at first you don't pay it much attention. Then your spouse looks at your neck and asks you "What's that?" It's a little brown bum

Media to consume this week instead of doomscrolling - 03.08.25

Welcome to this week's media roundup! It has been a very hectic week for me as I was finally able to launch many new and exciting things for this publication (including a paid tier in case you're interested). Whenever I go through very labor-intensive periods of my life, it's too easy to try to turn

Weekly Dose of Optimism

Hi friends  ,Happy Friday and welcome back to our 155th Weekly Dose of Optimism. This marks one hundred and schfifty-five editions sent piping hot into your inbox. And we have a doozy of a week to celebrate: self-improving AI, deployed iron-air batteries, AI designed gene editors, Figma's IPO, and

Let’s Do Lunch!

Get more from Paul Krugman in the Substack appAvailable for iOS and AndroidGet the app

Beyond Carbon: The Overlooked Health Benefits of Fuel Taxation

Eco-taxes to reduce fuel emissions not only lower CO2 levels, but also reduce pollution, helping poor neighborhoods the most.

Links 8/10/2025

The only thing worse than sweatshops is no sweatshops

Photo by Fahad Faisal via Wikimedia CommonsI was going to write about U.S. politics today, but sweatshops came up in an online discussion, so I'll write about that instead. It's so rare to have interesting, substantive discussions about economic policy on social media, so I relish the chance to dive

Satyajit Das: Book Essay – Understanding Iran

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

Chartbook 401: The dollar system in an age of market-based finance - financial globalization beyond banks (The World Economy Now, July 2025)

This is the third in my on-going series that seeks to track broad developments in the World Economy Now. Previous installments were #1 May 2025: Putting Trump's trade tantrum in its place #2 June 2025: Whither China In this installment I read the Annual Economic Report of the Bank of International S

Grow Your Network: Morgan Ranstrom Is A Purposefully Thoughtful Advisor and Musician

Do you know Morgan Ranstrom? He's a wealth advisor at Trailhead Planners, author, musician with Stone Arch Rivals, and someone who thinks deeply about compounding in all... The post Grow Your Network: Morgan Ranstrom Is A Purposefully Thoughtful Advisor and Musician appeared first on Epsilon Theory.

Top Links 822 The US economy: no longer growing nicely. Reinterpreting the GFC and where Haiti's gangs get their guns.

Thank you for your support of Chartbook. Your generosity keeps this show on the road.Alastair Kinroy, Roy, the PharaohBefore COVID the US and the rest of the AE world were not on the same growth trajectory, since COVID this has been even more true. Read more

Links 8/9/2025

Can the BLS be Replaced?

With the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer, the present administration has made the world a worse place. The work that they do in estimating the national accounts is incredibly important to firms, policymakers, and to voters. Without the knowledge of what conditio

The Media Can’t Handle the Absence of Truth

We have guests for the next couple of days, and it would be rude to spend the whole time chained to the computer. So this post and maybe the next will be short and somewhat meta.On Tuesday I talked to Greg Sargent of the New Republic; transcript here. I highly recommend subscribing to Greg's podcast

Chartbook 400: Murder not crisis - Why Israel's starvation of Gaza is exceptional in a global context.

For many months, it has been beyond reasonable doubt that the Israeli government, the Israeli military, sections of Israeli politics and society as well as their aiders and abetters abroad, have been deliberately starving the population of Gaza with a view to forcing the population either to flee or

Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap August 2, 2025)

Grow Your Network: Laurie Kaye Is A Rock Radio Pioneer Who Conducted John Lennon's Final Interview Laurie Kaye's journey from transistor radio sanctuary to rock... The post Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap August 2, 2025) appeared first on Epsilon Theory.

The Raw File Approach to Networking: Morgan Ranstrom Returns TO JUST PRESS RECORD

Every time I talk to Morgan Ranstrom, he works a little idea into the conversation that takes over my brain for weeks. So when I... The post The Raw File Approach to Networking: Morgan Ranstrom Returns TO JUST PRESS RECORD appeared first on Epsilon Theory.

Top Links 812 Arresting toddlers. How China is changing the global drugs pipeline. Epic narratives of the green revolution & how the destruction of Gaza is even worse than previously estimated.

Thank you for your support of Chartbook. Your generosity keeps this show on the road.Bernard Buffet (French, 1928-1999). "La barricade" (1949). Source: WikiArtICE's child catching. Toby Nangle is pulling no punches on the grotesque dimensions of US state power. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

New capitalism III: Capital

This is the third (and presently the final) installment of my short essays on new capitalism. This essay deals with income from ownership of productive and financial assets that for simplicity I shall call "income from capital". There are three important things to know about capital income under new

Weekly Dose of Optimism #156

Hi friends  ,Happy Friday and welcome back to our 156th Weekly Dose of Optimism. This one practically wrote itself: DOE is making big nuclear moves, OpenAI and Google dropped new models, ElevenLabs is taking their tech to music, and researchers may have found a simple Alzheimer's therapeutic. The O

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.

Interview: The complex legacy of pioneering Indian scholar Irawati Karve

Note: I started this newsletter way back in 2022, after leaving Scroll.in to take up a post as diplomatic spouse and full-time dad in Egypt. We still have a year to go in Cairo – if you're coming through anytime soon please do give me a shout – before we move to Europe in the summer of 2026. For now

Trump/Brazil: Delusions of Grandeur Go South

Statue of limitations?Note: Trump announced a bunch more tariffs, some very high, late yesterday. Everything suggests that this is the new normal, unless the courts rule (as they should) that everything has been illegal. I'll have a full analysis of the economics of Smoot-Hawley 2.0 in Sunday's prim

The Dividend Reinvestment Puzzle: What It Means For Investors

The names of equity-income funds imply that they are aimed at investors who desire to withdraw their higher dividends as cash flow for spending. On the other hand, equity funds are aimed at investors who seek to reinvest their lower dividends for capital appreciation. However, more than 74% of equit

A new chapter begins

I barely remember last summer, mindless scrolling, and an embarrassingly high screen time numbed my brain to a genuinely concerning point. This summer, I am completely devoted to my journey of reclaiming my attention so that I never feel like I did a year ago ever again. Little did I know, when I be

Grow Your Network: Rupert Mitchell Is A Market Translator Who Turns Chaos Into Clarity

Do you know Rupert Mitchell? He's the founder of Blind Squirrel Macro, a French and Spanish literature major who became one of the most thoughtful macro observers... The post Grow Your Network: Rupert Mitchell Is A Market Translator Who Turns Chaos Into Clarity appeared first on Epsilon Theory.

The Intentional Investor #34: Rupert Mitchell

In this episode of *The Intentional Investor*, Matt Zeigler sits down with Rupert Mitchell—global capital markets veteran, writer, and founder of Blind Squirrel Macro—for a conversation that’s equal parts myth, markets, and meaning. From working on privatization deals in Cairo and Hong Kong’s ETF de

The China Shock Hits Germany

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

The Day The Music Died Vs. The Days The Music Lives: Laurie Kaye and Kevin Alexander on JUST PRESS RECORD

When Laurie Kaye was a kid, in – let’s just call it a less-than-perfect home situation, she’d often retreat to her room and hide under the covers.... The post The Day The Music Died Vs. The Days The Music Lives: Laurie Kaye and Kevin Alexander on JUST PRESS RECORD appeared first on Epsilon Theory.

The Active Management Paradox: Why Skill Improvements Haven't Translated to Better Returns

"No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come." — Victor HugoThe Debate ContinuesMy July 23, 2025 Morningstar article, "If Active Investing Is the Loser's Game, What's the Winner's Game?" examining active versus passive investing sparked a passionate response from Jeff Joseph, "

Top Links 813 How AI is eating the internet. Where to buy an affordable American-badged car. The G7 horror show & subjectivity in language.

Thank you for your support of Chartbook. Your generosity keeps this show on the road.Martin Barré (1924-1993), Sans titre.How AI is undoing the search-bargain on which the internet has hitherto depended Read more

The Housing Market Truth (in Five Cool Charts)

Think of Perscient storyboards as a way to track narratives in real-time so you can see reality before the story catches up. For example, here are five insights on the housing market from Matt Zeigler's interview with Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, that come alive with new meaning thr