New, from me: Take the Palantir manifesto seriously, if not literally.
It reveals that our tech philosopher kings want public money, but without public accountability. This creates a dilemma for governments unaligned with its techno-fascist vision. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/palantir-w...
“Wall Street ensures the efficient allocation of capital.”
Given that only Congress can issue letters of marque, I think seizing enemy vessels generally should require congressional oversight
The WSJ piece and the @dandrezner.bsky.social piece on Trump’s foreign policy “process” are very much worth reading. My read is that a White House can run with an inattentive president. The problem is a president like Trump who is selectively attentive.
We’re defending Western Civilization by kicking Plato and Shakespeare out of university classes.
Given the persistent disruptions from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, @cronco.bsky.social and I have written a substack article about how Europe’s fossil fuel dependence is now as much about macroeconomic resilience as climate. A 🧵.
#Iran #Inflation #Energy
open.substack.com/pub/outsampl...
Renewables are a structural hedge against fossil fuel shocks. In power markets, the more often wind, solar, hydro and nuclear cover demand, the fewer the hours in which gas sets the marginal price, and the weaker the link between global gas markets and domestic electricity costs.
If not illegal bribery, why so bribery shaped?
Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19):
NYT: 5 of 58
WashPost: 1 of 43
WSJ: 0 of 40
AP: 0 of 26
CNN Wire: 0 of 18
NY Post: 0 of 17
Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4
LA Times: 0 of 4
Boston Globe: 0 of 2
Some of that arbitrage — gambling, crypto, private equity — is essentially predatory. Whether or not it’s nominally legal, it’s still corrupt.
Just came back from a workshop. It reinforced my “gut instinct” that so many of America’s problems are rooted in over-financialization.
The “big money” is increasingly made by extracting rents through informational, political, or legal arbitrage.
The U.S. and EU both have large enough internal markets to do this, but lack the political “will.”
That’s because, IIRC, the Chinese run sectoral industrial policy (cf. South Korea under Park). They heavily subsidize but with a) low barriers to entry into the sector and b) other mechanisms for competition within the Chinese market.
I've written about PRC cars
musgrave.substack.com/p/building-y...
and
musgrave.substack.com/p/oh-no-i-be...
In his mind, I imagine, monarchies deliver foodstuffs.
Oh, I 100% think that the Dems ought to be running on corruption and accountability, linking the former to everything people are unhappy about. I don’t know whether or not that implies talking about impeaching Trump.
'Texas A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson is leaving the university after administrators told him in January that he couldn’t teach Plato’s Symposium in his philosophy class; they said the ancient Greek philosopher’s work violated the system’s restrictions on gender and sexuality content.' 1/3
Iran is fighting an asymmetrical economic war against the US and they're sick of Trump manipulating the market. Every time he lies and drops the price of oil, it pushes back the day of reckoning. They're not about to let him lie and say there are peace talks when they haven't agreed to any.
Lindsay is doing the best analysis I've seen of the back and forth on talks. This is from the middle of one of her threads.
I don't know what it will take to make Trump get serious. Probably a major market crash.
But he'll announce something tonight and his marks in the market will do his bidding.
Bennu is the orangest orange cat. Thank god he has a good home because he wouldn’t survive five minutes on the streets.
Orange cat sitting in a cake container.
Tried a new orange cake recipe. Turned out well. Lightly toasted.
What people don't understand is that every Presidential cabinet has to maintain a specific level of alcohol consumption. Kash Patel is drinking heavily in order to keep Pete Hegseth sober. Really, he's a hero. www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/04/kash...
Can't stop thinking about the McSweeney's Sad Dad Bands, (first published January 14, 2022.)
Back on Twitter, I started a thread of my own riffs on Sad Dad Bands on January 17, 2022. Here is that thread, recreated.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/wha...
It’s as if the Iran war was fought to sustain the Russian economy. Lifting sanctions for Russians does nothing for Americans. It just makes it easier for Russia to continue its war in Ukraine.
Three attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reports.
Two were Indian tankers, including one carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil.
By this I mean that the Iranians have realized that if Trump can make outlandish market-moving claims with no evidence, they can too. And given how savvy they are about evading sanctions, it would not surprise me if some regime insiders aren't getting in on the insider trading action.
Interesting piece by M. Gessen
Any discussion of the post Trump agenda that doesn’t include court reform is dooming that agenda to failure. Fixing the Supreme Court should be the first order of business. #unpackthecourt
