The hidden power keeping wages low For decades, economists gave short shrift to the idea of monopsony — a power employers can have to suppress wages. Now a wave of research suggests it's everywhere, and a new book argues it's key to un...

For decades, economists gave short shrift to the idea of monopsony — a power employers can have to suppress wages. Now a wave of research suggests it’s everywhere, and a new book by @arindube.bsky.social argues it’s key to understanding today’s inequality. www.npr.org/sections/pla...

TFW Sullivan & Cromwell charges you $1200 an hour for a Yale graduate to ask grok “is this argument sus”

"Few approve of how Donald Trump is handling the cost of living" – Overall: 33-67 – Immigration: 40-59 – Iran: 32-67 – Economy: 30-70 – Cost of living: 23(!)-76 "The nationwide poll was conducted April 16-20, 2026 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 2,596 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.4 percentage points."

There's no other way to say it: This AP-NORC poll is atrocious for Trump.

– Overall: 33-67
– Immigration: 40-59
– Iran: 32-67
– Economy: 30-70
– Cost of living: 23(!)-76

37% of Republicans disapprove of his handling of the economy, 47% disapprove on cost of living.

apnorc.org/projects/few...

Trump Approval Polling:

Disapprove: 67% (+7)
Approve: 33% (-5)

AP-NORC / April 20, 2026

(% Change With March 23, 2026)

I said at the beginning of this conflict that we were just going to dick around forever while the world economy collapsed and it's coming true.

Elite law firm Sullivan & Cromwell admits to AI ‘hallucinations’ Firm whose partners bill more than $2,000 per hour apologises to judge for software-driven errors in bankruptcy case

The future is embarrassing www.ft.com/content/657d...

They warned us they were going to start cutting flights if the strait didn't open up in three weeks and that was...about three weeks ago.

There's a reason why Meta's employee keylogging plans are only being deployed in the US -- per experts we spoke to, this sort of monitoring would be illegal in much of Europe, where such monitoring is a violation of worker privacy.

In the US, most states don't even require notice of surveillance.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur says the U.S. has paused Estonia's ammunition deliveries until the end of the war in Iran, at least. He said the main issues for Estonia are related to HIMARS ammunition and Javelins. news.err.ee/1610001736/u...

Used up:
* 45% of Precision Strike Missiles
* 50% of THAAD interceptors
* 50% of Patriot air defence missiles
* Tomahawks and long-range missiles down by 20–30%

This creates a “near-term risk” for any conflict with a major power like China.

2/3

Anthropic gets $5B investment from Amazon, will use it to buy Amazon chips Anthropic secures 5 gigawatts of Amazon’s custom silicon as Claude demand soars.

The investment is the latest example of circular financing during the AI boom—the practice of tech companies investing in AI startups to help the latter buy products or services from the original investors.

So we're not doing talks and we're just going to let the energy crisis continue so everyone can feel like big important men

Inside the DOGE Takeover of the Federal Government In early 2025, Americans first learned about the takeover of the federal government by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE had been operating under a veil of secrecy, with l...

"This impressive, continuing coverage exemplifies investigative reporting at its best."

WIRED won the Hillman Prize for our coverage of DOGE's takeover of the federal government! I'm so so proud of our team, and so honored!

eventc10000004 Trade disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz due to attacks on commercial ships

Useful, an IMF/Oxford page tracking if any transports are getting through the strait (no is the answer):
portwatch.imf.org/pages/cc317b...

Emails show Amazon colluding with other firms to raise prices, California authorities allege The previously redacted messages were unveiled as part of an antitrust battle with California attorney general Rob Bonta

Emails show Amazon colluding with other firms to raise prices, California authorities allege

New York Attorney General Letitia James sues Coinbase and Gemini, claiming their prediction markets violate state laws against illegal gambling (Jonathan Stempel/Reuters)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

(FT) - Lufthansa has cancelled 20,000 flights between May and October to save fuel, one of the largest cuts by global airlines as jet fuel prices double following the Iran war.

@financialtimes.com $JETS
www.ft.com/content/bd0e...

The U.S. Has Ditched Professional Diplomacy The first priority is Trump’s image, not national interests.

Of course US-Iran negotiations have gone nowhere. The Iranians are prioritizing national interests. The Americans are prioritizing presidential image management.

My latest in @foreignpolicy.com:

Hegseth sneered about the military's logistical experts, and now he's got ships stuck with sailors almost starving on them.

But he's still sure the dismissive attitude about the flu won't come back to bite him.

$3-5 per click? Not per conversion (an actual sale based on the click)? Very few are going to be willing to pay $3-5/click. That's roughly x10 higher than the norm.

At least he's honest: Yeah, it's terrible for journalism and the country, but it's great for my career!

Warsh may be a reasonable guy and capable economist just playing a role here. But if integrity and independence are qualities we value in a Fed Chief, he does not have them.

Every nominee who dodges this question tells us that they have no meaningful commitment to American democracy.

Flu is a readiness and lethality issue wtf are we even doing?

This stuff is soft as baby shit. "The warfighter must never be inconvenienced or so something scary like get a shot," is loser shit.

Emails show Amazon colluding with other firms to raise prices, California authorities allege The previously redacted messages were unveiled as part of an antitrust battle with California attorney general Rob Bonta

Another article, there's explicit communication too. Key point: "Maintaining this artificial price floor ... has allowed Amazon to preserve the appearance of low prices while heading off robust competition and extracting more from consumers."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

This Scammer Used an AI-Generated MAGA Girl to Grift ‘Super Dumb’ Men A med student says he’s made thousands of dollars selling photos and videos of a young conservative woman he created using generative tools. He’s not alone.

say what you like about AI, but at least it's helping foreigners shear idiot MAGA sheep www.wired.com/story/ai-gen...

everyone with real American manliness and a basic knowledge of military history knows that serious war efforts have never been derailed by such trifling matters as "communicable diseases"

Great thread on Amazon's tech-based form of price collusion, communicating using rapid price changes, punishing retailers who charges lower prices than Amazon using Amazon's dominant market power, making charging anything but Amazon's price unprofitable for others. Anti-consumer, anti-free market.

Congratulations to Tim Apple, ass-kisser.

America’s options with Iran are still humiliation or escalation. Trump got the U.S. into a bad strategic position. That core dynamic hasn’t changed.

The Tariff Refund Nightmare - The American Prospect In principle, Americans are owed $166 billion in refunds of Trump’s illegal tariffs. But actually collecting is like unscrambling an egg.

The tariff refund process is going to be a nightmare.
•businesses seek refunds, not the consumers they passed costs through to
•small businesses don't have the same compliance shops
•some refund claims sold to Wall Street
Bob Kuttner has more.
prospect.org/2026/04/21/t...