Clara Mattei »
The Shrewd Economist
Democracy is an illusion! It’s become a political system fostered by the élite, for the élite, in order to fool the people that they have a stake in the system. In actual fact, they have virtually none. The whole political system in the modern era, despite having noble beginnings, is now used to benefit the few at the expense of the many. – Mark Alexander, June 29, 2018
February 13, 2026
Clara Mattei: Capitalism Is Not Natural - It’s Enforced
Clara Mattei »
Labels:
capitalism
Will the Epstein Files Tarnish the Reputation of Jamie Dimon, America’s Banker?
THE GUARDIAN: The final stretch of the JP Morgan Chase chief’s career is a bumpy one, as Trump himself demands prosecutors investigate Epstein’s ties to Dimon’s bank
Jamie Dimon, the longtime chief of JP Morgan Chase, America’s biggest bank, was under oath. The occasion was a May 2023 deposition related to several lawsuits filed against his bank over its history of involvement with the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The question put to Dimon was straightforward: “When did you first learn that Jeffrey Epstein was a customer of JPMorgan?”
His answer seemed clear: “I don’t recall knowing anything about Jeffrey Epstein until the stories broke sometime in 2019” – meaning the stories about Epstein’s arrest by federal authorities in the summer of 2019 and his death a month later in a Manhattan jail cell.
Clear, but believable? This exchange can be found in the US justice department’s Epstein files, with the digital “Epstein library”, as it’s called, tabulating 204 “results” (separate documents, though some duplicative) for Dimon, at current count, and 9,404 for his bank.
Epstein was a client of JP Morgan Chase for 15 years, from 1998 to 2013, for the last eight of which Dimon was the bank’s CEO, the position he still holds. And Epstein was not just any client, but a prized one of JPMorgan’s private bank for ultra-wealthy customers. A JP Morgan report, belatedly filed with the treasury department, flagged about 4,700 Epstein-related “suspicious activity” transactions totaling $1.1bn, including payments to women from post-Soviet countries. Through Dimon’s bank, Epstein wired hundreds of millions of dollars to Russian banks.
Not only that, a top former JP Morgan executive, Jes Staley, undermined Dimon’s sworn testimony – claiming to have communicated with Dimon on Epstein years before the 2019 arrest. And a current senior bank executive, Mary Erdoes, often said to be on Dimon’s shortlist of candidates to succeed him as CEO, was also actively involved with the Epstein account and was aware, as documents show, of Epstein’s court-affirmed status as a high-risk sex offender. » | Paul Starobin | Friday, February 13, 2026
Jamie Dimon, the longtime chief of JP Morgan Chase, America’s biggest bank, was under oath. The occasion was a May 2023 deposition related to several lawsuits filed against his bank over its history of involvement with the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The question put to Dimon was straightforward: “When did you first learn that Jeffrey Epstein was a customer of JPMorgan?”
His answer seemed clear: “I don’t recall knowing anything about Jeffrey Epstein until the stories broke sometime in 2019” – meaning the stories about Epstein’s arrest by federal authorities in the summer of 2019 and his death a month later in a Manhattan jail cell.
Clear, but believable? This exchange can be found in the US justice department’s Epstein files, with the digital “Epstein library”, as it’s called, tabulating 204 “results” (separate documents, though some duplicative) for Dimon, at current count, and 9,404 for his bank.
Epstein was a client of JP Morgan Chase for 15 years, from 1998 to 2013, for the last eight of which Dimon was the bank’s CEO, the position he still holds. And Epstein was not just any client, but a prized one of JPMorgan’s private bank for ultra-wealthy customers. A JP Morgan report, belatedly filed with the treasury department, flagged about 4,700 Epstein-related “suspicious activity” transactions totaling $1.1bn, including payments to women from post-Soviet countries. Through Dimon’s bank, Epstein wired hundreds of millions of dollars to Russian banks.
Not only that, a top former JP Morgan executive, Jes Staley, undermined Dimon’s sworn testimony – claiming to have communicated with Dimon on Epstein years before the 2019 arrest. And a current senior bank executive, Mary Erdoes, often said to be on Dimon’s shortlist of candidates to succeed him as CEO, was also actively involved with the Epstein account and was aware, as documents show, of Epstein’s court-affirmed status as a high-risk sex offender. » | Paul Starobin | Friday, February 13, 2026
Will Russia Defy Trump's Warning and Send Fuel to Its Old Ally Cuba? | DW News
Feb 12, 2026 | The Russian newspaper Izvestia is reporting that Moscow is planning to send crude oil and fuel to Cuba.
The country is suffering its worst energy crisis for years, after the US choked off its oil supplies. Cuba had long relied on its ally Venezuela for fuel, but those supplies dried up after the US abducted the country's president, Nicolás Maduro.
Like many countries, Russia is evacuating its tourists from the island and suspending all flights there, because of a lack of aviation fuel. Canadian airlines also suspended flights this week - and Cuba has warned international carriers that jet fuel is no longer available.
Ricardo Torres Pérez an economist and Research Fellow at American University’s Center for Latin American & Latino Studies talks to DW.
The country is suffering its worst energy crisis for years, after the US choked off its oil supplies. Cuba had long relied on its ally Venezuela for fuel, but those supplies dried up after the US abducted the country's president, Nicolás Maduro.
Like many countries, Russia is evacuating its tourists from the island and suspending all flights there, because of a lack of aviation fuel. Canadian airlines also suspended flights this week - and Cuba has warned international carriers that jet fuel is no longer available.
Ricardo Torres Pérez an economist and Research Fellow at American University’s Center for Latin American & Latino Studies talks to DW.
Labels:
Cuba
February 12, 2026
Cuba Receives Humanitarian Aid from Mexico as Trump’s Blockade Bites
Labels:
Cuba,
Donald Trump,
Mexico,
USA
Trump Administration Erases the Government’s Power to Fight Climate Change
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Environmental Protection Agency repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being. It means the agency can no longer regulate them.
President Trump on Thursday announced he was erasing the scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment, ending the federal government’s legal authority to control the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet.
The action is a key step in removing limits on carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases that scientists say are supercharging heat waves, droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather.
Led by a president who refers to climate change as a “hoax,” the administration is essentially saying that the vast majority of scientists around the world are wrong and that a hotter planet is not the menace that decades of research shows it to be.
It’s a rejection of fact that had been accepted for decades by presidents of both parties, including Richard Nixon, whose top adviser warned of the dangers of climate change and the first President George Bush, who signed an international climate treaty.
And it is a knockout punch in the yearslong fight by a small group of conservative activists as well as oil, gas and coal interests to stop the country from transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward solar, wind and other nonpolluting energy. » | Lisa Friedman | Reporting from Washington | Thursday, February 12, 2026
President Trump on Thursday announced he was erasing the scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment, ending the federal government’s legal authority to control the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet.
The action is a key step in removing limits on carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases that scientists say are supercharging heat waves, droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather.
Led by a president who refers to climate change as a “hoax,” the administration is essentially saying that the vast majority of scientists around the world are wrong and that a hotter planet is not the menace that decades of research shows it to be.
It’s a rejection of fact that had been accepted for decades by presidents of both parties, including Richard Nixon, whose top adviser warned of the dangers of climate change and the first President George Bush, who signed an international climate treaty.
And it is a knockout punch in the yearslong fight by a small group of conservative activists as well as oil, gas and coal interests to stop the country from transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward solar, wind and other nonpolluting energy. » | Lisa Friedman | Reporting from Washington | Thursday, February 12, 2026
Labels:
climate change,
Donald Trump,
USA
Trump Declared War on Canada — Carney's Cold Blooded Response Stunned the World
Labels:
Canada,
Donald Trump,
Mark Carney,
USA
Dollar Collapse & Trump’s Lasting Legacy: Top Economist Warns
Feb 11, 2026 | Is the U.S. dollar on the brink of collapse? Renowned economist Professor Steve Keen issues a dire warning about a coming financial storm that most economists are blind to. While the world focuses on the AI boom and tech sector promises, a far more dangerous sovereign debt crisis is brewing in global bond markets.
Decades of debt-fueled growth, reckless Trump-era fiscal policies, and Wall Street dominance have left the U.S. dollar and the global financial system dangerously vulnerable. As foreign investors pull back from U.S. Treasury bonds, inflation pressures rise, and credit cycles hit their limit, ordinary Americans face the reality of working past 65 and navigating a collapsing financial safety net.
In this critical analysis, Professor Keen explains why the current neoliberal economic model built on unsustainable debt, deregulation, and financial illusions cannot withstand the next shock. The AI boom, often hailed as a solution, is no safeguard; technology cannot fix a broken credit system.
Decades of debt-fueled growth, reckless Trump-era fiscal policies, and Wall Street dominance have left the U.S. dollar and the global financial system dangerously vulnerable. As foreign investors pull back from U.S. Treasury bonds, inflation pressures rise, and credit cycles hit their limit, ordinary Americans face the reality of working past 65 and navigating a collapsing financial safety net.
In this critical analysis, Professor Keen explains why the current neoliberal economic model built on unsustainable debt, deregulation, and financial illusions cannot withstand the next shock. The AI boom, often hailed as a solution, is no safeguard; technology cannot fix a broken credit system.
Labels:
Donald Trump,
US dollar
The Truth about the Jobs Report, Wages, Layoffs and Trump's AI Economy in 2026
ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.
Labels:
Trumpism,
US economy
Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World | Anne Applebaum with Edward Luce
Labels:
Anne Applebaum,
autocracies
UK Economy Grows by Only 0.1% amid Falling Business Investment
THE GUARDIAN: GDP in last three months of 2025 also hit by weak consumer spending, with little momentum going into this year
The UK economy expanded by only 0.1% in the final three months of last year, according to official data, as falling business investment and weak consumer spending led to little momentum going into 2026.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the economy grew at the same rate of 0.1% as the previous three months. This was less than a 0.2% rise that economists had been expecting.
The economy grew by 1.3% in 2025, an improvement on growth of 1.1% in 2024, although worse than official forecasts of 1.5%. The ONS said the economy also expanded by 0.1% on a monthly basis in December, slowing from 0.2% in November – a figure that was revised down from 0.3%.
The rise came despite there being no growth at all in the dominant services sector, which makes up about 80% of the economy. The small boost was instead driven by the production sector, up by 1.2%, while the construction industry shrank 2.1%, its worst performance in four years, the ONS said. » | Tom Knowles | Thursday, February 11, 2026
We can thank that tw*t—use the vowel of your own choosing to replace the asterisk!—Nigel Farage for the UK’s sluggish growth in the last ten years. No economist worth his salt would recommend a nation to cut itself off from the Single Market — the biggest single market in the world! And a single market on the nation’s doorstep, to boot!
Boarding the nation’s dinghy and sailing around the world on the high seas looking for little trade deals here and perhaps bigger ones there is NOT going to fix the problem! The sooner that Starmer grows a pair and levels with the nation about this ongoing problem, the better. The process of rejoining the European Union needs to be started. Fact is, we should never have left the European Union in the first place. Brexit was always going to fail. It was Farage’s folly. The sooner this country turns its back on Brexit, the sooner it will start to achieve economically again. In this world of huge economic blocks, a shrunken empire like the United Kingdom’s otherwise doesn’t stand a chance. — © Mark Alexander
The UK economy expanded by only 0.1% in the final three months of last year, according to official data, as falling business investment and weak consumer spending led to little momentum going into 2026.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the economy grew at the same rate of 0.1% as the previous three months. This was less than a 0.2% rise that economists had been expecting.
The economy grew by 1.3% in 2025, an improvement on growth of 1.1% in 2024, although worse than official forecasts of 1.5%. The ONS said the economy also expanded by 0.1% on a monthly basis in December, slowing from 0.2% in November – a figure that was revised down from 0.3%.
The rise came despite there being no growth at all in the dominant services sector, which makes up about 80% of the economy. The small boost was instead driven by the production sector, up by 1.2%, while the construction industry shrank 2.1%, its worst performance in four years, the ONS said. » | Tom Knowles | Thursday, February 11, 2026
We can thank that tw*t—use the vowel of your own choosing to replace the asterisk!—Nigel Farage for the UK’s sluggish growth in the last ten years. No economist worth his salt would recommend a nation to cut itself off from the Single Market — the biggest single market in the world! And a single market on the nation’s doorstep, to boot!
Boarding the nation’s dinghy and sailing around the world on the high seas looking for little trade deals here and perhaps bigger ones there is NOT going to fix the problem! The sooner that Starmer grows a pair and levels with the nation about this ongoing problem, the better. The process of rejoining the European Union needs to be started. Fact is, we should never have left the European Union in the first place. Brexit was always going to fail. It was Farage’s folly. The sooner this country turns its back on Brexit, the sooner it will start to achieve economically again. In this world of huge economic blocks, a shrunken empire like the United Kingdom’s otherwise doesn’t stand a chance. — © Mark Alexander
Labels:
UK economic growth
February 10, 2026
Tax Breaks for Billionaires. Cuts for Hungry Kids.
Labels:
Bernie Sanders,
Trumpism
February 09, 2026
How Peter Thiel Is Destroying Democracy
Dec 7, 2025 | This is Peter Thiel - a major player in Silicon Valley who wants to transform humanity. But what does he actually want? What’s his problem with democracy? And is there an endgame?
Labels:
democracy,
Peter Thiel
February 08, 2026
"Empire in Decline": Historian Alfred McCoy on U.S. Aggression in Venezuela, Iran & Beyond
Jan 13, 2026 | As President Trump threatens Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Greenland and more, renowned historian Alfred McCoy says the United States is "an empire in decline," following a predictable pattern of militarism abroad and political instability at home as it loses power and influence on the world stage. "American politics become increasingly contorted and irrational," says McCoy. "I think the thing to do is to realize that we are an empire in decline, … and it will continue for another decade or two, until American power finally slips away."
McCoy just published his latest book, "Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage," on the impact of U.S.-Soviet imperial proxy wars in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Democracy Now! can be supported here.
McCoy just published his latest book, "Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage," on the impact of U.S.-Soviet imperial proxy wars in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Democracy Now! can be supported here.
Labels:
American empire
“The United States Is an Empire In Decline”
Labels:
American empire
Cuba’s Government Has Lasted 67 Years. Will It Fall Under Trump?
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Trump administration, which has tightened the U.S. chokehold on Cuba by cutting off foreign oil, is betting that this is the Cuban communist revolution’s last year.
Celebrations broke out in front of Miami’s Versailles restaurant nearly 20 years ago after Fidel Castro announced that he was so sick he had to temporarily step down as president of Cuba.
Cuban exiles rejoiced again two years later when he quit for good — and once more when he died in 2016, though his brother Raúl Castro was president at the time.
Now, the country’s economy is in free fall, its electric grid is failing, millions of its citizens have left and the Cuban government is facing off against perhaps its most menacing foe: President Trump.
Mr. Trump has closed off Cuba’s access to oil shipments, helped cripple its vital tourism industry and declared that Cuba’s government is “going down for the count.”
The Trump administration and the many Cuban exiles who have been waiting nearly seven decades for the fall of Cuba’s Communist government said they believed this might finally be their moment.
After years of U.S. presidents trying various economic pressure tactics to hasten the demise of the Cuban government, the Trump administration’s cutoff of fuel has raised the ante drastically because oil keeps the country — from public transit to factories to farms — running.
…
After the U.S. military captured the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Mr. Trump halted Venezuelan oil to Cuba. Venezuela had long kept Cuba afloat with 35,000 barrels of oil a day in exchange for medical services by Cuban doctors. Read the whole article in today’s NYT HERE ». Y en español AQUÍ.
Celebrations broke out in front of Miami’s Versailles restaurant nearly 20 years ago after Fidel Castro announced that he was so sick he had to temporarily step down as president of Cuba.
Cuban exiles rejoiced again two years later when he quit for good — and once more when he died in 2016, though his brother Raúl Castro was president at the time.
Now, the country’s economy is in free fall, its electric grid is failing, millions of its citizens have left and the Cuban government is facing off against perhaps its most menacing foe: President Trump.
Mr. Trump has closed off Cuba’s access to oil shipments, helped cripple its vital tourism industry and declared that Cuba’s government is “going down for the count.”
The Trump administration and the many Cuban exiles who have been waiting nearly seven decades for the fall of Cuba’s Communist government said they believed this might finally be their moment.
After years of U.S. presidents trying various economic pressure tactics to hasten the demise of the Cuban government, the Trump administration’s cutoff of fuel has raised the ante drastically because oil keeps the country — from public transit to factories to farms — running.
…
After the U.S. military captured the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Mr. Trump halted Venezuelan oil to Cuba. Venezuela had long kept Cuba afloat with 35,000 barrels of oil a day in exchange for medical services by Cuban doctors. Read the whole article in today’s NYT HERE ». Y en español AQUÍ.
Labels:
Cuba
February 07, 2026
Michael Lambert: Why No Leader Can Fix Britain’s Current Course
Feb 7, 2026 | In this video I reflect on recent events in British politics from a very different perspective — speaking from Bangkok and watching the UK from afar.
I discuss the latest defections to Reform UK, why Nigel Farage still represents a political cul-de-sac rather than a governing future, and what these shifts say about the Conservative Party’s decline.
I also look at Keir Starmer’s trip to China, the reality behind the so-called “sophisticated relationship”, and the uncomfortable truth about Britain trying to negotiate alone in a world dominated by large trade blocs.
Along the way I touch on Peter Mandelson, Labour’s leadership dilemma, Andy Burnham, Davos and the wider question of whether Brexit has left Britain trying to play a role in the world that no longer exists.
I discuss the latest defections to Reform UK, why Nigel Farage still represents a political cul-de-sac rather than a governing future, and what these shifts say about the Conservative Party’s decline.
I also look at Keir Starmer’s trip to China, the reality behind the so-called “sophisticated relationship”, and the uncomfortable truth about Britain trying to negotiate alone in a world dominated by large trade blocs.
Along the way I touch on Peter Mandelson, Labour’s leadership dilemma, Andy Burnham, Davos and the wider question of whether Brexit has left Britain trying to play a role in the world that no longer exists.
Labels:
Brexit,
Keir Starmer,
Reform UK,
UK economy
February 06, 2026
«Je réalise qu’il y a un monde où je peux tout perdre» : la chute du bitcoin fait vaciller les certitudes des possesseurs de crypto
LE FIGARO : TÉMOIGNAGES - Alors que le bitcoin s’effondre après une année d’euphorie, des investisseurs, souvent jeunes, mesurent avec amertume les risques d’un pari qu’ils pensaient gagnant.
La fin du Bitcoin a-t elle déjà sonné ? C’est la question que se posent nombre d’épargnants conquis par l’engouement des cryptomonnaies qui a gagné les marchés et la toile depuis un an. « Je suis parti avec 1 000 euros en misant sur le bitcoin. Aujourd’hui, mon portefeuille vaut la moitié », confie Arthur*, 29 ans, employé du secteur de l’édition. Comme beaucoup de jeunes diplômés de sa génération – les « milléniaux » –, Arthur a été séduit par les discours des prophètes prônant la diversification par la cryptomonnaie.
Enchanté à ses débuts dans l’univers « crypto », Arthur déchante sérieusement depuis quelques semaines. Le bitcoin a chuté de presque 50 % depuis mi octobre 2025. Ces derniers jours, la baisse est encore plus brutale. Après avoir culminé à plus de 100.000 dollars, rien ni personne ne semblait douter de l’ascension de cet actif numérique qui, il est vrai, a déjà montré sa résilience face aux soubresauts du secteur. Un lointain souvenir ? » | Par Louise de Maisonneuve et Enguerrand Armanet | vendredi 6 février 2026
Réservé aux abonnés
La fin du Bitcoin a-t elle déjà sonné ? C’est la question que se posent nombre d’épargnants conquis par l’engouement des cryptomonnaies qui a gagné les marchés et la toile depuis un an. « Je suis parti avec 1 000 euros en misant sur le bitcoin. Aujourd’hui, mon portefeuille vaut la moitié », confie Arthur*, 29 ans, employé du secteur de l’édition. Comme beaucoup de jeunes diplômés de sa génération – les « milléniaux » –, Arthur a été séduit par les discours des prophètes prônant la diversification par la cryptomonnaie.
Enchanté à ses débuts dans l’univers « crypto », Arthur déchante sérieusement depuis quelques semaines. Le bitcoin a chuté de presque 50 % depuis mi octobre 2025. Ces derniers jours, la baisse est encore plus brutale. Après avoir culminé à plus de 100.000 dollars, rien ni personne ne semblait douter de l’ascension de cet actif numérique qui, il est vrai, a déjà montré sa résilience face aux soubresauts du secteur. Un lointain souvenir ? » | Par Louise de Maisonneuve et Enguerrand Armanet | vendredi 6 février 2026
Réservé aux abonnés
Labels:
Bitcoin,
cryptomonnaie,
épargne
The Great Depression of 1929: When the Dream Collapsed I SLICE History | Full Documentary
Nov 2, 2025 | 1929: The biggest economic crisis of the 20th century brought an abrupt end to the euphoria of the Roaring Twenties. Driven from their land, the farmers of the Great Plains were forced to abandon everything they had. They became migrants in their own country and were treated as such by the vast Californian estates. They became the symbol of an America confronted by its own reality.
Built on the work of the iconic photographers of the Great Depression - Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Arthur Rothstein - this full archive documentary analyzes the consequences of the economic collapse in the United States and provides a unique take on the failure of the American model.
Documentary: An American Depression (2019)
Directed by Sylvain Desmille
Production: Les Batelières Productions pour LCP & Toute l’Histoire
Built on the work of the iconic photographers of the Great Depression - Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Arthur Rothstein - this full archive documentary analyzes the consequences of the economic collapse in the United States and provides a unique take on the failure of the American model.
Documentary: An American Depression (2019)
Directed by Sylvain Desmille
Production: Les Batelières Productions pour LCP & Toute l’Histoire
Labels:
1929,
documentary,
Great Depression
Could International Boycotts of US Brands Indicate a Decline in US Cultural Power? | DW News
Feb 6, 2026 | US President Donald Trump's return to the White House and his tariffs have had a seismic impact on global markets. Trump's own personal brand is growing - from cryptocurrencies to merchandise and real estate - but his policies are also creating "reputational risks" for other American companies.
Long before Trump, many US brands were able to capitalize on the "cool factor" of being American. But since Trump's terms in office, international movements to boycott US products have spread around the world. Is this backlash causing an actual decline in consumption of US products?
I called for a boycott of all American products and services back in early January! Click here.
Long before Trump, many US brands were able to capitalize on the "cool factor" of being American. But since Trump's terms in office, international movements to boycott US products have spread around the world. Is this backlash causing an actual decline in consumption of US products?
I called for a boycott of all American products and services back in early January! Click here.
Steve Rosenberg: “Several Think Tanks Warning of a Recession in Russia": Russian Paper
Labels:
Russia,
what the papers say
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)