Thursday, April 2, 2026

Will Trump’s Idiotic Iran War Spell the End of NATO?

Trump attacked on Iran with no consultation with NATO allies, doing them great harm, yet angrily demands help. Who wants an ally like that?

Links 4/2/2026

Iran War: Iran Pounds Israel with Huge Missile Barrage Just Before Trump’s Unhinged Speech Doubling Down on Failed Escalation; US Greatly Exposed to Shock as Inventories Depleted During April

Today’s Iran War update: Trump doubles down on failure as investors and pundits wake up to the economic consequences of Iran’s victory.

Satyajit Das: The Wages of War

War is not only bad for living things, but is also not-so-hot for economies and of course, societies.

Beyond Oil: The Macroeconomic Impact of Commodity Supply Disturbances

Economists typically ignore the impact of non-oil commodity shocks. They look to be at least as damaging as energy shocks.

Coffee Break: AI Subprime Crisis Both a Victim and an Expression of Idiocracy

While global attention has been focused on the Ramadan War with Iran, the long-awaited collapse of OpenAI is quietly accelerating.

A Fifth of NYC Built on Bygone Water Now at Risk: Study Maps City’s ‘Blue Zones’

Researchers identified more than 500 places in NYC where water was, where it floods and that will get worse due to climate change.

Links 4/1/2026

Iran War: Israel Would Thwart Trump TACO Even if Genuine; US Forces Still Arriving in Middle East as Trump to Speak This Evening; Could Strait of Hormuz Traffic Rise Meaningfully With Less Hot Conflict?

Why Trump’s apparent TACO via his hissy to leave the Strait of Hormuz mess to others may be a deception despite rising economic damage.

Türkiye and Other ‘Mediators’ Play Good Cop Against Iran

“Peace talks” among Türkiye, KSA, Pakistan, and Egypt try to kill Iran softly. 

How Polling Failures, Gambling Legalization and Political Gridlock Paved the Way for the Explosive Rise of Prediction Markets

In the opinion of this humble blogger, prediction markets epitomize what is wrong with modern society. l

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – The Invulnerable Golden Dome

The pursuit of an “invulnerable” missile defense system confronts technical, economic, and strategic limits. Perfect interception is unattainable, validation is inherently incomplete, and a fully realized architecture drives costs into the trillion-dollar range.

Michael Hudson and Steve Keen: How the Global Crisis Will Unfold

Michael Hudson and Steve Keen: discuss how the Iran war economic crisis will generate inflation first, and then deflation and depression.

Links 3/31/2026

Iran War: Trump Threatens Destruction of Iran Electric Generation and Oil Wells Even as WSJ Reports Temporary TACO on Trying to Force Open Strait of Hormuz

Today’s Iran war update: WSJ – Trump is trying to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic by not opening the Strait now but still fighting