Mammon category archive
This New Gilded Age 0
Thom discusses how trickle-on economics has made the rich richer and the poor poorer.
The Fee Hand of the Market 0
Sam talks with Judd Legum about how corporate landlords are using hiding behind software to collude to raise rents.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
You just might fall to the ground go Bo(e)ing! Bo(e)ing!
At The Seattle Times, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks look at what went wrong at Boeing. A snippet:
Follow the link for their reasoning.
And, in more news of the fiendly skies . . . .
The Privatization Scam 0
Thom dissects the con behind Medicare (Dis)Advantage and the con that is coming.
Freedom of Screech 0
More evidence that twits own Twitter of X offenders: “Likes” will no longer be visible. At Joe.My.God,Joe Jervis observes that Elon Musk recently got royally roasted for “liking” a post by an avowed Nazi and comments:
But obviously, the main intent of this move is to elevate the posts of extremists, as you can plainly see by the post below by X’s official account.”
Follow the link for context.
The Privatization Scam 0
Thom talks with Dr. David Himmelstein about the deleterious effects of Medicare (Dis)Advantage.
This New Gilded Age 0
Mike and Farron discuss the exploitation economy (plus a little Tik-Tok).
This New Gilded Age, the Snaring Economy Dept. 0
When you run the numbers, it sure begins to look as if the “gig economy” is a rigged economy.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Indiana University law professor Michael Mattioli, reacting to the recent kerfuffle of OpenAI’s attempt to steal mimic Scarlett Johansson’s voice, raises an interesting question:
- Why are Silicon Valley Tech Bros expending so much energy trying to create AI bots that sound human, when other more efficient ways of interacting with computers have worked very nicely for decades?
Here’s a tiny bit of his answer (emphasis added):
There’s also an echo of the ancient quest to commune with eternity, to grasp immortality, woven into AI chatbots like Sky. The pyramids served as eternal vessels for a pharaoh’s spirit; what is lifelike AI if not an attempt to capture and channel a human being’s essential nature?
(Or could it be that they just want to make their fantasies of being Captain Kirk sitting the captain’s chair saying, “Computer . . . .” come to life?)
Aside:
Speaking of AI, security maven Bruce Schneier thinks that AI will make phishing attempts even less fishy and even harder to detect.
So, Who Killed Dead Lobster? 0
I blame the Chicago School, whose theories fed the notion that “return to shareholders” is the ultimate responsibility of a business, greater than maintaining the health and integrity of the business itself. This, in turn, provided a rationalization for looters to claim that, if looting a business increased return to shareholders, then, well, looting a business is a righteous act in the interest of the greater good.
Or, to put it another way, the Chicago School provided Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes for the Gordon Gekkos of the world, who proclaim that “Greed is good.”
This New Gilded Age 0
Robert Reich argues that (some of) today’s generation of robber barons are looking to turn back the clock. An excerpt:
Follow the link for his evidence.
First, There Was Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal.
Next, There Was Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.
Now, There Is Donald Trump’s Raw Deal.
0
Dead Lobster 0
I blame the Chicago School and the notion it birthed that the first duty of a company is to provide returns to shareholders.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Watching and recording your every move? Let’s see.
Bruce Schneier takes a look at Microsoft’s new effort to create an “AI” digital assistant. He–how shall I put this?–has some qualms. Here’s a tiny bit from his post:
It will act trustworthy, but it will not be trustworthy. We won’t know how they are trained. We won’t know their secret instructions. We won’t know their biases, either accidental or deliberate.
We do know that they are built at enormous expense, mostly in secret, by profit-maximizing corporations for their own benefit.
Cry Babies 0
Paul Krugman warn us “to beware the pettiness of the powerful,” observing that
Follow the link for his evidence.