How Capitalists Killed Capitalism. A ‘Guest Essay’, and I like it:
Since Mary Poppins’s day (I spared you the ‘Mary Poppins’ analogy), the financial sector as a whole — investment banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, cryptocurrency platforms and all the rest of it — has exploded as a share of the United States’ gross domestic product. It now claims the highest share of corporate profits and attracts the highest share of top talent from top schools, in part by offering the highest compensation. But actual business investment has declined, to an average of 2.9 percent of G.D.P. over the past decade from 5.2 percent in the 1960s, when the film was released.
Unlike Dawes’s Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, a modern investment bank mostly earns its money in a way that not even the bravest lyricist would set to music: providing advisory services, executing complex financial engineering schemes, trading stocks and bonds, managing other people’s money, issuing credit cards and so on. Assets get bought and sold, divided and packaged, and the bank collects fees at each step.
David Solomon, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, could not sing to young Michael about the many productive uses to which he might put the tuppence because Goldman Sachs rarely invests in anything at all. Fostering economic progress appears to be beside the point.
If this intrigues you, read on. You’ll find it worth every tuppence.
Speaking of Money For Nothing, Crypto Crashes:
The price of Bitcoin is lower than it was the day before President Trump’s election. A leading cryptocurrency exchange isAfter months of declining prices and dispiriting setbacks, the crypto industry has found itself deep in one of its periodic slumps — a so-called crypto winter.
Bitcoin is trading at less than $64,000, a nearly 50 percent decline from its peak price, which it reached just last October. The prices of two other top coins, Ether and Solana, are both down more than 30 percent over the past week.
At the same time, the stock prices of major crypto firms have plummeted. Strategy, a company that buys enormous amounts of Bitcoin, is down 75 percent since November 2024, when Mr. Trump was newly elected and promised to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet.”
Do I feel just a soupcon of schadenfreude? Why, yes, yes I do.
Pro-Rasslin’ Fans To The Rescue. No, not WWE:
Fans at an All Elite Wrestling match Wednesday night in Las Vegas broke out into an anti-ICE chant that briefly paused the pro wrestling match.
At the AEW World Championship Eliminator Match, which was being broadcast live on TBS and HBO Max, a loud and sustained cry against Immigration and Customs Enforcement of “F— ICE” reverberated through the audience before the opening bell rang.
The AEW Dynamite main event brought together a large crowd in Las Vegas, a major immigration destination for Latinos where almost 35% of the population is Hispanic or Latino. The professional wrestling company has also attracted a larger Latino fan base in recent years by embracing Mexican luchadores and the Latino wrestling tradition.
Reigning champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman, also known as MJF, looked shocked as the chant began, staring into the camera wide-eyed before scanning the crowd. Brody King, in the opposite corner, can be seen looking at the audience and nodding.
King has been outspoken against ICE in the weeks leading up to the Championship Eliminator Match. King, who is also the lead vocalist of the hardcore band God’s Hate, collaborated with artists and a printing company to release T-shirts raising money for the Minnesota Rights Action Committee.
Last year, King made another statement against ICE by wearing an “Abolish ICE” shirt at AEW’s Grand Slam Mexico. After his choice of wrestling garb drew significant attention and support, King released a T-shirt benefiting a nonprofit organization in California.
WWE and its parent company TKO (which also encompasses MMA) is completely in bed with Trump. Lead booker Triple H has joined Trump’s Council On Fitness (eat more cheeseburgers), and Trump is turning July 4 into Testosterone Day At The White House with a full UFC card. Oops, mustn’t forget Linda McMahon, try as one might.
State Higher Education Institutions Want More Money. At first glance, two of the three make decent cases:
Delaware State University President Tony Allen pointed out the HBCU’s strides since 2020. At a time when higher eduction enrollment declined nationally, Delaware’s HBCU managed to increase student enrollment by 25% to more than 6,600 students.
In the governor’s recommended budget, DSU is set to get approximately $147.7 million from the state’s general fund and nonappropraited special fund.
It’s $10 million less than the $70 million DSU requested out of general funds.
Allen asked the JFC to make the $5 million in supplemental funding they gave the school last year permanent. And he asked the JFC to add an additional $5 million in supplemental support for fiscal year 2027.
DSU made significant strides in the last five years that necessitate more support, Allen said. A majority of in-state enrolled students come from low-resource communities.
“That’s a really important piece as we go through this,” Allen said. “Because as we grow, if you actually believe in access to higher education for all, then your support matters in a big, big way.”
Makes sense to me.
Del Tech asked for an additional $1.1 million to the $88.1 million approved by the governor for base pay.
JFC chair asked about plans for this spending.
DelTech President Mark Brainard clarified that the university’s compensation for faculty and staff is tied to salaries set by local public schools.
“We’re just trying to keep up,” he said. When Del Tech moves its average compensation rate up, school districts respond by bringing salaries up as well.
But Del Tech does not have a referendum to draw from.
OK. I’m sold.
Carlson also asked the JFC for additional funding on top of the $149 million support it is recommended to receive.
That additional ask includes $2.5 million for scholarship and student support, along with $1.5 million for teacher and healthcare education programs.
She said without the additional support, “UD will need to cover the growing financial aid needs, and that means less ability to spend on academic advising, tutoring, and co-curricular activities to keep students enrolled and on track to graduation.”
I have a question, one I wish the reporter had clarified: But isn’t UD’s student population shrinking? More $$’s to serve fewer enrollees? Oh, and when are you gonna open up your books to the state? Plus, and I’m not buying this, not even for a minute:
UD President Laura Carlson told lawmakers the school is reinstating an online collection of research covering Black history in the state.
The work was accidentally removed from the school’s website late last year in a broad review of the university’s websites and programs, she said.
State Senator Laura Sturgeon (D-Brandywine West) said student groups are concerned UD is reacting to federal rhetoric without any formal request. She asked what UD’s plans are, should federal immigration agents come to campus.
Until proven otherwise, there’s no way I’m buying that an online collection of Black history in Delaware was removed by accident. It was a proactive effort to curry favor with Der Furor. Prove me wrong. What the UD President peddled was a lie.
What do you want to talk about?