Wins, losses, and ties

Those following the #DutchFarmerProtests on this podcast and elsewhere should be happy with the win of the pro-farmer BBB BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement) won 15 Senate seats in their country's recent elections, giving them enough votes to block any further anti-farm legislation. An article in Reuters goes into greater detail about the win for the pro-farmer movement and what it means for them going forward. March 16th, 2023 marked the third anniversary of 15 Days to Slow the Spread. A quick check or Worldometer shows a sharp decline in the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in the US beginning in March of 22 and continuing on at a low level ever since. President Biden has not given up any of the emergency powers he appointed himself as part of a COVID-19 pandemic emergency. He says he'll declare the emergency over in May. In hindsight, he could have declared it over a year ago and been justified. With the Covid crisis all but over, and the Ukraine War fading into the background noise, we now have a banking crisis to contend with. President Biden, with the powers invested in him by well...him... Decided to make whole all the losses suffered by account holders in affected SVB and Signature Bank. SVB bank in particular, was heavily invested in the pursuit of a high ESG rating. A lot of money invested by SVB was going to causes favored by Democrats or to Democrats themselves. An article in USA Today takes pains to show that SVG donated to both Democrats and Republicans, it becomes clear that the lion's share went to Democrats. The President's pledge to make the account holders whole, even beyond the $250,000 covered by the FDIC, creates a moral hazard in that other banks teetering, will now feel like there is no downside to making risky investments the type that SVB did.