The Automatic Earth

National Photo Co. Dr. Buzzkill September 5, 1925 Washington, D.C. “W.A. Green, Chief Prohibition Inspector.”   Ilargi: As everyone spends their time getting increasingly nervous about the future quality of ouzo and olive oil, Stoneleigh looks ahead and beyond and holds up a mirror that says many of the aspects of modern day Greek society that make it so vulnerable are in fact established features of all countries and communities, features that have merely been dormant for what will look

Harris & Ewing Zines March 1940 National Press Club Building newssstand, Washington, D.C. Stoneleigh: Given the fervour over gold, and the fact that our view of it differs from that of many other commentators, it seems fitting to review our position on gold ownership. Firstly, the goldbugs are right that physical gold is real money (unlike paper gold, which is just another Ponzi scheme). It has held its value for thousands of years and will continue to do so over

Alfred Palmer American Dream February 1942 Firestone Rubber, Akron, Ohio. Conversion of beverage containers to aviation oxygen cylinders. After shatterproof oxygen cylinders for high altitude flying have passed all tests in the metal division of a large Eastern rubber factory, hot air is blown through the cylinders to remove all trace of moisture. The cylinders are then sealed and stacked for painting Stoneleigh: Since it is the major world conundrum with the shortest timescale, I usually focus on finance here,

Russell Lee Tobaccy Candy 1940 Pool hall, Shasta County, California Ilargi: The revolving doors between Washington and Wall Street are swinging like never before. Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin are the finance powerhouses in the upcoming Obama administration. They were in the exact same place 10 years ago. This time, they bring along a protégé in Tim Geithner, who will be the fall guy if all goes wrong. And they know it will go wrong; they’ve seen it before. They’re

Unknown POW’s 1864 Chattanooga, Tennessee. Confederate prisoners at railroad depot waiting to be sent north. Ilargi: The credit crisis yesterday brought down a first entire government, in Belgium. As Niall Ferguson writes today: ”It is all but inevitable that we shall see serious political and geopolitical upheavals in 2009, as the recession takes its toll on weak governments (Thailand and Greece are already reeling) and raises the stakes in inter-state rivalries (India-Pakistan)”. In the same vein, Stoneleigh looks ahead at