Moon of Alabama (where’s the beef?)Summit SummaryU.S., UK Information Warfare Behind Regime Change Drive In BelarusRussia Observer (much ado in the press over nothing)PUTIN-BIDEN SUMMITPatrick ArmstrongPOLITICO (it’s OK when we do it)Biden derides Putin’s ‘ridiculous’ whataboutismNick NiedzwiadekThe Intercept (Joe Liberman is still with us)Leaked Audio of Sen. Joe Manchin Call With Billionaire Donors Provides Rare Glimpse of Dealmaking on Filibuster and January 6 CommissionLee FangSputnik International (legal limits to free expression)Twitter Loses ‘Legal Shield’ in India, Gets Booked for ‘Fuelling’ Hindu-Muslim Feud in Uttar PradeshTimes of IndiaTwitter deliberately chose path of non-compliance: Ravi Shankar PrasadInternationalist 360º (NATO running scared?)China Responds to NATORick

Somebody had to say it. Caitlin Johnstone does a decent job of it, although far more could be said and documented with evidence.The fact that not one person in the press pool questioned or criticized Biden’s outrageous remarks tells you everything you need to know about the western media and what its real function is….The US position is that it is OK for us to do since we are exceptional.CaitlinJohnstone.comAmerica’s Soup-Brained President Says The US Never Interferes In Other Countries’ ElectionsCaitlin Johnstone

Ditlev Blicher, Maersk Asia Pacific Managing Director, was quoted by Seatrade Maritime, who said Yantian port is operating at a 40% capacity, and "We’re expecting that to continue for the next month with significant delays for vessels to be able to berth."A recent surge in COVID-19 infections in the port area and prevention and restriction measures put in place by local authorities is the primary reason for the lack of capacity at the port…Zero HedgeMaersk Warns South China Port Congestion ‘More Significant Disruption’ Than Suez Canal ClosureTyler Durden

Transcripts.The Vineyard of the SakerStatements after Putin / Biden summitSee alsoSo who prevailed today? Cui bono, one must ask. As suggested above, the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think-Tank complex (MICIMATT), never more powerful, sleeps soundly tonight.AntiWarRay McGovern: Trust Lacking at Blah Summit

Over the last 30 years modern China has built a civilisation that is as advanced as the West, but without war, imperialism, or empire. Eric li says this is a first in history and is a model to be celebrated, but the West, which prefers imperialism, neoliberalism, and wealth extraction, has surrounded China with military bases and warships instead. [embedded content]

BRACEVILLE, Ill. – Radioactive tritium has leaked from three-quarters of U.S. commercial nuclear power sites, often into groundwater from corroded, buried piping, an Associated Press investigation shows.The number and severity of the leaks has been escalating, even as federal regulators extend the licenses of more and more reactors across the nation.Tritium, which is a radioactive form of hydrogen, has leaked from at least 48 of 65 sites, according to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission records reviewed as part of the AP’s yearlong examination of safety issues at aging nuclear power plants. Leaks from at least 37 of those facilities contained concentrations exceeding the federal drinking water standard — sometimes at hundreds of times the limit.While most leaks have been found within

Global South will be unimpressed by new B3W infrastructure scheme funded by private Western interests out for short-term profit….The Vineyard of the SakerEmpire of Clowns vs. Yellow PerilPepe EscobarOriginally at Asia TimesUPDATEThe Unz ReviewThe Real B3W-NATO AgendaPepe EscobarOriginally at Asia Times

Full statement.Calculated RiskFOMC Statement: No Policy ChangeFOMC Projections and Press ConferenceBill McBride

Mike Konczal and I have a piece in the New York Times arguing that the next few years could see a historic boom for the US economy, if policy makers recognize that strong demand and rising wages are positive developments, and don’t get panicked into turning toward austerity. Given the foreign policy/military stance now, the predominance of government spending is likely to go to "defense" for the foreseeable future. This is likely to crowd out other spending initiatives and also encourage austerity with respect to domestic spending. The only fiscal "stimulus" that can be expected is from tax cuts given the political makeup and mood of the US electorate. The ridiculous brouhaha over "inflation" is a symptom, especially when it based on an erroneous rationale that misunderstands "money

Following yesterday’s introduction, this is the first part of a new series which aims to explore, through some questions and answers, particular aspects of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) which interest me. As I have already outlined some of MMT’s implications already, I will jump straight in….The Political Economy of DevelopmentQuestioning Modern Monetary Theory: Part 1Nick Johnson

This is funny the monetarist morons are reporting Brazil raising rates creating their figurative  “inflation!” while at same time recommending US raise rates to reduce their figurative “inflation!”….   paradox has no place in material systems administration…Brazil’s central bank may deliver a third straight interest rate hike https://t.co/DHRTlsN4VO— Bloomberg Economics (@economics) June 16, 2021

This study aims to show conceptual and methodological flaws of past studies supporting the hereditarian hypothesis.Kevin Bird – No support for the hereditarian hypothesis of the Black–White achievement gap using polygenic scores and tests for divergent selection

This then is the introduction to a series of posts on MMT which aim to explore and critique (rather than criticise) some of its aspects. The series does not aim to be comprehensive. Instead, I will write about aspects which I find interesting, whether I think they are correct or otherwise. It will be set out as a series of questions and answers, which can be an appealing format, and one which focuses the mind on whatever topic is being suggested.The Political Economy of DevelopmentQuestioning Modern Monetary Theory: an introductionNick Johnson

I’ve spoken about this idiot many times in the past. (And commented on his idiotic calls.)This is what happens when you fundamentally don’t understand how the  monetary system works.The guy’s fund is down 46% since 2013. Not surprising.What surprises me is who gives this guy money to manage? BTW…the S&P is up 270% in the same period of time. And the average hedge fund way underperformed the market, not as bad as Bass, but well below the market’s return.They all suck.Schiff probably the same.

Today, I am publishing a special guest post from three authors working in the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) tradition about inflation in Brazil. They are examining recent claims by Paul Krugman that the Brazilian experience ratifies basic Monetarist theory that links excessive monetary expansion with inflation (and hyperinflation). It turns out that the reality is quite different which is no surprise when it comes to confronting Krugman’s assertions with facts.Daniel Negreiros Conceição is a professor of Public Planning at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.Fabiano Dalto is a professor of Economics at the Federal University of Paraná.Caio Vilella is a PhD student of Economics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.Fadhel Kaboub is a associate professor of economics at Denison

Neoliberal political economy as the antithesis of MMT. Money on the LeftNdongo Samba Sylla: Neoliberalism’s Colonial Origins

Selections from Godfree Roberts’ extensive weekly newsletter: Here Comes ChinaThe Vineyard of the SakerSitrep: Here Comes China: Elephants, Finance and Trade, RCEPSee also at VSG7: Desperately Seeking RelevancyPepe EscobarAlsoIndia PunchlineG7 and China: Fault lines in the world orderM. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service

The increase in value is reminiscent of a pyramid scheme where investors constantly hope that others will value the asset ever higher.When bitcoin regains its true value, the awakening could be brutal for many. It is not only the cryptocurrency that has a limited volume, but also the number of people who are tempted to join pyramid schemes.The Financial Times Bitcoin lacks a solid foundation as an international currency

All my life I have been able to visualize things quite easily, but 10 years ago I discovered to my surprise that many people can’t. I put out a post here around a year ago where Jordan Peterson was saying that a third of the population think in pictures, a third think in words, and the last third think in both, which is what I do. In this article it even says that some people, although rare, are unable to play music in their heads either. Over the 16 years since that first patient, Zeman and his colleagues have heard from more than 12,000 people who say they don’t have any such mental camera. The scientists estimate that tens of millions of people share the condition, which they’ve named aphantasia, and millions more experience extraordinarily strong mental imagery, called

In the last 10 days, people in the Washington, D.C., metro area have been reporting increasing numbers of sick, blind, injured, and dead birds. For the most part, they have been juvenile Common Grackles, European Starlings, and Blue Jays.“Eye issues were reported in what otherwise looked like healthy juvenile birds, causing blindness and the birds to land and stay on the ground,” said the Animal Welfare League of Arlington in a statement. “Animal Control is now seeing additional species of birds affected. Other agencies and localities across the region and state are reporting similar issues.”Bird Watching Daily‘Terribly scary’ situation as birds die, go blind in D.C. area

Biosecurity expert Gabriel Gras supervised the construction and accreditation of the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s BSL-4 laboratory in 2017He says he has ‘no doubt’ about the safety of the facility, despite growing scrutiny over the possible role of a lab accident in the origins of Covid-19A former French government official who oversaw safety standards at the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s maximum security laboratory ahead of its opening has dismissed the theory that Covid-19 escaped from the institute, as a growing clamour of voices lends credence to the previously fringe hypothesis.In his first interview with English-language media, Gabriel Gras, a virology researcher and biosecurity expert who was employed as a technical expert at the French embassy in China, said he did not believe

AbstractCentral bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could ease current frictions in cross-border payments – and particularly so if central banks factor an international dimension into CBDC design from the outset. Based on a survey of 50 central banks in the first quarter of 2021, this paper explores initial thinking on the cross-border use of CBDCs. While most central banks have yet to take a firm decision on issuing a CBDC, the survey responses show a tentative inclination towards allowing use of a future CBDC by tourists and other non-residents domestically. They have a cautious approach to allowing use of a CBDC beyond their own jurisdiction. Concerns about the economic and monetary implications of cross-border CBDC use and about private sector global stablecoins are taken seriously. At

The Franklin Cover-upThis documentary was made by Yorkshire Television but it got pulled when lawyers won a court battle on behalf of those accused. All copies of the film were ordered to be destroyed too, but this rough unedited version later turned up on YouTube. To be accused of a terrible crime you didn’t do is a horrendous thing, so you always have to be careful about this sort of thing. John Decamp – who was a Republican politician and a lawyer – did all the original research.I think you will find it to be one of the most fascinating and disturbing documentaries you’ve ever seen.[embedded content]The Conspiracy of Silence

The Cold War is over. So why, Paul McGinnis wanted to know, are major CIA, NSA, and Department of Defense programs still being kept secret from Congress and US taxpayers?In Blank Check, Weiner argued that the black budget represented an entire culture of deception – "the realm of nukes and spooks," he called it.Black budgeting, its opponents argue, is more about hiding from Congress and the public than from any foreign enemies….the details of the black budget are revealed to only a few select Congressional committee members – and sometimes not even to them.The size of the appropriation for Aurora rose from $8 million in 1986 to $2.3 billion for 1987. The next year it vanished.Exposing the Black Budget

There should be little doubt that the timing is intentional: China on Thursday passed its sweeping new law to ‘safeguard’ Chinese businesses and entities from Western and especially US sanctions, just hours ahead of President Joe Biden sitting down with G-7 leaders in Cornwall to argue for a common stance on curtailing China’s influence….Zero HedgeWestern Companies "Shocked" After China Rushes Through Anti-Sanctions LawTyler DurdenSee alsoVisual CapitalistRCEP Explained: The World’s Biggest Trading Bloc Will Soon be in Asia-PacificIman Ghosh AlsoECNSChina’s consumption heats up in May: commerce ministryRelatedHistory To GoReed Smoot and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, 1930Jeffrey D. Nichols

China joined the WTO in 2001 and has gained $13 trillion in GDP since then. America has gained $11 trillion during the same time period, has a quarter of the population of China, but most Americans have not seen any increase in their standard of living, and many have become a lot poorer. So China isn’t making America poorer, as such, even though most Americans believe it has. The One Percent made all the gains. However in the past 20 years, almost 5 million manufacturing jobs in America have been lost, as factories moved overseas, creating Rust Belt de-industrialisation, a surge in poverty levels and anti-China sentiment. Dayton, Ohio, home of the Wright brothers, was once known as “The City of 1,000 Factories” and the Silicon Valley of its age. From 2001 to 2007, the city lost almost

It promised to transform how Californians travel but is now seen as a “bullet train to nowhere.” This is why America’s west coast megaproject has been far from high-speed.[embedded content]

This is the story of the latest financial scandal to rock Wall Street and the global financial industry. It’s one of those stories that only happens in the United States. It’s the story of Bill Hwang, a South Korean immigrant who, after arriving in the United States with his father, learned to read and write English while working at McDonalds, later became a successful financier in the multi-billion dollar hedge fund industry and has now left several of the world’s largest banks shaking in their boots[embedded content]

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