Mike Norman Economics

Very similar to propaganda which got us into Vietnam and Iraq wars.   Must See NY Times Video (6 minutes) Contradicts U.S. Claim That Maduro Burned Aid Convoy “Each of the trucks burned by Maduro carried 20 tons of food and medicine,” Senator Marco Rubio wrote on Twitter, repeating a claim posted by a Colombian news network that was on the scene. “This is a crime and if international law means anything he must pay a high price for this.”Contacted by The Times about the footage Saturday, a...

The more intransigent Israel becomes in its treatment of the Palestinians, the less international pressure is exerted upon it The United Nations postponed last week for the third time the publication of a blacklist of Israeli and international firms that profit directly from Israel’s illegal settlements in the Repeatedly, Israel has exerted great pressure on the UN to keep its army off a “shame list” of serious violators of children’s rights. Israel even avoided a listing in 2015...

If I could have my way I would turn the City of London into a housing association. That would make some nice apartments for poor Londoners.There's so much in this article, it's hard to choose what to take out. I might have to do it in instalments.  Tax havens are locations around the world where wealthy individuals, criminals and terrorists, as well as governments and government agencies (such as the CIA), banks, corporations, hedge funds, international organizations (such as the Vatican)...

The British Government says we have run out of money so we have to have very harsh austerity now. They say it will put right the economy and then one day we will be all be better off again.Thatcher said we are living beyond our means and that cut backs are necessary. We have to tighten our belts, she would say. Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves.Conservatives say they believe in the work ethic, and that no one owes you a living. They support the Conservative Party...

This guy describes MMT in a way which fits in really well with what my theory of what money is. No goods and services can be provided for free, so people will always have to work to provide them. So, if the government can just print money to pay for public services without taxing, then is it providing a free service?  No, society simply gets the money and works harder to provide the healthcare staff what they require.Let's say the government decides to spend deficit created money on a state...

Greg Palast is one of my favourites, whose books are so well written and entertaining to read that they are like reading a good novel.He says that with Venezuela it's only about the oil. The Koch Brothers have in Texas  two of the largest oil refineries in the world which can only process the most dirty oil, but Texas has only has very high grade oil. So, the Koch Brothers have been getting dirty tar sand oil from Canada and have been building a pipeline to bring it down - right over the...

The biggest names in finance all have an opinion on the polarizing theory, but not a plan. This article has some real concerns about MMT causing inflation, but it says traders should get ready for it because it could be coming.The article seems to be saying is that the general public - and students - should stay lumbered with enormous debt to keep inflation down.But the new fiscal spending should help grow the economy to soak up the extra money so there won't be too much, or any,...

They say they Maduro is running a communist dictatorship in Venezuela. But hey, that socialism looks good to me! Shame about the toilet roll, though. [embedded content] The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal investigated Venezuela's "humanitarian crisis" in a luxury mall in a rich pro-opposition neighborhood, where he looked for the "authoritarian socialism" that Trump and the corporate media talk so much about.

This is a really good article on how neoliberalism brought about the complete opposite of what they said it would. They said that there maybe a bit more inequality, but overall, most people would become better off as companies would be become more innovative and therefore more profitable.  The second was also a sense that if the government took shackles off of business, they would innovate and grow our way out of social problems. Relaxation of antitrust enforcement would lead to more...

A very informative program. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson is very concerned about Israel's future because Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are behaving so recklessly. After that, there is another look into the Skripal poisoning case.  [embedded content] On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff Col. Lawrence Wilkerson who discusses a variety of issues such as the recent India-Pakistan conflict in Kashmir, Hezbollah’s designation as a terror organisation by the...