Mike Norman Economics

We’ve been hearing that a lot lately, being asked about things like the proposed US-Mexico border wall, the possibility of universal health care, and even regarding existing programs like Social Security. It’s a relevant question, to be sure, but 99 times out of 100 (or maybe 999 out of 1000), the context in which it is placed is completely wrong.I say this because the question is almost always asked regarding whether or not we have enough money. If there is one place where the economics...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's simplification of her proposal to hike taxes on the super-rich in a tweet on Tuesday. Walker said he told a group of fifth graders that the policy amounted to their grandmother taking 70% of their $10 pocketmoney. In a viral takedown, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that the proposed marginal tax rate increase would only apply to the wealthiest Americans. Business Insider Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams 'far-right former...

While the Brexit shambles wound on in London, with the Prime Minister being walloped one day by her own party, and then the next given a victory, courtesy of some Labour Party bungling (the no-confidence motion), across the Channel things have been turning markedly sour. While the Europhile Left hold Europe dear to their hearts, the reality is that their dreamworld is falling apart. This is not only because of the incompetence of its polity but also because of the deliberate strategies of...

But the banks say they are unconcerned. They know the system is fixed, that's why.Yellow Vest protesters have urged supporters to withdraw their money from French banks en masse on Friday in a deliberate attempt to disrupt “the system”. Yet despite the threat, financial institutions appear unconcerned Protesters called for the first wave of cash withdrawals to start at 7pm (local time) on Friday, ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned on Saturday. “We’re going to frighten the state...

What does this shift in the Beveridge curve relationship mean? In a literal sense, it means that for a certain unemployment rate (on the horizontal axis), there is a higher rate of job openings (on the vertical axis). To put it another way, employers in the years after 2009 seemed more reluctant to fill their job openings, or as economists say, it appeared to be harder for employers to find a match when they listed a job among the workers who were applying for those jobs. The "matching...

Americans are just fine with debt. When they fight about it, they're actually negotiating in code over something else: what programs are so important that it doesn't matter how you pay for them?A little more than a month ago, Howard Dean had breakfast at the Hotel Vermont in Burlington with Stephanie Kelton. Mr Dean has served as Vermont's governor, a candidate for President, and head of the Democratic National Committee. Ms Kelton, who teaches economics and public policy at Stony Brook...

The image below summarizes Marx's works in a nutshell: his societal development model goes through several stages, from some early societies (e.g. slavery) to feudalism, to capitalism, to socialism, and finally to communism. At a very high level, this model is correct. Two "communists", Lenin and Mao, capitalized on this model more than anybody else. Both eventually failed for the same reason: They jumped from feudalism to socialism via a violent revolution that destroyed capitalism,...

[Draft of the forthcoming book “1000 Castaways: Fundamentals of Economics.” I am posting chapters online to have it available as soon as possible and to receive input before a final version is released. I will be rolling out Chapters and linking them to this Table of Contents]Introduction System One System Two Balancing the Two Systems The Real World Clint invites your comments and critique. Clint Ballinger1000 CASTAWAYS: Fundamentals of Economics

Born in American Samoa, Representative (Major) Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a Democrat and, far more than Trump, someone who stands against hypocrisy and fakery of every kind, is now running for President of the United States. Unlike Trump or Clinton or Obama or Romney or so many, Tulsi is military, a decorated combat veteran. Unlike all of them, she is openly against war as a basis for American “diplomacy.” Gabbard continues to serve as a Major in the Army National Guard after two combat...

A difficult one this: Who judges what is a fair education for people so they can vote in an intelligent manner; but it's also true that the electorate on the whole have no idea what they are voting for? By voting Conservative in the U.K,  they are voting for austerity, cut backs to their welfare, for the party which is the front for the criminal City of London, for war, for their taxes wasted on the ruling elite's protection racket - it's war machine, etc. And New Labour wasn't much...