Mike Norman Economics

Bernie disappoints again. He says that the Maduro Government has violently crackdowned on Venezuelan civil society, dissolved the National Assembly, and was elected in what was said to be fraudulent election.But Bernie says nothing about the French police violent crackdown against the Yellow Vests, where 150 people have had serious head injuries from rubber bullets. The French police are supposed to kneel on the floor and fire the bullets at the ground to disperse crowds, but instead they...

Grow the pie within public investment for public purpose rather than shrinking it through austerity or dividing the size of the pieces it differently through redistribution. Having your cake and eating it too. I would add that it is still necessary to address economic rent and its social and political effects. The reason this is so hard to do is that America is a plutocracy. The institutions are rigged. Bloomberg OpinionThe Wealthy Are Victims of Their Own Propaganda–To escape higher...

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I was bullish during the market meltdown in December. I said buy, buy, buy. That recommendation preceded the biggest January market rise in 30 years.

Richard Wolff takes a balanced look at immigration. Don't blame the liberals for it. It's a subsidy for the rich. [embedded content]

I can't get my head around Ron Paul as he should be a socialist. He's very emphatic. A friend of his died a little while back when he needn't have because he didn't have sufficient medical insurance, but Ron Paul wouldn't change his mind about private healthcare.John Bolton says the U.S is going to save the Venezuelan people but the U.S. isn't going to pay for it, so they will seize the oil fields. He says Americans and the Venezuelan people will do well out of it, but Ron Paul hopes they...

The end of America’s unchallenged global economic dominance has arrived sooner than expected, thanks to the very same Neocons who gave the world the Iraq, Syria and the dirty wars in Latin America. Just as the Vietnam War drove the United States off gold by 1971, its sponsorship and funding of violent regime change wars against Venezuela and Syria – and threatening other countries with sanctions if they do not join this crusade – is now driving European and other nations to create their...

Mentions MMT positively as a tool. The reality is that there is no proposal on the table articulated in the detail needed to address the issues. This requires comprehensive statement of a design problem and a design solution. The reason is that key pieces are missing so far owing to the huge scale involved and the size of the emergent challenges. Have the green new dealers faced up to this adequately? Most of what is being mentioned is the low hanging fruit, and that is not sufficient...

Cullen has said all this previously in blog posts, and he summarizes his take in this one. His views have been addressed previously at MNE.Pragmatic CapitalismMMT – The Good, the Bad and the UglyCullen Roche

“America’s strategy when it comes to China is easy to understand: crush them. Drive them into the ground. Make sure that they can’t undo American power and influence not just in Asia but around the world. That’s Trump’s goal, and he is doing one hell of a job. I couldn’t be happier.” That’s the response I received over drinks when I asked a former senior Trump administration official—speaking on background—what Washington’s strategy was when it comes to the People’s Republic of China.… The...