Mike Norman Economics

Brussels sets up a 'special purpose vehicle' to bypass the US dollar and allow financial transactions with Tehran to continue... This single initiative means Brussels is attempting to position itself as a serious geopolitical player, openly defying the US and essentially nullifying the Iran demonization campaign launched by the White House, CIA and State Department.... Asia TimesEU finally stands up to US ‘bullying’ over Iran sanctions Pepe Escobar

I thought this was really interesting. Trackless trams have no rails but look like standard trams. They have an advanced optical guidance system which means they can move around cities with the accuracy of standard trams, but they are much cheaper to put in place, and with less disruption, as no rails are needed. Trackless trams are neither a tram nor a bus, though they have rubber wheels and run on streets. The high-speed rail innovations have transformed a bus into something with all the...

Philosophers have been debating human nature for centuries, but in an era of increasing political vitriol and partisanship, the issues at stake are gaining new relevance. To understand what we should expect from our leaders, we must first consider what to expect of ourselves. The fact that is is appearing at Project Syndicate is an indication of recognition that the enduring question, What does it means to live a good life in a good society, continues to have relevance in practical affairs,...

Deregulation. Infinite growth. Self-correcting markets. All are hallmarks of neoliberal thinking. But they’re more than just assumptions about the economy. They undergird much of the most influential thinking about governance right now, and dominate political and economic thinking everywhere. The results, according to some, have been disastrous. Investigative journalist Bruce Livesey asks four experts about the rise and rule of neoliberal thought, and what it may mean for societies around...

Russia has its GRU in addition to its KGB (now FSB and SVR). The UK has its Defence Intelligence in addition to its MI6 and GCHQ. Much less high profile, Defence Intelligence is more analytical than operative – as indeed is GRU, Skripal was an analyst. Defence Intelligence had its proudest modern moment when it refused to endorse MI6’s pack of lies on Iraqi WMD, and earned the hatred of MI6 and of Blair and Straw as a result. This was confirmed by the Chilcot report which stated that...

Report says consumers could miss out if insurers deem them too risky Insurance companies are getting excited about the use of big data which new high technology can bring, but it will destroy the concept of pooled risk and many people could become unable to get insurance.  More sophisticated use of data could create an “underclass” of people who cannot afford insurance. According to a new report from the Chartered Institute of Insurance, consumers could miss out on some types of...

Those who’re eagerly awaiting the end of the “dollar hegemony,” or the end of the dollar as the top global reserve currency, well, they’ll need some patience, because it’s happening at a glacial pace – according to the IMF’s just released data on the “Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves” (COFER) for the second quarter 2018. What it confirms: Global central banks are ever so slowly losing their appetite for being over-exposed to US-dollar-denominated assets, though...

Before we discuss investment strategies, we first need to decide what our ultimate objectives are. When we are investing, the two usual objectives is that we are either attempting to achieve maximum returns, or we are matching against liabilities, using a broad sense of liabilities. A boring non-levered bond portfolio is a reasonable choice for liability matching, but it is much harder to see how it fits within a pure returns maximisation view.... Bond Economics Liability Matching Versus...

Zero HedgeUS Hints At Naval Blockade Of Russian Energy Exports Which Moscow Warns Would Be "An Act Of War" Tyler Durden Reminiscence of the Future Just WOW. Andrei Martyanov Sputnik International AfD Becomes 2nd Most Popular Party in Germany After Merkel's Bloc - PollTom LuongoSpeaking to Russians and Trump’s Mad Method Tom Luongo Sputnik International UK Unveils Strategy to Defend Arctic in Light of Alleged Russian Threat

Tim Berners-Lee - modern hero. The guy who really invented the Internet and is now engaged in re-inventing it so that it becomes more like the tool he envisioned but got hijacked on the way.Medium One Small Step for the Web… * Tim Berners-Lee | Founder and Director of W3C, the Web Foundation and the Open Data Institute, and now Solid and inrupt. * Reference to Neil Armstrong, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," as he took the first step by a human onto the...