Mike Norman Economics

Backgrounder.One-sided, but so is the "news" coming from Maduro's opposition, both domestic and international. Venezuela AnalysisThe Actors in the Conspiracy Against Venezuela Eduardo Andrade Bone - Resumen Latin Americano See also Backgrounder on Venezuelan history.While this is more about the politics and institutional factors than the economics, the political and institutional factors heavily influence the economics. So there is more to it than just mismanagement.Could better...

There are so many people out there who genuinely believe that financial plutocrats like Soros are communists, and that Wall Street-sponsored Hillary Clinton is a socialist. Many American self-proclaimed right-wingers seriously assert that the German Nazis were all socialists, simply because “Nazi” is short for ”Nationalsozialismus”, which translates as “National Socialism”. Therefore, they make a conclusion that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were ideologically the same. Sadly, this is...

Every year on August 12, the United Nations celebrates International Youth Day.It’s a chance to recognize the potential of young people to change the world for the better, and to highlight the challenges and problems they face. World Economic Forum What you need to know about the world's young people, in 7 charts Alex GraySee alsoRetirement, social security and poverty in the US Laurent Belsie

Elinor Ostrom's Rules fo Radicals. Lin Ostrom is the only woman to have won a Nobel in economics. Oxfam Blogs — From Poverty to PowerLinks I Liked Duncan Green, strategic adviser for Oxfam GB

Don't celebrate the recent expansion yet. The economic numbers look good — until adjusted for inflation.The real wage is falling. Workers are becoming worse off economically in real terms even with nominal wages improving somewhat but not substantially. They falling further behind than they were before the expansion in terms of purchasing power.Occasional Links & Commentary“Don’t class warfare me”David F. Ruccio | Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that his country is ready to trade with partner nations using national currencies. “We are preparing to carry out trade in national currencies with China, Russia, Iran, and Ukraine, which account for the bulk of bilateral trade. If European countries want to get rid of the pressure of the dollar, we are ready to create a similar system with them,” said the Turkish leader during a meeting in the Turkish city of Rize. Fort RussTurkey to...

I am surprised at the hostility that Part 1 in this series created. I have received a lot of E-mails about it, many of which contained just a few words, the most recurring being Turkey! One character obviously needed to improve his/her spelling given that they thought it was appropriate to write along the lines that I should just ‘F*ck off to Terkey’. Apparently Turkey has become the new poster child to ‘prove’ Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) wrong. Good try! I also note the Twitterverse has...

Useful backgrounder on international relations and the different schools of thought in the US, particuarly liberal internationalism, neoconservatism and realism.  QuilletteThe World According to RealismRyan Zielonka is an independent consultant and incoming PhD student at the University of Washington

It's short but if you don't choose to read it all, at least read the last one, "brainwashing." The ConversationSix 'Psychological' Terms That Psychologists Never UsePeter Kinderman | Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool

Do the opposite of what is going on in the markets right now.