Mike Norman Economics

Don't pretend to be smart when you're not. Better to just listen and learn.

Top security and intelligence officials from Pakistan, Iran, Russia, and China held a meeting in Islamabad, where they stressed the need for more active involvement of regional forces in efforts to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan.This is reported by TASS. On Tuesday, a meeting of leaders of the intelligence services of Russia, Iran, China and Pakistan was held in Islamabad, at which measures were discussed to combat the threat of the reunification of ISIS fighters in Afghanistan.......

Finally! Is the economy responding to increased military spending as Trump ramps up. Reagan redux?Calculated RiskKey Measures Show Inflation increased YoY in JuneBill McBride

What Dugin is calling "liberalism" is the modern Western version of the liberalism of the 18th century Enlightenment, which as Marx showed is not liberalism in a universal sense but really bourgeois liberalism.  Enlightenment liberalism aka classical liberalism was devised as a rationale for the transition from feudal age that was dying to the industrial age that was being born as a result of technology and the harnessing of carbon-based energy sources such as coal and oil to drive...

Somewhat wonkish but important for those who want to understand the nuance of labor market stats.Bill Mitchell – billy blogNew Labour Account framework in Australia provides new insightsBill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

President Xi Jinping has promised more than $23 billion in loans and aid to Arab states, as Beijing ramps up ties with the Middle East; this includes aid for Palestine; Beijing foresees importing a whopping $8 trillion from Arab states up to 2025. Asia TimesChina’s silky charming of Arabia Pepe Escobar

Tax is important. Just not for the reasons we think it is. Economist Dr Steven Hail tells Renegade Inc. that taxation exists to prevent inflation so some form of it will always be required to provide stability, but there are countless better ways to do it than taking away badly needed funds from people already struggling to pay their bills. “If governments don’t spend much, then they don’t need to tax much, because their spending won’t be creating inflation,” he says. “But it creates an...

And now off to meet personally with Vlad in Helsinki! #WINNING NEWS: NATO secretary general has called an emergency session after Trump demanded at this morning's meeting that allies immediately meet 2% spending goal or "I'll do my own thing," diplomats say. https://t.co/acty2jar0e w/@laurnorman — Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) July 12, 2018

BMW sticking to the MAGA script.Don't put it past the firms to balance out the trade themselves just to shut up the pols and  economists...Let’s clear the air. BMW is NOT moving U.S. production to China. Production in China is growing because of customer demand. Expansion of our U.S. plant, including $600M investment and 1,000 new jobs, is on track with a new X5 and all-new X7 arriving before the end of this year.— BMW USA (@BMWUSA) July 12, 2018

The US has already tested this strategy in Iraq and Libya, according to Sergei Shoigu MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. Russia will always counter the US neocolonialist strategy aimed at weakening legitimate governments in other countries, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with the Italian daily Il Giornale published on Wednesday. "The issue at hand is the neocolonialist strategy, which the US has already tested in Iraq and Libya and which boils down to supporting any,...