Mike Norman Economics

Washington’s denial to Iran of Boeing Aircraft (and Airbus planes because they contain US-made parts), means the loss of tens of thousands of highly-paid jobs in the US and Europe. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, claims he talked Trump into canceling the Iran nuclear deal and the Boeing orders. It’s hard to validate Netanyahu’s claim but it is clear that America’s ever more powerful Israel lobby and its ally fundamentalist Christian Zionists played a key role in thwarting the...

The dramatic rise of China over the past four decades not only has rocketed China's economy to the top of the world (in terms of PPP - purchasing power parity), with no end in sight, but also is ending western dominance over the past 200 years, at least.What does that mean to the world? Everything, from politics (End of Democracy?) to economics (Adam Smith vs. Karl Marx)! To understand the profound implication of this change, we must truly understand the past, for which we must re-examine...

On manufacturing controversy where there is none. Also about relevance of mathematical modeling. Short, not wonkish.The propaganda ideal is to manufacture consent and that is too difficult, to manufacture controversy that paralyzes action. This is similar to the military strategy of achieving victory and where that is not possible to sew chaos. Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social ScienceDiscussion of the value of a mathematical model for the dissemination of...

This tariff increase is probably an example of what Trump will do in the face of any significant foreign currency devaluation: I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar! Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2018 Which may cause feedback of further...

Consumerism.Sputnik InternationalIkea Chaos: Opening of First Store in India Causes Stampede, Traffic Jam (VIDEO)

Reading them was another of those occasions when I felt a powerful urge to say, ‘Well, duh!’. Putin, we’re told, only uses force when vital interests are at stake and a cost-benefit analysis suggests that benefits will outweigh costs. Of course! What else would you expect? After all, what’s the alternative? To wage war when vital interests are not at stake and when you don’t expect to end up better off? That would be crazy. … And that’s where this article’s statement of the blindingly...

Max Bluthenthal says how the Neocons haven't got a clue about diplomacy because their actions are actually strengthening Putin in Russia as he had become less popular due to his increasing public payments to pensions and his increasing of the retirement age. Max Bluthenthal says how Micheal Morell, ex CIA, argued that America should arm the jihadists more so they could kill the maximum amount of Russians and Iranians in Syria. Well, I will keep a note of that and bring it up in the...

When you hound the parents of dead children and promote the theory that inter-dimensional “lizard people” are secretly running the world, you relinquish the right to be taken seriously by a lot of people. But this is not about Alex Jones or what he believes. It is about the fact that the Left has willfully decided that massive corporations, working hand-in-glove with government agencies, as we know they do, should be the arbiters of truth and should hold the power to decide what we see,...

Apparently Rand Paul is very close to the president and is providing a voice of reason that Trump is listening to above the cacophony of "experts."The American ConservativeRand Paul Against the World Jack Hunter

The following is part-3 in an open series meant to introduce the basics of modern monetary theory (MMT) and to explore the potential for MMT’s radical model of macroeconomic reality to intersect with revolutionary theory and struggle. In part-1, the basic principles and monetary mechanics of MMT were presented alongside an irresponsibly brief review of money’s evolution from its prehistoric origins to the ongoing failure of orthodox economics to explain how money functions today. Part 2...