Mike Norman Economics

Tyler Cowen comments on a paper, and Barkley Rosser, who is not an author of the paper but is interested in the issues, responds in the comments. (Ignore the trolls in the comments.) I agree with Barkley Rosser. Social phenomena are difficult to measure and subjectivity greatly complicates this. However, it doesn't invalidate all models any more than similar issues invalidate modeling in economics. Where problems arise lies not so much in modeling and modeling decisions as in...

There's no two ways about, humans are cooperative creatures who like to help each other. KVIf productivity is plummeting in the workplace, the solution might be simple: Make the work week shorter. One company did just that by experimenting with a four-day workweek. The trial was so successful, management is seeking to make the change permanent. It also found an increased level of teamwork and collaboration (“employees describe how they felt a mutual willingness to ‘help each other out,’”...

A few years ago, China overtook the U.S. and other innovative countries in terms of patent applications. More recently, it also became the leader in patent grants. But does this mean China is now the world leader in innovation? A recent Economic Synopsesessay explores this idea.... Short and informative.FBRSL — On the EconomyHow Innovative Is China?

One of the many political cliches that makes me die a little bit inside is when someone claims that all we need to address a certain problem (health care, poverty, transportation, the Middle East, whatever) is to bring together a group of experts who will provide the common-sense solution that we have all been ignoring. But while bringing together a group of specialist experts can provide a great deal of information and insight, they are often not especially good at melding their specific...

Probably not of interest to all but worth posting for those interested in a contemporary Marxian approach. When we embarked on our project to explore Social Reproduction Theory (SRT), at the back of our mind was the phrase from the Marx and Engels’ German Ideology, ‘[human beings] must be in a position to live in order to be able to ‘make history’’. In class societies, since there lies between ‘living’ and ‘making history’ webs of social relations that enable and inhibit life, Marxism has...

Increasingly, however, academics and development practitioners are looking at a less visible and tangible obstacle – the capture of the State by economic and political elites. The extreme concentration of economic and political power reinforces the ability to unduly co-opt, corrupt and divert the democratic process, and influence the role of the State, perpetuating measures that reinforce privilege on the one hand and inequality and exclusion on the other. This elite capture is manifested...

The darling of the war party needs to answer some questions Update: The link to the film exposing Browder provided in this article has been taken down.Unz ReviewIs Bill Browder the Most Dangerous Man in the World? Philip Giraldi, former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer, now Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest and founding member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

After my day in the sun as a poet, I am back to being an economist. I have been researching operational issues relating to how a society can take back control and Reclaim the State, as part of the work I am doing for our follow up book (with Thomas Fazi) that I hope to get out next year sometime. The current book Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World (Pluto Books, 2017) is very conceptual. The Part 2 follow up will be conceptual in part but...

The Andrei Nekrasov film that Tom posted here recently has been taken down, but someone has been brave enough to put it on YouTube, so just do a search for it before it's taken down too. Here, Andrei Nekrasov talks about his film. [embedded content]

Bizarre. Miles over the top. Things are spinning out of control. Zero HedgeFirst Assassination Markets Appear On Prediction Platform Augur Tyler Durden