Mike Norman Economics

On May 4, 2018, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their latest labour market data – Employment Situation Summary – April 2018 – which showed that total non-farm employment from the payroll survey rose by just 164,000 in April, which was an improvement on the very modest rise in March. The Labour Force Survey data, however, showed that employment only rose by 3 thousand) in April 2018 but was accompanied by a substantial fall in the labour force (236 thousand) which meant that...

"In general, our key task for the next few years is a significant raise of the citizens' real income. And there is a good foundation for that now. The economy has grown more stable, it has handled the sharp fall of oil prices, attempts to put pressure via sanctions, the changes of the global political settings," the president said, as quoted in the press release of the Kremlin, issued Monday. Sputnik International Putin Names Key Task for Russian Government in Coming Years

Most US citizens don't realize it, but the US government has continued and even intensified its regime change agenda in Latin America and successfully helped reverse the so-called "pink tide" of left-of-center governments over the past ten years, says CEPR's Mark Weisbrot.... TRNNUS Interventions in Latin America Continue and Intensify Greg Wilpert interviews Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C.

India has for more than a decade had a rural jobs guarantee program in place, for unskilled workers. If India can succeed in designing and implementing such a policy, why can’t the US? Economist Jayati Ghosh wrote this assessment of The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 (MGNREGA) in The Guardian in 2015: Naked CapitalismWhat India Can Teach the US About a Federal Job GuaranteeJerri-Lynn Scofield

One video is by Bill Mitchell, another is by Steve Keen, and another by Immanuel Wallerstein.Naked KeynesianismOn the Blogs -- The Video EditionMatias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

I think Alexander Beunder attacks the wrong target — rationality. The foundational assumption of homo economics is methodological individualism based on a hidden assumption of ontological individualism, which is characteristic of many forms of liberalism as a philosophical position. The major opposing view is that of Aristotle, that humans are social animals. Thus, the key conceptual distinction is between homo economicus and homo socialis. The basic assumption of homo socialis is that...

Mike sent this chart out to his subscribers this week; bringing attention to a recent acceleration in the rate at which the Fed seems to be reducing Reserve Balances: This would seem to be confirmed by the statements of the Fed's Quarles on Friday here: The figure illustrates that the Fed's securities holdings are projected to decline about $400 billion this year and another $460 billion next year as Treasury and agency securities continue to roll off gradually from the Fed's portfolio....

Fifteen years ago, Swedish citizens were asked if they wanted to join the eurozone. Of the more than 80 % of registered voters participating in the referendum close to 57 % said NO. Yours truly — unlike the ‘usual suspects’ among establishment economists — participated​ actively in the fight against the euro — and it’s still something I’m immensely proud of.... Lars P. Syll’s BlogMy finest hourLars P. Syll | Professor, Malmo University

Monthly ReviewThe Multiple Meanings of Marx’s Value Theory Riccardo Bellofiore The Guardian — The Long ReadYanis Varoufakis: Marx predicted our present crisis – and points the way out Yanis Varoufakis vox.euMarx and modern microeconomics  Samuel Bowles YouTubeMark Carney warns robots taking jobs could lead to rise of Marxism Michael Roberts BlogMarx 200: Carney, Bowles and Varoufakis Michael Roberts Michael Roberts BlogManagers rule, not capitalists? Michael Roberts Naked...

Some good quotations. The Case for Concerted ActionJoan Robinson And Nicholas Kaldor On Antagonism To Keynesian IdeasV. Ramanan