Mike Norman Economics

Another ridiculous and ignorant meme by the same folks who said QE would cause hyperinflation.

This is Part 2 in my two-part series analysing the 354-page report from the Scottish Growth Commission – Scotland – the new case for optimism: A strategy for inter-generational economic renaissance (released May 25, 2018). In Part 1, I considered their approach to fiscal rules and concluded, that in replicating the rules that the European Commission oversees as part of the Stability and Growth Pact, the newly independent Scotland would be biasing its policy settings towards austerity and...

Making it official. Absolute power, that is. I remind you of this history [of Richard Nixon] because over the weekend, The New York Timespublished a letter from President Trump's lawyers to special counsel Robert Mueller, which includes this stunning passage: It remains our position that the President's actions here, by virtue of his position as the chief law enforcement officer, could neither constitutionally nor legally constitute obstruction because that would amount to him obstructing...

James Clapper admits the obvious and explains it based on liberal ideology that justifies interventionism counter to international law on "moral" grounds.This is a recipe for making things up. The institutional rule of law exists to obviate the arbitrary rule of men.But American exceptionalism puts the US above the law.Zero HedgeClapper: The U.S. Meddled In Foreign Elections And Conducted Regime Change In The "Best Interests Of The People"See also at ZHGoldman: If Trump Wants To Win A Trade...

Some history of economics in light of economic history.  The basis of MMT in accounting and balance sheets is not new, not is its operational approach to money. What is new is that those writing previous to the collapse of Bretton Woods when Nixon shut the gold window for settlement of international trade were dealing not dealing with the current monetary system.  FDR had taken the dollar off gold decades earlier. MMT is an upgrade to previous thinking that is based on the new...

Hits the major points. "Insanity." JackMatlock.comMusings … “Russiagate” Hysteria Jack Matlock | U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991See also Unsurprisingly, the picture of Russia in the West, in the media and elsewhere, has become very dark; a revanchist state and kleptocratic autocracy, a regime sustained by a combination of propaganda and fear, a direct military threat to its neighbours, intent on subverting and undermining the West. This picture has taken...

In a major development, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said it was time for the European Union (EU) to reconnect with Russia and stop “attacking” it, in striking contrast to the US which have placed increasing accusations and sanctions against Moscow. These statements are in concert with a swiftly developing trend that the Center for Syncretic Studies, Belgrade, has been forecasting since 2014, where the EU will carve an independent course from the Atlanticism of the US....

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis warned Saturday there could be an aggressive U.S. response to China's military presence in the South China Sea. Mattis warned there could be "much larger consequences" in the future from China's installation of weapons on disputed islands, the Wall Street Journal reported.... UPIMattis warns of future aggression to Chinese militarization Sommer Brokaw See also Adam Garrie, a political writer and activist, made the remarks in reaction to US President...

This post deals with a set of ideas that I find appealing, but contradictory. I know I do not fully understand many of them. Perhaps somebody who understands more can either agree with me that there are contradictions here or point to some way of resolving them. This post is also more about current events than is typical of my posts.... Not actually about Fox News but rather on the use of analytic concepts in human science — psychology, sociology and political science, and by extension...

The report concludes that the persistence of extreme poverty in the US is a political choice made by people in power. It also criticizes US policy for making healthcare a privilege rather than a right. Deutsche WelleUN report slams US for criminalizing poverty as destitution grows Reuters