Mike Norman Economics

Fearless George is awesome again!Why has the media not asked how it is that the Yulia and Sergei Skripal have disappeared without anyone seeing them?  All very strange. The state has lied, says George Galloway, which is not unusual, but why has the 'free press' not challenged them on it?For some reason the RSPA did not press charges against the British police force for neglecting the Skripal's pet guinea pigs and their cat. [embedded content] With the media being focused on Prince Harry and...

[embedded content] Boris Johnson has done a runner from the Commons to avoid Emily Thornberry’s Urgent Question on Gaza.

I think this is correct.  Opponents believe, with some reason, that legalization ("decriminalization") implies or leads to normalization, as it did with alcohol and tobacco use.  This is not a small issue, even if consider only from the perspective of public health. The cost of tobacco use and alcohol abuse is astronomical in actually medical costs and it comes with devastating social costs as well, affecting not on the individuals involved. Now, the issue with regard to tobacco...

...Douyin in China boasts of billions of hits each day. Its international edition has recently topped off Whatsapp, becoming the most downloaded IOS application on the market in the first quarter of 2018.… Tik Tok videos are typically 15 seconds long, tuned to repurposed, hit music and featured special effects.... Zhi [Ying, senior Director with Tik Tok] said the app's popularity builds on what users, typically under 35, made and submitted themselves, as they've taken the format to be an...

Econospeak Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: GUARANTEED! -- May 20 updateIs the Job Guarantee a Ponzi Scheme? Sandwichman Occasional Links & Commentary Poverty of anti-poverty David F. Ruccio | Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame Oxfam Blogs — From Poverty to Power Links I Liked Duncan Green WCEG — The EquitablogGalbraithian economics: Countervailing power edition Brad DeLongZero HedgeSupreme Court Crushes Unions By Limiting Collective Action Bargaining Tyler Durden Caitlin...

I had an impromptu debate with Warren Mosler, the founder and still one of the leading figures of "Modern Monetary Theory" recently. We disagreed on the role of trade deficits, and this has led another MMT luminary, Bill Mitchell, to write two commentaries critiquing my position (see "Trade and external finance mysteries – Part 1" and "Trade and finance mysteries – Part 2". This is my partial reply to Mitchell—there are more issues that I want to take up when I have time to do so.......

MR OnlineMeeting Marx: Chinese youth dig Marxism’s appeal Editors Radical Political EconomyDas Kapital after 150 years – a lecture by Riccardo Bellofiore Posted by David Fields

Examination of a fake news disinformation campaign and psyop.Craig Murray BlogThe Philip Cross Affair Emma Barnett: A Classic “Philip Cross” Wikipedia Operation The “Philip Cross” MSM Promotion Operation Part 3Craig Murray, formerly British ambassador to Uzbekistan and Rector of the University of Dundee

Must-read.  Its' a very positive article, but unfortunately, the job guarantee is not presented in terms of the basic issue — the choice between a buffer stock of employed or buffer stock of unemployed, and how the former is superior using efficiency and effectiveness as criteria. The other key issue is how the JG is an integral aspect of policy formulation that promises to reconcile the trifecta of growth, employment and price stability, previous thought to be impossible without...

China’s state-owned energy giant CNPC is ready to replace French energy company Total’s stake in the Iranian South Pars gas project. In 2017, Total and CNPC signed a 20-year contract worth 4.8 billion dollars to develop Phase 11 of Iran’s South Pars field. Sputnik spoke with political analyst Tom McGregor about CNPC’s acquisition plan.Sputnik: How serious is CNPC about acquiring Total’s stake in the South Pars gas project in your opinion?  McGregor: Definitely if it’s available to them...