Mike Norman Economics

About what one would expect from Bloomberg.BloombergLeading Democrats Are Backing One of the Most Radical Economic Plans in Years Katia Dmitrieva with assistance by Sahil Kapur, and Jordan Yadoo

Good points. The best part is in the final several paragraphs.The Unz Review Foreign Policy Insiders Try to Scuttle Trump-Kim Nukes Deal Mike Whitney

The class divide is already toxic, and is fast becoming unbridgeable. You’re [readers of the Atlantic] probably part of the problem. Well-written article. Long. The term "aristocracy" implies feudalism, and America is in a neo-feudal era similar to the Gilded Age.The AtlanticThe 9.9 Percent Is the New American AristocracyMatthew Stewart

The latest in Catholic social teaching.  Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical letter Rerum novarum*, which advocated economic distributism while criticizing both socialism and capitalism (though not market economics per se). Its roots can be traced to the writings of Catholic thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo, and is also derived from concepts present in the Bible and the cultures of the ancient Near East.— Wikipedia  While not well-known in economic circles, Catholic...

Ratcheting up economic warfare. The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on four Venezuelans and three Florida-based companies under a program meant to pressure Caracas over what the United States sees as its heavy-handed tactics to suppress political opposition.... ReutersU.S. targets four individuals, three companies in Venezuela sanctions move

The art of the deal, when practiced for 2,500 years, does lead to the palace of wisdom. I had hardly set foot in Tehran when a diplomat broke the news: “Trump? We’re not worried. He’s a bazaari (merchant trader)” – implying a political compromise will eventually be reached. Asia TimesThe other art of the deal, Tehran-style Pepe Escobar

Everything I said would happen, happened.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking at a policy forum here Tuesday, identified a singular roadblock to achieving success on a host of progressive policies — and it wasn’t the Trump administration. It’s American oligarchy. Bingo! USA TODAYSen. Bernie Sanders says this one issue keeps progressive policies from advancing Nicole Gaudiano, USA TODAY

In my macro critique, I mentioned "meta-narratives" — what did I mean by that? Noah Smith has a nice concise description of one of them today in Bloomberg that helps illustrate what I mean: the wage-price spiral. The narrative of the 1960s and 70s was that the government fiscal and monetary policy started pushing unemployment below the "Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment" (NAIRU), causing inflation to explode. The meta-narrative is the wage-price spiral: unemployment that is...

The ever-vigilant Craig Murray catches out "Philip Cross." And exposes how how fake news is insidiously created on Wikipedia and why you need to be aware when you use it that it is not an objective source by any means.This doesn't mean that Wikipedia is worthless or a waste of time consulting. Rather, it is subject to manipulation and controversial areas and subjects are likely to be infected.But you probably knew that already.Craig Murray BlogThe Philip Cross AffairCraig Murray, formerly...