Mike Norman Economics

The banking and finance royal commission has cast light on a new type of poverty to emerge in our society: middle class poverty. To understand it, we have to go back to an earlier government inquiry: the 1972 Commission of Inquiry into Poverty, conducted by Professor Ronald Henderson. That commission had no real policy impact, but its cultural impact was profound. It gave prominence to the Henderson Poverty Index: a measure of consumption described by Henderson as so austere that it was...

Neil Wilson posted the following at Bill Mitchell’s today. My point is that, under capitalism, if you can’t pay your costs from your income you go bust – which releases your market space for somebody who is either more productive, or more realistic in their pricing. Cheap labour and a systemic lack of jobs encourages undercutting – the parasite businesses Nick Hanaeur speaks of. “It is appealing to believe that the parasite economy will eventually correct itself. Or that a few high-road...

Now, I think modern monetary theory has this right. The WeekHow much would a job guarantee actually cost? Jeff Spross

The comprehensive survey by the Pew Research Center released Thursday found deep partisan divides over whether the country is achieving some of the values critical to maintaining democratic principles. Suggests that populism is on the rise across the population asa whole regardless of the partisan divide and large cohort that self-identifies as independent. This in turn suggests different forms of populism. The Hill Survey: Most say US not living up to its democratic idealsReid Wilson

"Voluntary" censorship at Facebook and Twitter.Craig Murray BlogBlocked By Facebook and the Vulnerability of New MediaCraig Murray, formerly British ambassador to Uzbekistan and Rector of the University of DundeeSee alsoThe DuranCENSORSHIP CAUGHT: Facebook tries to shut the door on The Duran Seraphim Hanisch

The industry trade journal weighs in.American Banker — Bank ThinkPostal banking is back on the table. Here's why that matters Kevin Wack See also WikipediaPostal savings system Also Postal Savings Bank of China

Here’s what you need to know about the economy’s prospects.

Britain is one of the richest countries in the world, but Therese May says we've run out of money.  Hey, Theresa, your friends have stashed £trillions of our money over at the Caimans, but we have to tighten our belts here yet again because neoliberalism and Tory capitalism are so pathetic that the Britain is broke again! Why do the public fall for it, after 40 years of the Thatcher miracle and we are more broke than ever? Thatherism doesn't work, Theresa, and your economic system is a load...

Every five weeks, 9,500 brand new electric buses take to the roads in China.That’s the equivalent of the entire London bus fleet, says a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.The world has around 3 million buses. Most run on diesel and compressed natural gas. The global fleet of electric buses now totals around 385,000 vehicles - and 99% of those are in China. Winning.World Economic ForumChina is adding a London-sized electric bus fleet every five weeks Alex Gray

For starters, there is an increasingly marked disconnect between the issues that concern most Americans on a day-to-day basis and the way in which the foreign policy establishment discusses America’s role in the world. Washington Post national security correspondent Greg Jaffe remarked in mid-2017 that “sustaining the US-led, rules-based international order [is] an exhortation that, at best, [is] meaningless to most Americans. At worst, it smack[s] of soulless globalism.”… Americans have...