Mike Norman Economics

It will fool you every single time if you let it.

This article is an appendix to my earlier articles on dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model accounting (here and here). The problem with my understanding of DSGE appears to be that I assumed that the DSGE modellers were using mathematical notation in a standard fashion. I now realise that the secret sauce to DSGE modelling is a blatant disregard to mathematical notation. I had pointed out that I was missing something; my assumption that there were some super important theorems...

"Preemptive war."CounterpunchIf John Bolton Is Right, Pearl Harbor Was Perfectly Legal Kara Love, attorney

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche expressed the cautionaryadmonition: “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.” Too often, we have ignored that warning. Gina Haspel’s defenders assert that her behavior conformed to procedures that senior CIA officials (and presumably the Bush White House) had approved. The international community rejected the “just following orders” defense that defendants invoked at the Nuremberg trials. Haspel’s defense is no...

The Saudi-funded spread of Wahhabism began as a result of Western countries asking Riyadh to help counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Washington Post.Speaking to the paper, bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia's Western allies urged the country to invest in mosques and madrassas overseas during the Cold War, in an effort to prevent encroachment in Muslim countries by the Soviet Union. Blowback.Note: Some may wonder why the link is to RT...

The harvesting of our personal details goes far beyond what many of us could imagine. The GuardianAre you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you Dylan Curran

Making Earth Great Again!  More winning!  (I don't know if I can take much more winning!) Received message last night from XI JINPING of China that his meeting with KIM JONG UN went very well and that KIM looks forward to his meeting with me. In the meantime, and unfortunately, maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained at all cost! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2018 Took Xi long enough... also had to consolidate his power as President for life and Trump had to make...

Western (white-dominant). All the countries who have expelled diplomats so far are Western nations. Indeed, there’s not a single country in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, or Latin America participating in this diplomatic purge. Theodore Karasik, project investigator for the Russia in the Middle East Project at the Jamestown Foundation said what’s happening now represents a “bifurcation between Russia and the West.” The East-West split coming isn’t about religious or cultural differences...

More arms race stuff. Should be worth a few trillion. The big concern for United States and NATO is that if Russia realizes its vision, it will have the ability to precisely strike deep inside alliance territory. That means that Russian force will be able to strike at infrastructure such as air bases deep inside alliance territory. “The U.S. must plan to counter a wide variety of UASs along with space-based assets,” Bendett said. “Not to mention countering potential deep-strike capability...

Many people who hate and fear Donald Trump feel that only political black magic or some form of trickery can explain his election as US President. They convince themselves that we are the victims of a dark conspiracy rather than that the world we live in is changing, and changing for the worse. Cambridge Analytica has now joined Russia at the top of a list of conspirators who may have helped Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016. This is satisfactory for Democrats as it shows that they...