Mike Norman Economics

Health care and infrastructure.  How to pay for it? "We'll figure that out later." So much for affordability versus the common good and general welfare. Russia takes a cue from China?Fort Russ‘Oligarch’? Putin decrees a massive budget-doubling of socialized healthcare Joaquin Flores

Many of these recent hit pieces are coming out of the UK, which is interesting given the way a BBC reporter recently admonished her interviewee for questioning the official story about the alleged Douma chemical attacks because his words could hurt the “information war” effort against Russia. If this view is widespread among British journalists (and recent headlines by the Times, the Independent and the Telegraphsuggest that it may be), this means we’re looking at an environment wherein...

On April 20, 1018, the IMF presented its – Asia and Pacfic Department Press Briefing – in conjunction with the release of the April 2018 World Economic Outlook and the upcoming (May 9, 2018) release of its Asia and Pacific Regional Economy Outlook. The Deputy Director of the Asia and Pacific Department, one Odd Per Brekk, told the audience that Japan should continue its Quantitative Easing (QE) program and maintain transparency in its purchase volumes so as to ensure the strategy to...

Dick Cheney was right: deficits don’t matter. If only Democrats would learn.… Attempting to balance a commitment to deficit reduction alongside a theoretical responsibility to protect and expand public programs, Democrats end up imposing false limitations on themselves and neutering their own supposed political agenda. One wonders if the party, increasingly reliant on an elite capitalist donor class, is actually using deficit reduction to weasel out of the responsibility to make life...

The US sanctions against aluminum producer Rusal seem to be a shot in their own knees: After the US government found that the price of aluminum went up as a result of uncertainty about the future of Rusal, US companies, and the massively hit western allies, the government in Washington backpedaled on Monday. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement: “Rusal has felt the impact of US sanctions for its involvement with Oleg Deripaska, but the US government is not targeting the...

I am gratified that nine countries—the entire G7 plus Austria and the Czech Republic—have already volunteered for this assessment. This is a major vote of confidence in the new framework. IMF gets a new club to beat the emerging world that is now challenging the West. What's the likelihood of the IMF dealing with corruption in the West. This looks to be just another tool in the box of neoliberalism.Most countries are affected by corruption of one form or another. Corruption in so-called...

Chrystia Freeland gives a new meaning to the title ‘Foreign Minister’. Normally, it means the person in charge of a state’s dealings with foreign countries. In Canada’s case, however, it sometimes seems to mean something rather different – namely, the minister who represents the interests of a foreign country. For on occasion Ms Freeland appears to be less the foreign minister of Canada and more the foreign minister of Ukraine.... Just why did Justin Trudeau hire this person and why doesn't...

Time spent on home chores increases inequality among American households.… The idea that income inequality might be tempered by “home production”—with low-income families cooking meals at home rather than eating out; mowing the lawn instead of hiring a service—is both intuitively and emotionally appealing. If families can’t earn big bucks, goes the notion, at least they can provide for themselves and thereby soften the blow of poverty due to low wages and unemployment. The story aligns...

The Zionists are getting slammed, in case you missed it. And they are not helping their own case.Craig Murray BlogCondemned By Their Own WordsCraig Murray, formerly British ambassador to Uzbekistan and Rector of the University of Dundee

More on the raging debate over tractability begun by Beatrice Cherrier, if you are following it. Lars P. Syll’s BlogTractability hoax redux​Lars P. Syll | Professor, Malmo UniversityInformation Transfer EconomicsTractability for tractability's sake?Jason Smith