Mike Norman Economics

How to explain this paradox of a superb military that never gets the job done? Let me suggest that the problem lies with the present-day US military system, the principles to which the nation adheres in raising, organizing, supporting, and employing its armed forces. By its very existence, a military system expresses an implicit contract among the state, the people, and the military itself. Here, as I see it, are the principles — seven in all — that define the prevailing military system of...

The latest nonsense justification of the right to intervene in Syria, neither in self-defense or with a UN mandate, as the UN Charter specifies. The French president defended the lack of a UN resolution before conducting the strikes against Syria, saying that it was "the international community" that intervened. "We have complete international legitimacy to act within this framework," Macron said in the interview broadcast by BFMTV, RMC radio and Mediapart. "Three members of the Security...

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday he ordered strikes on the Syrian regime in response to a chemical attack last weekend. He said the strikes were in coordination with France and the United Kingdom. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his country is being "invaded" by the three countries. The Russian Embassy in the USA said in a statement that "insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible." In a sensational statement, Trump asserted the Bashar Assad...

While U.S. forces carpet bombed North Korea, bombed irrigation dams, and threatened nuclear attack, their most controversial action was the use of bacteriological or biological weapons during the war. For decades, the U.S. has strenuously denied the use of such weapons. At the same time, evidence of such use was kept from the American people. Even today, very few are aware of what really happened. Only in February 2018 was a full documentary report on the U.S. use of germ warfare during...

The big question is: what institutional—and perhaps political—changes are necessary to avoid another wild swing? Larry Summers: Get to grips with vicious cycles Martin Wolf: Pathology, prophylactics and palliatives Barry Eichengreen: Get to work on jobs Jim O’Neill: Learn to learn from China Tim Congdon: Figuring out (again) where the banks fit in Pretty good at asking some of the right questions. I agree that it is a should-read. WCEG — The Equitablog Should-Read: Prospect Magazine:...

Israel has opened its borders with Syria in order to provide medical treatment to Nusra Front and al-Qaida fighters wounded in the ongoing civil war, according to The Wall Street Journal. The prominent American newspaper reported that Nusra Front, the Sunni Muslim al-Qaida offshoot which is currently fighting the Iranian-backed axis of Bashar Assad and Hezbollah, “hasn’t bothered Israel since seizing the border area last summer” along the Golan Heights. When you lose the WSJ.…Defend...

Theresa May has issued a long legal justification for UK participation in an attack on a sovereign state. This is so flawed as to be totally worthless. It specifically claims as customary international law practices which are rejected by a large majority of states and therefore cannot be customary international law. It is therefore secondary and of no consequence that the facts and interpretations the argument cites in this particular case are erroneous, but it so happens they are indeed...

Must-read. It's the story of American empire, the quest for permanent global hegemony under American and allied elites, and imperial overreach followed by imperial decline. We are now in the midst of it.TomDispatchA Tale of American Hubris — Or Five Lessons in the History of American Defeat Tom Engelhardt

Don't be put off by the title. The post is chiefly about MMT's interpretation of functional finance rather than Australia. While the post is longish and wonkish (but no equations to slow you down), it is worth a careful read. Brian explains functional finance from the POV of an applied mathematician with experience in both control systems and finance. It's a bit of a different perspective so there is a lot in there that MMT economists generally don't touch on.Bond Economics Australian...

Hours after the overnight US-led missile strikes on Syria, WikiLeaks republished a crucially important diplomatic cable through its official media accounts confirming that Saudi Arabia's long term strategy in Syria has been to pursue regime change "by all means available." According to the leaked internal Saudi government document, this is the kingdom's proposed end-goal even should the United States at any point show "lack of desire" due to the threat of Russian response and possibility of...