Mike Norman Economics

Margret Thatcher said would turn Britain to a country of home owners and she started forcing councils to sell of their council housing, but they weren't allowed to replace any of the housing stock. House builders make more money building just a few houses to keep house prices high, and so without the government supplying houses there became a housing shortage. Older people who had their own homes, and a bit of spare cash on the side, became amateur landlords buying a house, renting it out,...

In a new story titled “Russia used mainstream media to manipulate American voters,” the Post admitted that instead of creating and spreading “fake news,” the accounts it claimed were controlled by Russians actually focused on sharing stories from American mainstream media outlets, and one of their most used sources just happened to be The Washington Post. Citing an analysis by Columbia University social-media researcher Jonathan Albright, the Post noted that the majority of the “Russian...

Just a reminder. We knew this already.The spin will of course be that "the Russians" are continually trying to undermine the US by sowing discord (like the US does abroad in orchestrating regime change).Zero HedgeFacebook VP: "The Majority Of Russian Ad Spend Happened AFTER The Election" Tyler Durden

Saturday evening musings. Interesting in that it ties together politics and economics, and not the way political economy does either.Global InequalityHow is the world ruled?Branko Milanovic | Visiting Presidential Professor at City University of New York Graduate Center and senior scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), and formerly lead economist in the World Bank's research department and senior associate at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

“If you ask an intelligence officer, did the Russians break the rules or do something bizarre, the answer is no, not at all,” Steven L. Hall, former CIA chief of Russia operations, who retired in 2015 following 30 years of service, told the newspaper and noted that Washington “absolutely” has meddled in foreign elections historically. The former intelligence official expressed hope that the United States will continue its interfering practice, the newspaper reported late on Saturday. “We...

An anonymous 18th century poem on enclosure of the commons. The result was the real tragedy of the commons for most people.Economic Sociology and Political EconomyThe Goose and the Common — The Privatization of Public SpaceOleg Komlik | founder and editor-in-chief of the ES/PE, Chairman of the Junior Sociologists Network at the International Sociological Association, a PhD Candidate in Economic Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ben-Gurion University, and a...

Further, by criminalizing “information warfare” (as the Russians admitted they were engaged in, and as we do too, under the same name) we risk our own information warriors being indicted in other countries. First time I've seen this mentioned. Now the US will have no grounds to stand on for its intrusive operations — other than it is OK when we do it. Another matter is the law that was broken. It was not political interference in US elections but rather disclosure as required by law....

The American Conservative can't mention the Neocons, or their support for ISIS. They just say these wars are pointless to America's interest, but never ask the big question of why they are being waged. Surely they must have a look at Ron Paul's channel every now and again. But some of the readers mention Israel. KV In eastern Syria last week, American air and ground forces attacked Syrian pro-government military units, killing roughly 100 people, including some Russian advisors. U.S. Army...

Love him, or loathe him, one thing for sure is that PCR is right on the ball about Russiagate, and one thing we want is peace with Russia and China, so that's why I post his articles here. KVReprinted in full.Paul Craig Roberts Robert Mueller discredited himself and his orchestrated Russiagate investigation today (Friday, February 16, 2018) with his charges that 13 Russians and 3 Russian companies plotted to use social media to influence the 2016 election. Their intent, Mueller says, was to...

Mentions MMT. See comments also. Mainly MacroDo Trump’s deficits matter?Simon Wren-Lewis | Professor of Economics, Oxford University ht Ralph Musgrave