Mike Norman Economics

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has always said the country will never copy the political systems of other countries, in particular the Western notion of democracy. But under Xi—the most powerful Chinese leader in four decades—China’s own one-party system is one that is ready to be exported to regimes everywhere. Throwing down the gauntlet at the feet of the international liberal order. When asked whether China is deviating from its self-avowed policy of noninterference in other...

The European Central Bank has dropped its long-standing pledge to boost stimulus if conditions deteriorate, signalling the triumph of German-led hawks and marking a major turning point in the eurozone’s monetary regime. The approaching end to the QE-era pulls away the protective shield for Italy and the high-debt Latin states, and for thousands of “zombie companies” kept afloat on monetary life-support. Italy is the lynchpin of the euro. If Italy fails, the EZ fails. Stay tuned.The...

Didn't have anything to do with it (fiscal policy VERY favorable this week...$64B reserve drain on Thursday) but its still funny. People must have gotten killed selling the Cohn exit this week. COHN DEPARTURE MOVES MARKET: Dow now up 460 points since Gary Cohn exit. — Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) March 10, 2018 Mike had a good youtube this week setting this table: [embedded content]

Four men go into a cafe for breakfast and the bill comes to £30. But it's the birthday of one of the men so the other three guys say to him that as a treat they will pay for the breakfast.As they walk out of the cafe, the owner says sorry, the bill was only £25, and gives them back £5 in pound coins. Amazed at his honesty, the three men who paid the bill, take £1 each and give the cafe owner £2 for a tip.As they took back £1, they have now paid £9 each.3 x £9 = £27 plus £2 given to the cafe...

Venezuela, the other side of the story. The Europeans and the Americans have always been after the oil while using the same old propaganda. [embedded content] Venezuela, the shadow agenda. A documentary by Hernando Calvo Ospina This documentary is not temporary. It will be valid as long as the United States persists in ending the Bolivarian Revolution that is being built in Venezuela, ti seize its immense oil wealth. It is based on interviews with Venezuelan scholars who, in simple and...

More winning... sorry non-material oriented people: According to the release, the Canton-based company is ready to respond quickly to an increased demand across the country. It said by restarting the Lorain plant, in addition to its open capacity at its Canton melt shop, it would provide more than 1 million tons of new production back into the market.  “This could result in Republic bringing back 1,000+ jobs to its Lorain, OH facility,” the release said.  “Republic anticipates that it...

Russia only want peace, say's Putin, the new weapons are only defensive. Hopefully it has worked. [embedded content] A group of US lawmakers have called for strategic dialogue with Moscow. They feel that the matter is 'more urgent' following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unveiling of a number of cutting-edge weapons systems.

With some Democrats coming to their senses and changing their minds about Russia, and with this meeting, things are looking a bit better. But guess what, Jasper Becker in the Guardian yesterday, that nice liberal paper, said that, 'A Trump ‘deal’ with Kim Jong-un would only help a despicable regime survive'.  I wanted to write in but CiF was closed early and only had 248 comments which might have meant it was only open for 20 minutes, or so. I wanted to write in and say that the US installed...

The Russian POV.The National InterestPutin Is Not Bluffing about Confronting the WestAndranik Migranyan is a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, an academic institution run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia

Podcast.FT Alphaville (free registration may be required)Stephanie Kelton explains how the government budget affects the economy and the mechanics of student debt forgiveness Matthew C. Klein