Mike Norman Economics

Whenever the topic of economic growth is broached, there is a common and understandable reaction along the lines that growth is ecologically unsustainable or socially harmful. Since one of the preoccupations of this blog is demand-led growth, it is perhaps worth pausing to reflect on the appropriateness of the topic. This can be broken down into two parts. Why consider growth as such? And why emphasize the possibility that growth is demand led?... heteconomistGrowth is Good?Peter Cooper

It was Micheal Rowbotham's book, The Grip of Death: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery and Destructive Economics, which opened my eyes to how our world is run by debt. It also inspired the founders of Positive money. It may seem very basic now compared to MMT, but is it a very readable and gripping book. It paints a world which could be so different to the one we have now, a world where work is leisure and a pleasure. One where the happy whistling postman goes to work and earns enough...

In my view, the Chinese economy remains at a structural crossroads. The state and state enterprises continue to dominate the economy in investment, employment and production. That means that foreign capital, domestic private capital and market forces do not hold sway, even though they have been increasing in weight and power over the last 30 years.My view is controversial in Marxist circles. The vast majority of Marxist economists and ‘experts’ on Marx’s ‘theory of the state’ reckon that...

Many assets have the potential to become valuable without actual accumulation. Writing in the initial stages of capitalism, Ricardo recognized the unusual position which landlords occupy: they control a non-reproducible asset, which generates rents under expanded capital accumulation. These rents extract away from surplus value and get capitalized into higher land prices. His vision was partially invalidated by gains in agrarian productivity but the history of wealth-income ratios testifies...

Yes ... the "neoliberal conspiracy!" is just knocking it out of the ballpark.... oh those crafty "banksters!"...Boy and Germany has all those big fiscal surpluses too and still this.... hmmmmm.... I guess all the stability is creating instability.... Deutsche Bank is still recovering from 2015 fines, CEO says after it posts third consecutive annual loss https://t.co/fmgFiw3ktp— CNBC (@CNBC) February 2, 2018

The Russian POV.The Unz ReviewUS Sanctions, Baffled Russians, Hot Air and History The Saker

Interview with Randy Wray.Inverse InnovationExpert [L. Randall Wray] Says Trump's State of the Union Infrastructure Plans Don't Add Up Alasdair Wilkins

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned Latin American countries against excessive reliance on economic ties with China, saying Beijing is establishing “a foothold in Latin America.” In a wide-ranging speech at the University of Texas on Thursday ahead of his five-nation Latin America tour, Tillerson said the region should stay away from Chinese investment, European colonialism and Russian arms sales. "China is getting a foothold in Latin America. It is using economic statecraft to...

Raising eyebrows. The controversy now is whether Amazon is a monopoly/monopsony extracting economic rent?MarketWatchJeff Bezos’ fortune tops $120 billion as Amazon shares surge after hours Mike Murphy | Editor

MNE retains its place in the top 101 economics-finance blogs.FOCUS EconomicsTop Economics & Finance Blogs of 2018