Mike Norman Economics

The speech is not short but it is important considering this is the Bundesbank.The conclusion at least is a must read. 7. Conclusion Ladies and gentlemen I was born in the United States, grew up in Germany, and spent much of my life working around the world, including London. Personally, the backlash against the integration of our global community has shattered my core beliefs and worries me deeply. But I accept that global economic integration has gone too far. Theoretically, it may be...

Article from American Banker quantifying the hit that banks had to take recently due to the Jan 1 tax reform at maybe around 3% of total bank capital and perhaps more to the systemically important banks. “Banks are going to have to shrink the size of an asset on their balance sheets,” said Bill Reilly, an accountant at Grant Thornton who advises banks. “Their future tax deductions will be worth less.”...if Capital One records a $976 million charge, that represents 3.65% of its total equity...

 It doesn't take a crystal ball to see where this is going. The conventional wisdom reinforced institutionally is that Venezuela is "bankrupt." Even though the bolivar is nominally pegged to the dollar, Venezuela  is potentially a currency sovereign and has huge energy reserves. When the ruble was under attack, Russia floated the currency. Venezuela can make that choice, too. So the claim that Venezuela is "running out of money," or becoming "insolvent" is bogus.The obvious (neoliberal,...

In an interview with ProMarket, Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton talks about the connection of rent-seeking and monopolization to rising inequality. ProMarket — The blog of the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessAngus Deaton on the Under-Discussed Driver of Inequality in America: “It’s Easier for Rent-Seekers to Affect Policy Here Than In Much of Europe” Asher Schechter

Nice post on trade, citing Joan Robinson and Nicholas Kaldor.The Case for Concerted ActionMore Free Trade OrthodoxiesV. Ramanan

After de-dollarization, cutting loose from Western, and especially American, technology.Russia and China will go their own way and are already doing so.Globalization is over, as the world breaks into separate regions, Global East and Global West, Global North and Global South.Presages growing conflict and a stepped-up arms race as the Post WWII "liberal order" breaks down.Sputnik InternationalUS Oracle Informs Russian Oil, Gas Companies About Joining Sanctions - ReportsSee alsoNow That the...

The latest news from the US, other than the regular counts of the number of times the President has lied on any particular day, is that there is a wages breakout looming. Yes, you read that correctly. The CNN report (February 2, 2018) – America gets a raise: Wage growth fastest since 2009 – was representative of the media responses to the latest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on the same day. We read that “Economists say its time to take note of how strong , or ‘tight’ the U.S....

Often, I hear economists saying that they never realized that adjustment in the Eurozone would come via lower wages.... econoblog 101“The fourth instrument” – Frits Bolkestein on the how to cope with economic crisis in the EurozoneDirk Ehnts | Lecturer at Bard College Berlin

I've been saying here for some time that from an economic point of that middle-class Tory supporters, especially those with businesses, would be better off voting for one of the other British parties. It's not always about economics that makes people vote for the parties they do, but many small businesses have been wrecked by the big banks that also own the Conservative Party.  We all know here how better wages means more customers for businesses, so more profits for the average...

George Galloway is amazing, he hits his targets with absolute precision, so not a dull moment here. They should one day put a statue up in London of George Galloway along there with Winston Churchill and Horatio Nelson as one of Britain's greatest national heroes. He went all the way to Congress and took on the whole of the rotten elite, the swamp, fearlessly. [embedded content] An impassioned George Galloway​ delivers a speech on imperialism and world politics at the Waterside Theatre in...