Mike Norman Economics

Backgrounder. Jatras is one of the few mentioning that some of the economic frustration is the result President Rouhani's neoliberal "reform" that shrank the the welfare state and expanded the market state to improve the economy and integrate Iran into the global economy after the nuclear deal and lifting of some sanctions. This policy further disadvantaged the have-nots that make up the bulk of the protestors. The neoliberal answer is to wait patiently; it takes time for the gains to...

US and Israel back another terrorist group (in addition to Al Qaeda and ISIS) when it is useful. Fort RussIran: internal grievances, external agendas Jay Tharappel | Guest Contributor See also Wikipedia People's Mujahedin of Iran (Mojahedin-e Khalq, acronyms MEK, MKO) See also  The Guardian (23 Sep 2012)Five lessons from the de-listing of MEK as a terrorist group Glenn Greenwald What could go wrong with getting in bed a bit with the devil as long you don't worship him? Using...

Longish and detained, but worth a read if you are following this debate.Lars P. Syll’s BlogDani Rodrik’s Ten CommandmentsLars P. Syll | Professor, Malmo University

This is false; monetary policy has a very significant effect on economic activity... more than is generally understood."The serious flaw in monetary policy is that it may have little or no effect on the flow of aggregate demand." https://t.co/lVtSqAtghR— Pedro da Costa (@pdacosta) January 5, 2018

Regime change is unlikely but what is in play is setting the scene for a further renewal of economic sanctions….Asia TimesWhy there won’t be a revolution in IranPepe Escobar

Money and brains are both quantum phenomena – so it's not surprising that economics is overdue for a quantum revolution... AeonEconomics is quantum David Orell

Social justice folks picking on  MMT. Just before Christmas, Donald Trump signed the Republican tax bill which many predict will exacerbate wealth inequality in the country. Analyses project it will add over $1 trillion dollars to the deficit.For all the talk about the national deficit and why it’s the reason our government can’t afford to improve healthcare or education, these developments reveal profound layers of hypocrisy. They show how deficit-talk has constrained political...

As I am led to understand it, this transaction would soon result in a $31B deposit (15.5%) into the Treasury account.Hard to see the deficit going up under these conditions of "repatriation" unless the govt starts to increase withdrawals by the same type of amounts; which isn't going to happen as they think we are "out of money!"."Deficit too small!" crowd and the "Trillion Dollar Deficit!" club (which btw is EVERYBODY...)  might see some exploding heads... Dude. https://t.co/zY3gRC30UE —...

Schumpeter’s theory is interesting for several reasons. It was formulated at the same time as Lenin’s and Luxemburg’s and clearly with the knowledge of the two. It reacts to the exactly the same events as theirs. It is different though and it was held by Schumpeter throughout his life. The key text for Schumpeter’s theory is “The sociology of imperialisms” (note the plural) published in 1918-19. It is a very long essay of some tightly printed 80 pages in its English translation. Schumpeter...

Background on international payments systems and Western monopoly — so far. While Russia's exclusion from SWIFT would be painful, there are workarounds, and the net effect would be to hasten the already developing de-dollarization that taking place owing the the US weaponing the USD-based system. Russia and China have already been taking steps to isolate themselves from a weaponized dollar. Now, it is a matter of time.The Vineyard of the SakerRussia without SWIFT KakaousiaSee also "SBP...