Mike Norman Economics

Does U.S. President Donald Trump think Iranians are fools with goldfish memories, who cannot remember the CIA-sponsored coup in their country in 1953? Does he also think other governments in this ancient part of the world were not alarmed by Trump’s tweet voicing support for Iranian protesters, perhaps with the exception of Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates? It is not necessarily because these governments support the regime of mullahs in Iran. And they do not necessarily...

There's 'terrorists' and there's 'freedom fighters'.A protestant paramilitary group wrote to former Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey to warn him that MI5 had asked them to assassinate him, according to newly disclosed documents. The Ulster Volunteer Force – a loyalist group classified as a terrorist organisation by the UK – contacted Haughey during his third term as Taoiseach in 1987, claiming that two years earlier, an MI5 agent had provided information about his home, his cars and...

Violent crackdowns overnight on Sunday against protesters have led to a violent backlash in Iran, as some of the protesters look to raise the stakes with attacks of their own against police stations, with reports of some posts and stations being set ablaze.… At least one policeman has been confirmed killed, shot with a hunting rifle, and three others were reported wounded. The killing took place in Najaf Abad, on the outskirts of the major city of Isfahan. Iranian state TV also reported...

Everything you wanted to know about the Irish economy. In fact, the Irish economy in total is only 68 per cent the size that the GDP data would suggest – around a third smaller. Further, the modified Gross National Income series has barely grown since the crisis indicating that the Irish population has not received much in return for the hardships the austerity has inflicted upon them. Bill Mitchell – billy blogIreland – not as rosy as the official story might suggestBill Mitchell |...

hahahahahahaha!!!!!Looks like the Dems are lining up to hit the GOP on the deficit this year (which EVERYBODY thinks is going over $1T) into mid-term elections. Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says the GOP's tax cuts will leave the U.S. broke https://t.co/tiQYF8SZju pic.twitter.com/eheW9zO5ef — Bloomberg (@business) January 2, 2018

Important. The rate of return on capital plays a pivotal role in shaping current macroeconomic debates. This column presents findings from a new dataset covering returns of major asset classes in the advanced economies over the last 150 years. The data offer new insights on several long-standing puzzles in economics, and uncover new relationships that seem at odds with some fundamental economic tenets. VOX - CEPR's Policy Portal The rate of return on everything Òscar Jordà, Katharina...

Nestlé has been taking more than 60 million gallons of water per year from the San Bernardino National Forest, according to California regulators, which amounts to billions of gallons of water stolen over the past 68 years — without any valid basis of right to the water. A two-year investigation by the California State Water Resources Control Board revealed that Nestlé, which sells water under the Arrowhead brand, lacked the proper permits for the vast majority of the water taken....

Left Baker takes a partisan shot at Trump here at "Counterpunch" which is revealing. The Postal Service has a huge amount of fixed costs in the form of retiree benefits and especially retiree health benefits.  Congress has required that the Postal Service prefund 75 years of retiree health benefits. This requirement sets the Postal Service apart from private businesses, who do little or no prefunding of retiree health benefits. It also accounts for almost all of the Postal Service’s losses...

Interesting Keynes quote. Was Keynes a Postmodernist?Conversable EconomistWhat Economists Need from their Readers: Goodwill, Intelligence Co-operationTimothy Taylor | Managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, based at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota

JG v. UBICounterpunchThe Unemployment ConspiracyBruce Lesnick