Mike Norman Economics

US forces trying to cut these USD zombies off from their source.I've never seen zombies defeated this way, normally it takes a direct head shot and eventual development of a vaccine.We'll have to see how this new strategy does...Afghan and U.S. operations against Taliban sources of revenue have set the Taliban back approximately $11 million since Nov. 19. “In the face of this pressure, the Taliban cannot win,” Gen. Nicholson said. #AFGStrong #ForAFGhttps://t.co/raEVDH4Ngu...

During dinner, Kai-Fu lamented that 10 years ago, it would be fair to call Chinese companies copycats of American companies. Five years ago, the claim would be controversial. Today, however, Kai-Fu is clear that claim is entirely false.... SingularityHubChina Is an Entrepreneurial Hotbed That Cannot Be Ignored Peter Diamandis | Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation

This article is adapted from the German edition of Super-Imperialism (2017).… It's a fairly long article. Here are some highlights in summary. The U.S. response has been to extend the new Cold War into the financial sector, rewriting the rules of international finance to benefit the United States and its satellites – and to deter countries from seeking to break free from America’s financial free ride. Aiming to isolate Russia and China, the Obama Administration’s confrontational diplomacy...

According to multiple reports in Middle East regional sources, China plans to send elite military units to Syria to advise and assist the Syrian Army in an attempt to root out the country's terrorist insurgency, especially Chinese Islamist foreign fighters who have shown up in increasing numbers in Syria's north since the start of the conflict. If confirmed this won't be the first time China - one of the five veto-wielding powers of the UN Security Council - has sent assistance to the...

Three important takeaways here.1. There is no evidence that RT or Sputnik pushed fake news. They featured accurate news reports that the US establishment didn't like and hosts and guests that contested the US establishment message.2. The US tech industry and Google in particular have enormous control over the US information system and they use it the interest of the US establishment.3. The US intelligence apparatus revealed its high degree of politicization and involvement in domestic...

A new wrinkle in free riding.Ars TechnicaWebsites use your CPU to mine cryptocurrency even when you close your browser Dan Goodin | Security Editor

Add the Trump tax cuts to the list of policy mistakes if it becomes law.Calculated RiskPolicy MistakesBill McBride

The deficit hawks and debt phobes are back at it again. At least they are consistent across administrations and parties.WCEG — The EquitablogShould-Read: Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles: Unfortunately, the tax plan currently Brad DeLong

Chris Hedgers talks to Stephen Kinzer about the American Empire.  The US ruling elite always had debates about whether to expand the US beyond its borders or invest in building up their country at home instead, but by a few narrow votes they always voted to expand.Stephen Kinzer says how after WW2 the US had a surplus of products coming out its factories and the farmers were producing a surplus too and so big business pushed Congress to expand the country's borders to find new markets. The...

The big picture then is this: a global economy into its ninth year of the business cycle that is starting to gain momentum with the US flirting with 3% growth and 4% unemployment with richly priced asset markets but a flattening yield curve. We’ve seen this picture before.… In retrospect, one could argue that the Fed’s late interest rate hike campaign was a policy error – that the Fed should have seen the flattening yield curve as a canary in the coal mine and resisted raising its policy...