Mike Norman Economics

More than half of Russians (52%) believe certain amendments should be introduced to the country’s Constitution, a survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed on Tuesday. "Every second Russian (52%) believes it is necessary to amend the country’s Constitution. Among the top issues, which, according to citizens, should be reflected in the Constitution, are wages, pensions, free health care and education," the pollster said.... The poll was conducted on December...

It is customary to contrast Trump and Macron: on one hand the vulgar American businessman with his xenophobic tweets and global warming scepticism; and on the other, the well-educated, enlightened European with his concern for dialogue between different cultures and sustainable development. All this is not entirely false and rather pleasing to French ears. But if we take a closer look at the policies being implemented, one is struck by the similarities. In particular, Trump, like Macron,...

The economic theory of "the firm" (representative firm) assumes homogeneity that may not be there, which widely differing results in output and productivity suggests in the case. I’ve been browsing through Edith Penrose’s Theory of the Growth of the Firm, having read the biography by Angela Penrose, No Ordinary Woman. Published in 1959, it is an interesting narrative approach to the dynamics of individual firms, with plentiful examples from case studies. One can see that it was heading in...

Math is purely formal, involving the relation of signs based on formation and transformation rules. Signs are given significance based on definitions. Math is applicable to the world through science to the degree that the definitions are amenable to measurement and the model assumptions approximate real world conditions (objects in relation to others) and events (patterned changes in these relations). Methodological choices determine the scope and scale of the model, which in turn...

On December 8, 2017, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their latest labour market data – Employment Situation Summary – November 2017 – which showed that total non-farm employment from the payroll survey rose by 228,000 in November, slightly less than the October net increase. While the payroll data showed a fairly strong employment outcome, the Labour Force Survey data estimated a weaker rise in employment (57 thousand) in November. The labour force was estimated to have...

Optimism is high with the price of the cryptocurrency up 1,438 per cent over the past 12 months, but the very factor enthusiasts like most about bitcoin is also one of its biggest drawbacks.…Enthusiasts like bitcoins because their supply is limited. The pace at which bitcoin “miners” can create new units automatically declines over time, with the maximum possible number of bitcoins fixed at 21 million. To converts, that limit means that bitcoins, unlike the fiat currencies issued by the...

Nicholas Wilson is a British solicitor who became aware of financial irregularities at HSBC bank worth hundreds of millions of pounds. He fought a 13 year legal battle to get justice and compensation for HSBC customers that the bank had overcharged. Eventually HSBC got a £4 million fine, in other words, they got away scot-free. But Nicolas Wilson also uncovered massive fraud, more financial irregularities, and money laundering rackets going on at HSBC and this video shows how the baby faced...

China needs a quick injection of MMT. Follow Russia's lead and float that sucker.Zero HedgeChina Unveils Plan To Combat Trump Tax Reform: “We’ll Have Tough Battles" Tyler Durden

The GDP growth target for next year might be set at 6.5 percent amid China's transition from high-speed growth to high-quality growth, Securities Daily reported Monday, citing a partner with Ruihua Certified Public Accountants.... Jiang Chao, chief economist with Haitong Securities, said that high-quality growth means that high-speed growth will not be a goal anymore and the target for economic growth rate in 2018 will still be downplayed and the country will not go back to...

That's quite a crystal ball they got there at Treasury. It is unclear what is more ridiculous: that the propose gift to corporations will not only pay for itself but lead to a perpetual engine of trickle-down economic growth, one which has been refuted in every single instance in history, or that the Treasury expects the US economy to continue for another decade without a recession, which in 2027 result in an 18 year period of continuous growth since the last official recession ended in...