Mike Norman Economics

The American Conservative is one of the best anti-war sites going.  Trump administration officials keep making reckless statements that could very well provoke an incident with North Korea that leads to war: White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster says that the United States “must be prepared, if necessary, to compel the denuclearization of North Korea.” McMaster’s comments, in an interview with the BBC that was posted on the Internet on December 19, were the latest...

So how did such a dangerous document emerge from the White House? This article also covers US antagonism towards Iran and China.  President Trump’s 2017 National Security Strategy, or NSS, is a dangerous document. If followed by the administration over the next three years, it will almost surely continue America’s arrogant ways of the past 30 years, destabilize major regions of the world, create hostilities where none need exist, and increase the chances of unnecessary U.S. wars,...

Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland’s newest leader, took office in November after a litany of political scandals, including one involving pedophilia, led to a snap election in October. In early December, the 41-year-old formed a coalitionbetween her Left-Green party, the right-leaning Progressive Party and the conservative Independence Party, pulling across the political spectrum in an attempt to restore stability to a nation that’s been struggling to maintain its political institutions for the...

If Trump's new tax policy on US corporations can impose an immediate tax levy of 20% on these $2.5T of earnings retained offshore, then that would create a short term tax windfall of $500B. One of the best examples of this phenomenon is Apple (AAPL-US), a company that (according to FactSet’s GeoRev data) currently derives over 60% of its revenue outside the U.S. As of the company’s latest annual report (data for September 30, 2017), Apple had accumulated $268.9 billion in cash and...

We are always being told that the French economic model can't last, which neoliberal economists have been saying for over 30 years, but workers in France still do better than the rest of us. Perhaps good wages keeps their economy running well.  The bad news: Your wages are declining. The worse news: Surveys documenting falling wage actually under-estimate how much your wages are declining. Of the 11 countries examined, the authors report that median hourly earnings fell further behind...

I hope the US leaves them alone. There is concern about not having enough money to achieve their goals, well, do they know about MMT?  They might end up borrowing a ton of money from the markets which could make it go wrong, but hopefully they will look into the Chinese model. Western investors often say that China is in a bubble and it will blow up soon, but the Chinese public banks can tolerate defaults far more easily. You might as well imagine a large red flag fluttering from the summit...

Trump is focused on jobs:Stocks and the economy have a long way to go after the Tax Cut Bill is totally understood and appreciated in scope and size. Immediate expensing will have a big impact. Biggest Tax Cuts and Reform EVER passed. Enjoy, and create many beautiful JOBS!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2017 Backgrounder on Immediate Expensing here at Slate. iirc Capex for SP500 is running around $350B/year...

Jimmy Dore is right on form again here where he's able to cut through the hypocritical BS of the the establishment and the corporate media. Mike Morell, an ex CIA director, says if there was anything illegal in Trump working with Russia the media and the CIA would have found it by now. He says that maybe Trumps team worked with Russians in some money laundering activity but Jimmy Dore says it would be difficult to prove in court any serious intent because Trump's lawyers would just say Trump...

 The US-led coalition is training militants at the Syrian Hasakah refugee camp located 70 kilometers from the border of Turkey and 50 kilometers from the border of Iraq. The New Syria Army is being formed at the location to fight the Syrian government forces in southern Syria. The US Special Operations Forces (SOF) are playing the main role in the process. According to Russia’s Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties, most of these militants come from Islamic State and Al Nusra Front...

Another superb interview of PCR and if you like him you won't be disappointing by this. I laughed my head off at what PCR says at the end, that you won't get rid of the ruling elite through democracy, you can only remove them from power by a revolution, and then PCR says, people ought to read Marx and Engels, and then he adds with a chuckle, and Pol Pot. Crikey! [embedded content]