Mike Norman Economics

 With its focus on Central Asia and Eastern Europe, the Belt and Road Initiative can be seen as fulfilling a strategy of challenging the West that can be traced back to Mao…. In the midst of this frenzy of connectivity, it’s easy to overlook a significant historical point: that it was all anticipated by Mao Zedong. Scholar Chen Gang has stressed how most BRI-participating nations are not as developed, economically, as China. And they are “not just limited to the Eurasian continent, but...

100% correct observation here but what is the solution?I can tell you it is NOT to just try to force these Arts degree people into material systems jobs that they are not qualified to do... that is what we have been doing and here we are stuck in this moron-fest... we have to figure out how to get them robustly provisioned without trying to force them to be something they are not. Social Justice Warriors are not working class heroes. They are bourgeois arts graduates with no aptitude for...

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