Mike Norman Economics

In our new book Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World (Pluto Books, 2017) – Thomas Fazi and I argue that a new progressive agenda would see the abolition of the IMF and the World Bank and the creation of a new multilateral institution that is entrusted with ensuring poor nations can access necessary funds to prevent their societies collapsing. This organisation would not be a bulwark for inflicting neoliberal policies on the poorer nations,...

There are two competing explanatory narratives battling for mind-share in the U.S.: 1. The nation's social discord is the direct result of Russian social media meddling-- what I call the Boris and Natasha Narrative of evil Russian masterminds controlling a vast conspiracy of social media advertising, fake-news outlets and trolls that have created artificial divides in the body politic, or exacerbated minor cracks into chasms. 2. The nation's social discord is the direct result of soaring...

The corporate media is deliberately giving readers the false impression that Venezuela is ‘flirting with dictatorship’. In reality, these claims couldn’t be further from the truth. But majority support for a Constituents Assembly, and the fact that the Governing United Socialist Party won 17 out of 23 governor races is irrelevant to Washington’s nefarious objectives. US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson is threatening to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is he doesn’t leave of his...

The Doing Business survey ranks 190 national economies based on 11 areas of business regulation. Russia’s new ranking places it ahead of many Western countries such as Belgium and Italy, and just behind Japan. Last year, Russia ranked 40th based on categories evaluating the ease of starting a business, registering property, getting loans, paying taxes, and enforcing contracts.Russia has steadily risen in the overall “Doing Business” rankings over the years. After the country had ranked...

This is why HRC lost. (snark)RTRT reveals its top promoted tweets during US election campaign, & the results may surprise you “The most expensive Twitter ad [at $12,000] on RT America was about Bernie Sanders – not Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, but Bernie Sanders. Meddling for Trump? The most expensive Twitter ad was about Bernie Sanders – RT Editor-in-Chief

The US Constitution stipulates that only Congress has the authority to declare war. But Article II of the same document also says the President has the power to unilaterally order military action when he determines that a foreign political entity poses a clear and present danger to the safety and security of the US. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at the same hearing of Trump’s powers, “I think it would have to be fact-based and given consideration as to the circumstances around an...

Ed Harrison follows up on yesterday's bullish outlook. Yesterday I promised you to “look at individual economic data points and tell you why I think they bolster the case for optimism about the economic trajectory.” But before I get into that, let me tell you why I still worry about the foundation of this global recovery. And a lot of it has to do with the pace of growth and with inequality. Let’s look at the US here....  Credit Writedowns Let me tell you why I’m still worried before...

Mostly about the NYT. What the New York Times continuously ignores is that the American people are disgusted with Washington’s revolving door and good-ole-boy mentality. When Special Counsels are appointed to investigate matters that are critical to the public interest, Americans don’t want that individual to come buried under either the perception, or the fact, of conflicts. Taking the New York Times word that Mueller’s work is “precise” and “methodical” and that he is “highly respected”...

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told reporters that discussions are being held between Russia and China to integrate their payment systems together."At the moment, issues of somehow linking the Mir card with Chinese payment instruments on the basis of the so-called co-badged cards are being discussed," Medvedev said."It will allow to use cards in transactions in Russia and on the territory of other countries. I view those prospects as very promising and they will allow to avoid the...

It’s getting easier to do business in India. That’s not a boast by the Modi government, but something “confirmed” by the World Bank’s latest global survey on Doing Business. Informal reports over recent weeks had suggested India would score a better grade than the 142nd ranking the country got in the DB report in 2015, the cut-off date for which was June 1, 2014 – just a week after Narendra Modi took over as prime minister. In just three years India has jumped a massive 42 ranks higher,...