Mike Norman Economics

Unlike Russia, the US is not observing its own pledge to dispose of its chemical weapons arsenal, the President Vladimir Putin said ahead of the destruction of the last batch of Russian chemical weapons on Wednesday. “Russia strictly complies with its international obligations, including those related to non-proliferation and reductions of weapons of mass destruction,” Putin said.  “Historically Russia was one of the largest holders of chemical weapons and the US remains one....

Here come the Chinese. Hundreds of thousands of overseas shops in countries all over the world now support Alipay payment in hope of attracting Chinese tourists during the upcoming eight-day national holiday. Sixteen international airports have real-time QR code-scanning tax refund services for Chinese Alipay users, two in the Republic of Korea, and 14 in Europe, according to Ant Financial, the parent company of Alipay. "The holiday is not just a festival for Chinese, but for us as...

The shoe drops. The Hill Kasich: I can't support the GOP if it doesn't reformMallory Shelbourne

It appears to be a mistake to refer to the price level when discussing the theoretical properties of an economy; at best, there are a few price levels in play at a given time. If we are referring to the measured level of a price index, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) there is no difficulty, however this aggregate price index should not be expected to correspond to any useful theoretical construct. This article explains my logic, and then looks at the practical implications of what...

Mocking the latest in the "Russian influence" mania.  Hopefully, exposing it as ridiculous will make it go away. But I doubt it.  Anyway, Matt Taibbi is always a fun read. Rolling Stone Latest Fake News Panic Appears to Be Fake News Matt Taibbi

Yves recaps the recent MMT conference. Very positive. It is followed by Raúl Carrillo's recap, linked to previously here at MNE. Yves here. This post is the write-up of one of the presentations at the first international MMT conference in Kansas City in September. Over 200 people, including your humble blogger, attended. We’ll be writing much more about this conference over the coming weeks as the conference organizers post videos and complete transcripts. Jamie Galbraith gave one of the...

Moon of Alabama explains how ridiculous, but dangerous for democracy nevertheless, the "Russian influence" media mania has become. He speculates felicitously that perhaps Putin is funding it to make the US look weak and Russia strong. Looking from the outside the U.S. media have simply gone nuts. There seems to be no other way to explain the silliness of their "reporting". Then again: Could they all be under Russian influence? Are Russian secret services paying for such stories? Consider...

The internet has received a substantial amount of blame for the recent increase in political polarisation. Using US data, this column argues that, in fact, the internet has played no significant role in a generally increasing trend of political polarisation that goes back at least to the 1970s. The results highlight the importance of looking beyond convenient narrative explanations, and the need for a deeper understanding of the drivers of political sentiment. Although unmentioned, an...

In recent weeks, investigators looking at how people acting on behalf of Russia targeted American voters have focused on Trump’s data operation. But although the FBI obtained a court order against Facebook to make it disclose evidence, the exact way in which US citizens were profiled and targeted remains largely unknown. But British data protection laws may provide some transparency on the company at the heart of Trump’s data operation – Cambridge Analytica – and how it created profiles of...

"The rent is too damn high." The problem with capitalism is rent extraction owing to market power resulting from effects of social, political and economic asymmetry. Neoclassical economics models capitalism (economic liberalism) in terms of perfect competition. This is not only an ideal, but also it is an unreachable ideal owing to institutional arrangements, on one hand, and asymmetry resulting from history and culture. In addition, government is inextricably bound up in the economy...