Mike Norman Economics

What has happened is that the Trump administration has changed the narrative from being about a technical, nuclear-centered agreement, to one that encompasses Iran’s geopolitical reach in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, as well as its missile program and cyber operations – all non-nuclear issues that Mogherini herself stressed were “outside the scope” of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)....So for all practical purposes, the Trump administration wants a completely different deal, or it...

US arms control expert: Hwasong-14 could even reach East Coast, but US anti-missile defenses probably couldn't shoot it down. Pyongyang likely has warhead that fits, he adds. Does NK have a nuclear deterrent?Asia Times‘N. Korean missiles can reach Chicago, would not be stopped’Doug Tsruruoka

Short summary of the main thrust of cognitive scientist Antonio Damasio's work about the interplay of reason and feeling. Ian Welsh's blog Review of “Descartes' Error” by Antonio DamasioIan Welsh See also YouTube Antonio Damasio: INET Keynote Address entitled Human Decisions

Don't believe everything you see. St. Louis restaurant owners were upset when “Whites Only” stickers with the hashtag #BLM began appearing at their businesses. It turns out that BLM had nothing to do with it. A group of young white males was caught on security cameras doing the deed to try to cause problems for BLM. BLM is apparently Black Lives Matter, not Bureau of Land Management, although that is a right bogeyman, too. Counter Current News‘Whites Only’ Stickers Falsely Attributed To...

The authors of a recent Roosevelt Institute paper identified a series of high-profile cases in which political contributions influenced members of Congress on key floor votes involving financial reform.  To examine the influence of big money, the authors of the study focused on five votes in the U.S. House of Representatives relating to the Dodd-Frank financial-reform bill. They isolated specific representatives who initially voted in favor of the bill and subsequently voted to dismantle...

Moody's, one of the major ratings agencies, downgraded the UK to an Aa2 rating from Aa1. It said leaving the European Union was creating economic uncertainty at a time when the UK's debt reduction plans were already off course. Downing Street said the firm's Brexit assessments were "outdated". The other major agencies, Fitch and S&P, changed their ratings in 2016, with S&P cutting it two notches from AAA to AA, and Fitch lowering it from AA+ to AA. Moody's said the government...

Funny.IrrussianalityCunning troll Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa See also Fort RussWest has spent $80 million to influence Russia's 2018 elections Vesti - translated by Inessa Sinchougova also For some unknown reasons these FB ads aren't made public so that people can come to their own conclusions about them. Fort Russ US President calls Russia's Facebook ad rumours "new mystification"Vesti -...

Confirming reports that reception for Apple's newly launched iPhone 8 may be "underwhelming" to put it lightly, as the phone provides little if any material improvement over its lower-priced predecessor even as sales for hardcore fans will be cannibalized by the iPhone X, is the following report from Hangzhou, China which shows that all of 2 people were waiting in line for the latest gizmo from Tim Cook.... With the iPhone 8 a dud, at least in China, AAPL longs are hoping that the...

If the U.S. government and mainstream media are really concerned about foreign influence in American politics, they might look at Israel and other nations with much more clout than Russia, notes Robert Parry. Ya think? Consortium NewsThe Crazy Imbalance of Russia-gate Robert Parry

No, inflation is not getting harder to "understand." Central banks are just using models that don't fit the case, for example, confusing special case model with general models, or using models that are mis-specified.  The message is to review the assumptions, including methodological ones, and revise them as appropriate. Then compare the model with the real world. What's so difficult to understand about that? This is what scientists do. Difficult, you say? That's what you are...