Mike Norman Economics

"There's a coalition coming together that is going to challenge every Republican incumbent except for Ted Cruz," Bannon told host Sean Hannity on Fox News' "Hannity" on Monday night.…  "There's a basic agenda that Trump ran on and won. He carried states Republicans haven't carried in living memory — Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. This agenda works. The American people voted for it," he said in part."By the way, [Mitch] McConnell would not be majority leader unless Trump — in North...

Bill addresses many issues in this post that MMT economists don't ordinarily focus on like capital markets, capital flows, capital flight, capital controls, and exchange rate depreciation. Since most progressives don't understand the background and dynamics they generally get sucked into commonly deployed neoliberal traps. Bill shows how they don't need to.Bill Mitchell – billy blogPrime Minister Corbyn should have no fears from global capital marketsBill Mitchell | Professor in Economics...

This is a longish article that puts forward analysis diagnosing the challenge and proposes a plan in outline for addressing it, based on full employment, a job guarantee and a basic income. The latter part of the article is about the opportunities present by our entering the Information Age. Those opportunities can be seized rather than left to the whims of the market and its penchant for rent-seeking in a neoliberal environment.A lot in crammed into this one piece. Hopefully, people will...

Snarky backgrounder. Humorous read of some sorry history, centered around former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson.The Vineyard of the SakerNY Times: 1949 – When China lost that ‘elusive’ quality needed for AnglobalizationThe Saker

Britain’s broadcasting regulator on Monday concluded that Al Jazeera did not violate any rules in its controversial undercover investigation exposing the Israeli embassy’s campaign to target British citizens critical of Israel, a campaign that included attempts to destroy the careers of pro-Palestinian British politicians. The move by the communications regulator, known as Ofcom, clears the way for a follow-up documentary focused on Israeli influence in the United States, the existence of...

And there is a third way to think about justice. For this we can go back to Mozi, the legendary philosopher, political activist and opponent of offensive war who lived in China in the years surrounding 400 BCE. As he looked at inequalities of power and wealth, Mo argued that the core problem was “unequal love”, that people cared more for those in their own family or other social group than anyone else. In an extreme form, this led to wars of domination or conquest, since the rulers...

One of the features of mainstream economics today is the huge diversity of models that are around. Academic prestige tends to come to those who add to that number. But how do you decide which model to use when investigating a particular problem? The answer is by looking at evidence about applicability. That is not a trivial task because of the probabilistic and diverse nature of economic evidence, and Dani Rodrik describes that process as more of a craft than a science.... Mainly...

Kiselyov asked why is this American behavior happening and whether President Trump made this decision. But the question is rhetorical. Though it may seem “amazing,” Kiselyov suggested that it appears Trump was not a party to this behavior, that it more likely resulted from what the TV host called sloppy management when the military gets out from under political control. On the territory of Syria, Kiselyov said, “they start wandering around quite on their own” and “flirting” with the...

In a furious tweetstorm this weekend, Facebook's Chief Security Officer warned interfering desperate politicians and triggered letfists that the fake news problem is more complicated and dangerous to solve than the public thinks. Everything changed after 9/11 and the suspension of constitutional rights and civil liberties.  This is just another iteration in the slide down the slippery slope into tyranny.Zero HedgeFacebook Security Chief Lashes Out: "Censorship Is Easy If You Don't Worry...

Passing FY 2018 Senate budget has "some eerie parallels" to health care, as no Democrats will vote for the budget; Sen. Rand Paul is expected to vote no because it doesn’t cut spending fast enough; Sen. John McCain also sounds like a no as it doesn’t repeal sequester, which disproportionately hits the Pentagon. That means GOP can only afford one more defection, with Corker, a deficit hawk, engaging in "one of the more surreal public correspondence exchanges in recent memory" days after...