Mike Norman Economics

The Master Persuader redux. Scott Adams' BlogI Explain the Persuasion Techniques President Trump is using on The Wall and DACAScott Adams

Whether or not true democracy can ever be achieved remains uncertain. Historian James T. Kloppenberg argues that while democracy can be defined as an ethical ideal, the practical definition of democracy is too contentious to be adopted as a political system. The following shortened excerpt from Toward Democracy analyzes three contested principles of democracy: popular sovereignty, autonomy, and equality. OUPblog The three principles of democracy [excerpt]James T. Kloppenberg | Charles...

The sane path in contrast to the insane one.Asia TimesThe Russia-China plan for North Korea: stability, connectivity Pepe Escobar

Some links of interest.Naked KeynesianismMarx Capital turns 150Matias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell UniversiTy

The two authors [Jan De Loecker of Princeton University and Jan Eeckhout of University College London] find a large increase in the average markup from 1980 to 2014—specifically an increase by a factor of 3.65. In 1980, the average markup was 18 percent and by 2014, the average was 67 percent. But interestingly, the increase is concentrated at the top of the markup distribution: The firm at the 90th percentile in 2014 had a markup of about 160 percent, compared to a markup of 40 percent for...

MONI has developed a prepaid debit card that circumvents the need for a bank account or identity papers. The card is linked to a unique digital identity stored on a blockchain – the same technology that underpins Bitcoin and other digital currencies.Two years ago, MONI partnered with the Finnish government to provide refugees with their monthly allowance, which until then had been paid in cash.... World Economic ForumFinland has created a digital money system for refugees Alex Gray

The epistemological  and logic problems are not due to either models or their assumptions but rather misinterpreting what a model says about the world realisitically. Models are necessarily simplifications, since their purpose is to encapsulate as well as explain. The probems arise typically in assumptions about the application of models as accounts of real events.  A major issue is over-generalizing by taking a model that illustrates a special cases and extending its scope to other...

Alexander Dugin is one of the premier thinkers of our times. His work is often somewhat difficult to approach for  those not well-acquainted with the range of material with which he deals, especially since it comes from a specifically Russian point of view that is also individual to him, just as Nietzsche's thought is German in essence but also highly individual.This interview with Paul Robinson is the most accessible relatively short piece that I have encountered and I highly recommend...

The US has no good options.Graham E. FullerNorth Korea—the Deeper IssuesGraham E. Fuller | adjunct professor of history at Simon Fraser University, formerly vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, and a former senior political scientist at RAND

Prepping for censorship, like "because terrorism" for suspension of constitutional rights and civil liberties indefinetly? Wake up, America, it's not "radical Islamic terrors" that hate your freedoms and are trying to take them away. Connecting this to "gold pop, dollar drop" is stretch, but the rest of the post is interesting. Zero Hedge Gold Pop, Dollar Drop On Mueller Social Media Probe Headlines Tyler Durden