Mike Norman Economics

According to insurance experts, approximately 80 percent of the homeowners impacted by flooding in Houston may not have flood insurance policies on their home. That’s because much of Houston falls outside of designated Special Flood Hazard Zones where mortgage holders are required to maintain flood insurance policies. Hoping to relieve some of the panic by homeowners rescued from water-logged homes in Texas who have no idea when they may be able to return to their home or where the money...

Consumer credit may seem like a fairly new invention – but it’s actually been around for more than 5,000 years! In fact, many millennia before the credit score became ubiquitous, there is historical evidence that cultures around the world were borrowing for various reasons. From the writings in Hammurabi’s Code to the exchanges documented by the Ancient Romans, we know that credit was used for purposes such as getting enough silver to buy a property or for agricultural loans made to...

The details of how hostilities were cooled remain unclear; but for now, at least, there is an "understanding." Looks like the grownups on both sides got involved. Asia TimesLet’s call the whole thing off: India, China row back from warKenny Hodgart

The U.S. mainstream media is touting a big break in Russia-gate, emails showing an effort by Donald Trump’s associates to construct a building in Moscow. But the evidence actually undercuts the “scandal,” reports Robert Parry. From the New York Times again.Consortium NewsMore Misleading Russia-gate Propaganda Robert Parry

Does anyone else see a parallel between Hayek's view of markets as information systems that generate natural spontaneous order and intelligent design arguments in evolutionary theory, harkening back 18th century Deism?The point of the paper is that while Hayek was on to some good things, he let his liberal ideology run away with him, making claims that are not substantiated by his economic work.WCEG — The EquitablogMust-Read: Samuel Bowles, Alan Kirman, and Rajiv Sethi*: Friedrich Hayek...

Good article on the rise of China without China bashing.Project SyndicateThe Global Economy’s New Rule-MakerMichael Spence | Nobel laureate in economics, is Professor of Economics at NYU’s Stern School of Business, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Advisory Board Co-Chair of the Asia Global Institute in Hong Kong, and Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on New Growth...

A challenge is limited data. WCEG — The Equitablog No one measure of inequality tells the whole story–income, wealth, and consumption should be considered togetherAustin Clemens

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has just hosted its annual Economic Policy Symposium at Jackson Hole in Wyoming where central banks, treasury officials, financial market types and (mainstream) economists from the academy and business gather to discuss economic policy. As you might expect, the agenda is set by the mainstream view of the world and there is little diversity in the discussion. A Groupthink reinforcing session. One paper that was interesting was from two US Berkeley...

Utility theory and economists' approach to human action in general reminds me of previous debates in the history of intellectual thought that hung on words.  Logical positivism was introduced as a corrective, but its assumptions, too, lacked foundation.  Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was assumed to be a positivist document, he dissociated himself from the Vienna Circle. His view was that it was a tract in the philosophy of logic as an iteration in the debate...

“He’s just like he is on TV,” Hunter, R-Alpine, told the group. “He’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole.” San Diego Union-Tribune Rep. Duncan Hunter gives President Trump a profane complimentJoshua Stewart | Contact Reporter