Mike Norman Economics

Global disorder is on the rise. What can the US do about it? There are two fundamentally different approaches one can take—it all depends on your philosophy of how the world works.The first school thinks primarily in terms of law, order and authority: it accepts the need for a global policeman. The second school is more willing to let regional nations take the initiative to eventually work things out among themselves. Both schools possess advantages and disadvantages. Something called...

In a letter sent to the organizers of the event, Kontonis explained that such an initiative revives the climate of the Cold War, contradicts the values of the EU and equates Communism with Nazism, which is unacceptable. "History can not be faked. Historical data and events declare the Soviet Army as the liberator of Europe and of the Nazi concentration camps, as a savior from the horrors of the Holocaust. In our thoughts and in our minds, the Nazi regime is a political system whose...

Backgrounder on the Middle East.Consortium NewsIsrael’s Alarm over Syrian Debacle David Lazare

The Great Repeal Bill grants May’s ministers the power to rewrite reams of British law without democratic oversight. Not only will there be no longer an equivalent to the Francovich ruling. The Great Repeal Bill will also diminish human, civic, social and environmental rights. It will considerably strengthen the position of the executive. A British Bill of Rights and “free” trade deals will replace the Human Rights Act and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Agreements will...

Earlier this month (August 11, 2017), Eurostat published the latest European Union data for – Young people in the EU: education and employment. This data now allows us to track the fortunes of three age cohorts – 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29 years since before the crisis to the end of 2016. So a teenager prior to the crisis (2007) would be transiting into the 25-29 years cohort in 2016. One of the disturbing trends shown in the data is the increasing number of young people in the older ‘youth’...

Another Pentagon observer had a much different take. “This is Joe Biden’s plan, all the way,” he said, referring to the then-Vice President’s recommendation to Obama back in 2009. “Biden said that we should increase counterterrorism operations, draw down U.S. forces in the provinces, increase pressure on Pakistan and make a deal with India. Obama said ‘no’ to the idea, but you can bet Mattis was listening. This is his plan all the way.” Almost everyone at the Pentagon agrees, though key...

First, let me say that two primary goals of macro policy everywhere and always should be full employment and stable prices. Why? I am looking at this purely through the lens of the political economy – thinking about how our fellow citizens live and breathe the economy and how government should be designed to respond to their needs. On the jobs side, we have seen that high unemployment leads to political instability, economic turmoil and conflict. When you have masses of people unemployed or...

The Russian "doomsday machine" continues to safeguard the country's sovereignty and national interests, RIA Novosti contributor Alexander Khrolenko writes, shedding light on how Perimeter, an automatic nuclear-control system dubbed 'Dead Hand,' actually works.… After the end of the Cold War, the Russian "doomsday machine" was removed from combat duty in 1995. However, "the United States and its allies did not appreciate this gesture of goodwill of the leadership of the Russian Federation,...

Information overload.Intel TodayCIA Dr Richards J. Heuer: “Information Collection vs Analytical Methods”

Game-changer? INSURGE intelligence - MediumInside the new economic science of capitalism’s slow-burn energy collapseNafeez Ahmed