Mike Norman Economics

Fiscal flows are strong. IRS tax refunds are starting to go out. February is a strong fiscal month and market will ultimately reflect this.

Consortium News (nothing substantial)What Is the Difference Between Kosovo & Donbass?Vladimir Golstein | chair of the Department of Slavic Studies at Brown Universityhttps://consortiumnews.com/2022/02/23/what-is-the-difference-between-kosovo-donbass/RT — Question MoreWhy a war may be the only solution Americans can bring to this conflictScott Ritter, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, serving in the Soviet Union as an inspector implementing the INF Treaty, on General...

The sanctions that the United States is imposing on Russia for recognizing two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and sending troops there are not targeting Russian oil and gas flows, nor will they target such flows in subsequent sanctions that could be imposed in the near future, the U.S. said. "The sanctions that are being imposed today, as well that could be imposed in the near future, are not targeting and will not target oil and gas flows," a senior U.S. State Department official told...

Coal prices are rising again as the Russia-Ukraine crisis has put energy markets on alert and Russian coal producers struggle to get their coal via railways to export terminals due to COVID-related railway staff shortages. JSC Kuzbassrazrezugol (KRU), asked customers to postpone initially planned deliveries of coal for the first and second quarter of 2022 by one quarter, in a letter to clients dated February 18 and seen by Bloomberg News.... OilpriceEnergy Crisis Worsens As Russia Delays...

It is Wednesday and I have three live presentations to make throughout the day. So we will be brief today. The ABS released the latest Wage Price Index today which shows that annual wages growth in Australia was 2.3 per cent, compared to the official inflation rate of 3.5 per cent. I will analyse that data in detail tomorrow, given I am short of time today. But there was also disturbing data coming out of the UK last week on the wages front, which reflects a major imbalance in priorities and...

US hypersonic missiles could hit European Russia within minutes. "Its like a knife at our throats", says Putin, "the US has simply ignored our security concerns".NATO documents mention pre-emptive strikes. [embedded content]https://youtu.be/yg9-3znBp_o

Gilbert Doctorow analyzes Putin's historic speech to the nation with respect to future action regarding Ukraine and beyond. For Russia this is not chiefly about Ukraine but rather the US along with its NATO allies, but  chiefly the US.Anti-WarPutin Recognizes Donbas Republics: What Comes Next?Gilbert Doctorowhttps://www.antiwar.com/blog/2022/02/22/putin-recognizes-donbas-republics-what-comes-next/

Rate hikes increase interest income flows to the non-government. Furthermore, some of the fastest loan growth historically has been when interest rates are rising.

This is something that is not talked about in the Western media. Moreover, the Western leadership assumes that Russia will be isolated and without customers for its energy when China is readily available. The US apparently thinks that the threat of secondary sanctions on China will deter the Sino-Russian relationship but that is wishful thinking. Both China and Russia realize that their survival depends on their close relationship, so the US is faced with fighting a two-front war with...

Vineyard of the Saker (Orloff has a good grasp of things Russian)The day Russia’s patience ran outDmitry Orloff https://thesaker.is/the-day-russias-patience-ran-out/The Crusaders are very, very angry. Who cares? (Russia caught the West off-guard. They did not see it coming.)http://thesaker.is/the-crusaders-are-very-very-angry-who-cares/Andrei Martyanov’s take on the events of the day (video)http://thesaker.is/andrei-martyanovs-take-on-the-events-of-the-day/Strategic Culture FoundationThe...