Mike Norman Economics

The world starts to wake up.Strategic Culture Foundation“Do You Want a War Between Russia and NATO?”Pepe EscobarTom DispatchRajan Menon, War with Russia?https://tomdispatch.com/how-did-we-get-here/Jack Rasmus10 Reasons Why the US May Want Russia to Invade Ukrainehttps://jackrasmus.com/2022/02/07/10-reasons-why-the-us-wants-russia-to-invade-ukraine-print/Popular ResistanceRussia, Ukraine And The US: The Background They’re Not Telling YouPhil...

[embedded content]Europe Waking Up?Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues.

Misleading headline, since the institutional basis of MMT is a general description of the current monetary system, so there is no question of "trying" MMT. The theoretical aspect of MMT outlines the fiscal space available for policy options, and various MMT economists have put forward sets of policy options. Stephanie Kelton has been a political advisor to various Democratic politicians. MMT itself is politically neutral although it assumes that full employment is an aspect of...

February is usually the biggest gov't spending month, with a quarterly interest payment and the most IRS tax refunds. Stocks and risk assets should benefit.

Gerald Hooft says that at the big bang there was a flux of probabilities (equations) and then something pulled the trigger; but why there was a flux and why something pulled the trigger is not for scientists to answer. The universe is so complex, he says, that we will never be able fully figure it out, anymore than someone could figure out what your next thought will be. I wasn't keen on his superdeterminism, but even on that he was ambiguous. The universe is so complex, he says, that...

Dances with BearsCOUNTDOWN FOR THE END OF ANGLO-AMERICAN RULE IN EUROPEJohn Helmerhttp://johnhelmer.net/countdown-for-the-end-of-anglo-american-rule-in-europe/The Vineyard of the SakerVladimir Putin held talks with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron at the Kremlin.The Sakerhttp://thesaker.is/vladimir-putin-held-talks-with-president-of-the-french-republic-emmanuel-macron-at-the-kremlin/Rules for the WorldObserver R for the Saker Bloghttp://thesaker.is/rules-for-the-world/Ian...

 This post is slightly longish and a bit wonkish, but important. It is summed up in a quote of Andrew Gelman that is cited in the argument.Much of the literature in statistics, econometrics, and epidemiology on causal identification misses this point, by focusing on the procedures of scientific investigation—in particular, tools such as randomization and p-values which are intended to enforce rigor—without recognizing that rigor is empty without something to be rigorous about.In short,...

Ha ha! MMT is bad enough for them, but from a woman? Conniptions ensue. AxiosMale economists are freaking out over a NYT profile [of Stephanie Kelton]Emily Peck

 We have liberal hawks here who think that China is the Great Satan, but I'm not sure if that's true anymore. I think  the country has advanced. Moreover, its time to end the brutal Western hegemony. Anyway, the way forward is to cooperate with China and improve its security. The same with Russia. I'm on par with Jeffrey Sachs, who is a dove, not a hawk. Statistics show that China has overtaken the US as the world's largest economy after lifting nearly 100 million people out of abject...

The Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey caused a stir last week when he said that British workers should not get wage increases in the coming period. This was a day after the Bank of England raised interest rates, presumably because they have some theory that that will cure Covid and get trucks moving again. There was general outrage expressed by a range of voices, who often are not on the same page – unions, corporate interests, the ‘high wage’ aspiring Tory government (perhaps). The...