Mike Norman Economics

 I'm still intrigued by the Ouse Valley Viaduct which, it turns out, I have travelled over many times on my way to Brighton, a south of England coastal resort. My mum took me often to Brighton, and I visited it a lot with my friends in my teens and my 20's for a day out and a few pints of bitter ale. It only takes about 1 hour and ten minutes from London. The last time I went to Brighton would have been about 5 years ago with my girlfriend. There are many bridges and viaducts on the journey,...

Today (November 17, 2021), the ABS released the latest – Wage Price Index, Australia – for the September-quarter 2021. The WPI data shows that nominal wages growth rose above levels recorded in previous quarters and the pattern resembled the pre-pandemic growth path – low to modest. The inflation rate continues to outstrip nominal wages growth, which means that workers in all sectors bar ‘Professional, scientific and technical services’ experienced on-going cuts drops in their real wages...

I’ve been in Switzerland for a couple of days.

We had a blowout CPI print in the United States last week, which I probably should have discussed. Unfortunately for my writing productivity, I had some consulting work going as well as visiting family, so I did not have time to dig.Since then, large numbers of electrons were spilled online discussing the inflation outlook. As I doubt that I will add any details that are novel at this point, I have decided to bow out of that discussion. Instead, I will just offer a few generic...

One of the important concepts one learns in studying the way firms work with respect to pricing and markups is the distinction between quantity and price adjustment over the course of an economic cycle. When economists talk of supply and demand, they usually refer to price adjustment, where prices adjust up or down when there is an imbalance between these aggregates. Orthodox economics presumes that prices adjust, for example, to eliminate an excess supply, which they apply to the labour...

Oh those genius “neoliberals!” operating their elaborate “neoliberal conspiracy!” to screw the poors!  What ever successful scam against the downtrodden will they think of next?Here you can see they lend dumb asshole monetarist inflationista speculators munnie to sell govt bonds which reduces the price of their own HQLA $4$ and they lose $10Bs of shareholder equity in the bargain!Geniuses!  Geniuses I tell you!  Oh you lefties here have these people nailed I tell you…You fucking idiots…...

 This was gripping! American automobile companies plan three months in advance, but Chinese companies plan years in advance. Chinese automobile companies bought up loss making European and American car companies and turned them around, making a profit. America CEOs know nothing about technology and just appease Wall Street, while China thinks long term and invest in its own chips, says Sandy Munro. China is making electric cars to European high standards, and Americans will want them, he...

I have finally been able to read the latest fiscal statement – Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 – from the H.M. Treasury, which was released on October 29, 2021. That 202 page document is not something anyone should spend time reading but in my job one has to in order to stay abreast of what is happening around the world. It also took me down the Office of Budget Responsibility snake hole to read their latest – Fiscal risks report – July 2021 – which obviously conditions the way the...

Back in the 1970s, Macpherson anticipated much of this. For him, Western capitalist liberal democracies and those in socialist and developing countries all had “genuine historical claims to the title democracy.” Whether they were liberal or not, the “ultimate goal” of all democracies was “the same – to provide the conditions for the full and free development of the essential human capacities of all members of the society.” Indeed, he considered capitalist liberal democracy (especially...

According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), some 30 emerging economies around the world are currently considering, planning or starting nuclear power programmes.In the short term, these projects will not significantly expand the global nuclear footprint, with principal growth coming in countries which already have well-established nuclear power infrastructure.However, the WNA anticipates that, in the medium to long term, developing nations’ nuclear infrastructure will resemble that...