Mike Norman Economics

Andrew Gelman reviews Steven Pinker's Rationality. Trenchant criticism along with the praise.  A bit longish and rather detailed for a blog review, but definitely worth a read. Many other reviewers would likely not pick this stuff up and a lot of it will get passed lay readers that are the target readership. Applicable to all but also specifically to understanding economics and finance, where "rationality" is a thing (key assumption).Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social...

It is imperative that China’s leaders address financial-system vulnerabilities, especially the corporate sector’s high leverage ratio. But it is even more important that they take action to counter a persistent slowdown in economic growth.Posted on account of the author, one of the few genuine experts on the Chinese economy writing in English. Numbers.Project SyndicateChina Must Restore GrowthYu Yongding, a former president of the China Society of World Economics and director of the...

By 2025, unsubsidized solar power with battery storage everywhere in China will be cheaper than coal. Indeed, solar plus battery is already cheaper than coal in 3/4s of the country. Especially given drops in the cost of battery storage, the paper concludes that China can get 43% of its total power from solar at less than 2.5 cents a kilowatt hour by 2060, making the Communist Party’s current plans for decarbonization by then plausible. Coal is usually figured at 5 cents a kilowatt hour, and...

In a lot of financial market commentary – and even in the output of some academics – one might often see discussion of “money printing” in the context of inflation. Although this section explains why the concept is not meaningful, these references do serve a purpose: they are a signal that the reader can stop taking the person invoking “money printing” seriously..…I hope Stephanie Kelton is working on a sequel called "The Inflation Myth." "Inflation" has been reduced to a meaningless concept...

Last week, I did a seminar with a Melbourne financial market group (Wattle Partners), who I regularly help in their education programs. It took the form of an informal (somewhat structured) conversation about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and more practical applications of the MMT understanding. There were several questions from the audience that we didn’t get time to answer in the allotted time so today I am honouring my agreement to provide answers, which might be of interest to the broader...

This survey at all time low by a significant margin… the GOP “stagflation!” thesis is absolutely crushing it…  

The Russians are very vaccine sceptic, with only 29% of the population being vaccinated. Social distancing and masks wearing rules tend to be ignored too. Russia is well into its fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic. But Moscow is unwilling to put the country in lockdown. Add to that low adherence to hygeine rules and Russia recently recorded 1,000 over 24 hours due to Covid – a record. That's despite the country's vaccine Sputnik V being the first to be registered for use in any nation....

Russia shutting back down…PUTIN APPROVES PROPOSED WEEK-LONG WORKPLACE SHUTDOWN IN RUSSIA FROM OCT. 30 DUE TO SURGE OF COVID-19 CASES, DEATHSPUTIN SAYS SOME REGIONS MAY CLOSE DOWN EARLIER— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) October 20, 2021 What are we going to do if there is such a delta breakthrough here next month as usual?

The oil, gas, and coal production plans of some of the world's biggest oil, gas, and coal producers far exceed the emissions targets set in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, a UN report has warned.The report by the United Nations Environmental Program found that 15 big fossil fuel producers intended to produce 110 percent more oil, coal, and gas in 2030 than is consistent with the Paris Agreement's scenario for limiting rising temperatures to 1.5 degrees from the pre-industrial era, and...

Looks like we will soon hit and surpass Dow 36,000. Crypto making new highs as more people jump on the bandwagon. Trade and invest using the concepts of MMT. Get a 30-day free trial to MMT Trader. https://www.pitbulleconomics.com/ Download my podcasts! New one every week. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1105286 Mike Norman Twitter https://twitter.com/mikenorman Mike Norman Economics: https://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.com/