Mike Norman Economics

Located on the edge of the Pearl River, the 138-metre Guangzhou Circle was designed by Di Pasquale of Milan studio AM Project to provide an iconic headquarters for Chinese companies Guangdong Hongda Xingye Group and GDPE Guangdong Plastic Exchange. [embedded content]GDPE Landmark Building - Reunion Mansion - Guangzhou - China[embedded content]The Guangzhou Circle, China

India Punchline (US preparing for a three-front war with China, Russia, and Iran, ie., a suicide mission. But, hey, ka-ching for the MICIMATT/Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think-Tank complex.)Biden gets predictability in Russia tiesM. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Servicehttps://www.indianpunchline.com/biden-gets-predictability-in-russia-ties/TASS (Stating the obvious — except to the oblivious)The existing model of capitalism has...

In recent exchanges on Marx and MMT, one question has concerned the capacity of government spending to encourage private investment and promote employment. Some Marxists appear to regard MMT as incompatible with Marx on this question. My own view is that Marx and MMT are compatible, both in general and on this particular question, and that the contributions of both, when viewed together, hold an important long-term social implication. What follows is a set of remarks outlining my position....

This is permitted? What could go wrong? Zero Hedge"We Could Not Ignore It Anymore" - Houston Firefighters Pension Fund Piles Into CryptoTyler Durden

 Erdogan gets it. Rate hikes are inflationary since raising rates raises prices, according to MMT.Middle East EyeTurkey's Central Bank stuns markets with strong rate cut amid soaring inflation

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...