Mike Norman Economics

Here we show the after-tax profit and market capitalization of the top 0.01% of U.S.-based corporations, expressed as a % of U.S. GDP....Nitzan and Bichler view "capitalism" (monetary production economy with private property) as the ongoing struggle for power between capital and labor. Concentrated capital (monopoly and oligopoly power) is winning hands down in this round.Real-World Economics Review BlogThe power of dominant capital continues to riseJonathan Nitzan and Shimshon BichlerSee...

But even President Biden’s “big” rhetoric doesn’t fully capture the scope of his policy ambitions. He wants nothing less than to complete the unfinished business of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1930s-era New Deal, once again rejecting fiscal austerity while correcting for racist carve-outs, filling in the holes in our social and care infrastructure, and investing to abate the increasingly dire consequences of climate change. And he wants to demonstrate that the federal government—and...

Lawrence Summers is a New Keynesian economist. That means something. While there are nuances that exist between members of that school of thought, mostly to do with policy sensitivities and speeds of adjustment, the New Keynesian paradigm has demonstrated clearly that it is incapable of capturing the macroeconomic dynamics in any consistent manner, despite it being the dominant approach in the profession. So, it is no wonder when Summers provides opinions the underlying logic he demonstrates...

The Fascinating Photos of Afghanistan in the 1960's and 1970's. Afghanistan before the US and Pakistan turned it into a hell hole. The report also talked about different tribal groups fighting over Afghanistan’s resources funded by Pakistan. [embedded content]https://youtu.be/OP17WjQOrSYWhose Monster? A Study in the Rise to Power of alQaeda and the TalibanThe majority of the academic writing on the emerging subject of the Taliban and al Qaeda’s ascent tend to place the blame squarely at the...

 Buying opportunities?The sudden evaporation of deal flow has certainly gotten the investing community's attention, but at the end of the day, China is simply too large of a market for PE firms to ignore. So few expect it to last long.Jeffrey Lee, a partner at China-focused venture capital firm NLVC headquartered in Beijing, said robotics and manufacturing automation has been an increasingly hot sector. While more caution and strategy shifts are warranted, exiting China entirely would be out...

The flaw was that Afghanistan as a liberal progressive vision was a hoax in the first place: Afghanistan was invaded, and occupied, because of its geography. It was the ideal platform from which to perturb Central Asia, and thus unsettle Russia and China.Exactly. This was the real mission, and the rest was an excuse to justify liberal interventionism as cover for the hidden geopolitical and geostrategic agenda of US global hegemony. The excuse also became the excuse for gorging at the public...

Could see a significant slowdown in fiscal flows and that would be bearish for stocks.

Backgrounder. The plot thickens.The Vineyard of the SakerEnduring Terror Forever: from al-Qaeda to ISIS-KPepe EscobarSee alsoMoon of AlabamaUkraine Shuts Down Opposition Media - U.S. Ambassador Applauds 'Daring Act', Calls For Support

Socialism with Chinese characteristics, which some say is rooted in Confucianism.  In 1967, the Chinese Government launched the “523 Project” – a nation-wide research proramme aimed at finding new treatments for malaria. This effort, involving more than 500 scientists from 60 institutions, led to the discovery in the 1970s of artemisinin – the core compound of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), the most effective antimalarial drugs available today.“Over many decades, China’s...

Death is inevitable for everyone. Our instinct as humans is to stay alive, but death will come to us all at some point, so why are we so fearful of it?  Do all cultures view death the same way? And why are some people more fascinated by death than others? One of the world’s foremost experts on healing and loss David Kessler joins William Shatner on this week's episode of 'I Don't Understand'  to help explain the concept of death and why it’s so scary for us[embedded content]David Kessler and...