Mike Norman Economics

German, the former FBI agent, said, “There needs to be a serious inquiry into the intelligence breakdowns and the tactical breakdowns that allowed capital itself to be breached, particularly by people with weapons.” Adam Isacson, the D.C.-based director of the defense oversight program at the Washington Office on Latin America, linked the events to a broader politicization of law enforcement under Trump, reminiscent of the anti-democratic movements the U.S. has historically sponsored in...

That would be Iraq, not Iran. Iran already asked Interpol to arrest 45 people involved in the assassination, including President Trump.Common DreamsCarrying Death Sentence If Convicted, Iraq Issues Arrest Warrant for Trump on Murder ChargesJon Queally, staff writer

Speaking to reporters, [Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson] Maria Zakharova acknowledged that the events that unfolded on the steps of the country’s legislature the night before were an internal matter for Washington.However, she said, they demonstrated that "the electoral system in the US is archaic and does not meet modern democratic standards, creating opportunities for numerous violations, and American media has become an instrument of political struggle.” This criticism won't be...

 That last video I just posted about Liverpool in 1959 shocked me because it was within my time frame, and yet it seemed from an ancient past, like early this century, especially with those old washing machines, and yet here I am today sending this post from a smart phone. But I had an even bigger shock at a Christmas Lindy Hop dance once in London.I remember going to Christmas lindy hop events at the dance school where we went where we are allowed up bring some alcoholic drinks and food to...

Who knew? Social media is anti-social even in collectivist China where individualism is not a prevalent as in the West.Faith Popcorn foresaw this phenomenon emerging back in 1981. She called it "cocooning."Another related phenomenon is the emergence of "silos," which separate people into distinct groups based on identity, interest and affiliation. Advertisers love it, especially with the arrival of Big Data.This has already become an issue in the US. Now it looks like China will be "infected...

 Haven't things changed? My mum was about 21 years old back then, my dad was 26, and I was a baby?Anyway, some of the women didn't trust the "new fangled" modern washing machines and so stuck the old traditional methods, even if they were backbreaking. Admire the industriousness of the Liverpool women who transport huge bundles of laundry to and from the local wash-house every week, crammed into old prams or balanced skilfully on their heads. The wash-house doubles as a social hub for the...

So Britain finally became free – sort of – from the European Union last week. I haven’t fully read the terms of the departure but the progress I have made so far in the text (several hundred pages) leads me to conclude that Britain has not gone completely free from the corporatist cabal that is the European Union. The agreement will see a Partnership Council established which locks Britain in to an on-going bureaucratic process dominated by technocrats – the sort of things the EU revels in...

If this report is any indication, recovery may be slow globally even after the virus dies down. A "V" shaped recovery is looking Sixth ToneIn Virus-Free Wuhan, Businesses Are Still Recovering Zhang Zizhu

On the other side of the ledger we’ll be starved of interest income to the same degree... ie lowest in 50 years...Net interest costs on deficit are expected to reach as low as 1.14% of GDP in 2024, which would be lowest in 50 years @biancoresearch @USCBO pic.twitter.com/Z8etMyzPgZ— Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) January 7, 2021

 Nikita Khrushchev's granddaughter puts it in historical perspective. She is a regular contributor to Project Syndicate. I don't usually agree with her analysis, but this is worth reading for an international perspective.The storming of the US Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters in a last-ditch effort to overturn the result of the 2020 election was as predictable as it was shocking. Four years of Republican complicity in the face of Trump's erosion of US democracy have brought the country...