Mike Norman Economics

Interesting for two reasons. First, it takes us a step further in discovering the how of the origin of life on Earth. Secondly, it shows how science discovery works inductively by starting with observation to arrive at new hypotheses, rather than deductively by proceeding from existing theory.Quanta MagazineNew Clues to Chemical Origins of Metabolism at Dawn of LifeJohn Rennie

I have been arguing within the Scottish Currency Group recently, through a number of OPs and comments, that the MMT narrative about taxation is incomplete and presents a serious weakness in the MMT proposition. I want to explain why this weakness needs to be addressed…. Back to the Noble Lie. Progressive PulseMMT and Tax : a new narrative – A guest post by Jim Osborne

In this post, I continue the draft of sections of my forthcoming book, “Marxian Economics: An Introduction.” The first five posts (here, here, here, here, and here) will serve as the basis for chapter 1, Marxian Economics Today. The text of this post is for Chapter 2, Marxian Economics Versus Mainstream Economics (following on from the previous posts, here, here, here, and here).Occasional Links & CommentaryLimits of mainstream economics todayDavid F. Ruccio | Professor Emeritus of...

Someone I follow put a tweet out under a Republican thread. The thread was very disturbing and was full of conservatives foaming at the mouth baying for China’s blood. They were saying that the CPC had taken over many Americans institutions, including the Democrats, the media, ect, and was underming American democracy. How can they believe this when nothing could be further from the truth. The media hammers China daily. It's like a replay of the Democrat Russiagate conspiracy theory. I lost...

 ‘Great news organisations … should introduce fact to disperse doubt’In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Murdoch expanded on the statement he gave when he left his father Rupert Murdoch’s company earlier this year, expressing his discomfort with the toxicity of Fox News and other media outlets owned by the company.The Independent James Murdoch says he quit father’s news empire because it legitimises ‘disinformation’.html

And in the world of economics, the new school of Modern Monetary Theory -- which says governments usually have more room to spend in times of low inflation -- has gained traction by advocating bold fiscally-financed programs like a Green New Deal.It all points toward the revamp of economic management that should have happened after the financial crisis a decade ago, according to Paul McCulley, former chief economist at bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. Back then, politicians...

In my monthly labour market updates for Australia, I always examine the teenage labour market. Not much media coverage is given to that cohort in this context. But as our societies age and require our younger workers to be more productive than their parents to maintain material living standards (even though we should be reappraising what is an environmentally feasible benchmark to maintain), how we deal with school-to-work transitions, vocational training, university education is a major...

We have evolved to have soft, friendly looking faces because we are very cooperative and gregarious creatures, say researchers. Our ability to cooperate is probably more important than our intelligence for the survival of our species. British naturalist Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection often gets broken down into one simple phrase: ‘Survival of the fittest,’ which we’ve come to understand as the survival of the strongest, meanest, most aggressive, and selfish. It’s...

Study finds our anatomy has evolved faster than any time in the past 250 years. When I was a boy it was genuinely believed that the human race was not evolving anymore because of medicines and vaccines stopping the vulnerable from dying, but it seems we are still evolving.I hope we are evolving into kinder creatures too. Babies are no longer being born with wisdom teeth as the human race continues to evolve faster than at any time in the past 250 years, according to a study. The...

 There are many lies that are told about China, but why is it so hard for Western Media to tell the truth? I first went to China in January 2007, from that moment until now, I've never read or heard a single piece of positive content about China from Western media. Can China really be as bad as Western media wants us to believe?[embedded content]