Mike Norman Economics

The US ruling class has dominated the planet since the end of World War II. Key elements of this control include its military superiority in nuclear and conventional weapons, and the stationing of over 900 military bases around the world. In addition, the US presides over the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. It upholds the US dollar as the global currency, and it controls much of the world’s resources, particularly oil. These factors provide the...

Good observations, as characteristic of SRW. I would add that many assume that economic models are general descriptions of reality, including those that build them. But that is not the way they function, since reality is much more complicated and often complex, whereas models are simplifications that function to assist thinking about the real world and its goings-on.  Models are general descriptions of ideal "worlds" that are used to compare thinking about complicated and even complex...

Why a paradigm may be more suitable than a plan in dealing with change in development economics.Some extracts to whet your appetites (my summary subheads in square brackets): [Real agility happens outside the Theory of Change] While the relevance of chance is obvious, an advocate’s ability to read chance as windows of opportunities and turn them into stepping stones towards desired change is fundamental to success. Chance encounters blend with the personality of the advocate and other...

The Powell press conference came and went, discussing the Fed's new approach to inflation targeting. My view is that not much has changed, and we just face largely pointless debates about messaging -- which are predicated upon the questionable assumption that expectation management can fine-tune economic growth.(For this article, I will assume the conventional view that interest rate policy can be used to control inflation. I have severe concerns about this, but if we do not assume that the...

Recent renminbi rally underscores shift in the economic balance from west to eastChina and much of east Asia have had a good crisis, relatively speaking. The recent rally in the renminbi shows currency markets are starting to acknowledge this. But it is just the tip of the iceberg. A shift in the economic balance, away from the west and towards Asia, was well under way before Covid-19. The pandemic just accelerated it.Start by considering Beijing’s management of the outbreak. It is true that...

Chairman Powell, this is NOT the Bailey Building & Loan. Trade and invest using the concepts of MMT. Get a 30-day free trial to MMT Trader. https://www.pitbulleconomics.com/mmt-trader/?s2-ssl=yes/ Download my podcasts! New one every week. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1105286 Mike Norman Twitter https://twitter.com/mikenorman

Chairman Powell, this is NOT the Bailey Building & Loan. Trade and invest using the concepts of MMT. Get a 30-day free trial to MMT Trader. https://www.pitbulleconomics.com/mmt-trader/?s2-ssl=yes/ Download my podcasts! New one every week. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1105286 Mike Norman Twitter https://twitter.com/mikenorman

If China can be viewed as a computer, then the First Emperor was the (first generation of the) hardware, and Confucius has been the major software since then. In this post, I will talk about Confucius on governance, with profound implications for America today....  Confucianism is a form of traditionalism that subscribes to the Great Chain of Being model — heaven, ruler, head of household as first in a heirarchy based on virtue. This model underlies most ancient systems and forms a pillar...

Underscores the importance of targeted government spending, that is, direction of flow toward consumer spending (multiplier effect) rather than adding to the stock of savings (neutralization). Attempting to stimulate business investment fails in the face of lagging demand.Zero HedgeUS Retail Sales Disappoint, Online Spending Growth Hits A Wall As Government Handouts End Tyler Durden

Finnish experiment. The final results from Finland’s experiment are now in, and the findings are intriguing: the basic income in Finland led to a small increase in employment, significantly boosted multiple measures of the recipients’ well-being, and reinforced positive individual and societal feedback loops. The numbers look pretty good. Can it be generalized? This would not suggest that a UBI is a substitute for an MMT JG, however. The rise in employment was small. There would...