Mike Norman Economics

The World Bank was set up this way. The IMF is traditionally under the command of a European.This is why the US and West opposes the Chinese alternatives. Poaching on the Empire's territory. A new form of decolonization is urgently required to get out of the predicament in which the IFI [international financial institutions] and their main shareholders have entrapped the world in general. New international institutions must be established. This new series of articles by Éric Toussaint...

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 post). Is MMT "mainstream" yet? Biting at the edges, maybe.Notice that the mainstream neoclassical model is built in "possibility space." This...

On October 2, 2020, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their latest labour market data – Employment Situation Summary – September 2020 – which shows that while employment continued to grow, the rebound has moderated significantly. Further, the unemployment rate fell by 0.5 points to 7.9 per cent but only because the participation rate fell by 0.3 points, which saw less workers in the labour force. If the participation rate had not fallen, then there would have been only a...

Macro N Cheese – Episode 88Podcast and transcript Michael Hudson — On Finance, Real Estate And The Powers Of NeoliberalismDebt Deflation and the Neofeudal EmpireSteve Grumbine interviews Michael Hudson, President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a Wall Street Financial Analyst, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and Guest Professor at Peking University

Some environmental history and some numbers. Important since owing to its size, China is pivotal in producing global pollution, which is both a health concern and a factor in climate change. Hence, China is also pivotal in and ultimately controlling it. The downside: China still generates a majority of its energy with coal-fired plants. China has an abundant supply of coal, and coal has factored significantly in China growth. That led to steeply rising curve in the increase of pollution....

This letter is chiefly about reconciling "liberty, equality, and fraternity," as the basis for a liberal society that recognizes traditional views on this complex issue.While the pope does not mean it explicitly, the basis of his view is that "the world is a family," which is a quote from the Upanishads.While it largely about ethics and politics (political theory), economics is also prominent. 162. The biggest issue is employment. The truly “popular” thing – since it promotes the good of...

Some fine points on history of economics and economic history, as well a bit of speculation about the future.Global InequalityOn several Marxist themes in “Capitalism, Alone”: My reply to Romaric Godin’s reviewBranko Milanovic | Visiting Presidential Professor at City University of New York Graduate Center and senior scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-economic Inequality, senior scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), and formerly lead economist in the World Bank's research...

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The European Central Bank (ECB) recently published a report that explores the idea of introducing a digital euro for use by the general public. This project is known as a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, and many other countries are exploring the same idea. John Kiff has a useful database here showing how far these projects have progressed. Will the ECB's new euros-for-all be relatively open and anonymous like cash? Or will they require ID and permission like a bank account? In...

Worries about the effects of rising interest rates on government finances is a standard feature of editorial pieces. However, a floating currency sovereign should not be analysed in the same way as a household or business. An individual should reasonably worry about the effect of rising interest rates on their finances; if they face financial failure, the side-effects are not enough to affect macro outcomes. This is not the case for a central government: interest rates reflect macro...