Mike Norman Economics

The Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity (GISP), an independent public policy think-tank, announces the launch of its official website and releases the first set of Working Papers and Policy Notes. The Institute is dedicated to the promotion of interdisciplinary research in the service of an improved quality of life for all members of society. It will disseminate alternative public policy solutions that address a wide range of socio-economic problems faced by the global community....

Paul Samuelson once famously claimed that the “ergodic hypothesis” is essential for advancing economics from the realm of history to the realm of science. But is it really tenable to assume — as Samuelson and most other mainstream economists — that ergodicity is essential to economics? Assuming ergodicity in economics limits the scope of the model pretty much to the conceptual world of the model. Since human beings not like atoms and are organized into complex adaptive systems subject to...

We are in the middle of a bear market for risk assets, and the key question is trying to figure out what turns this around. My argument is that it is going to be very difficult to read the entrails of market chart patterns, pandemic data, and policy responses to time the bottom. However, if one is not attempting to be a hero forecaster, one key thing to look for is a the resumption in corporate bond issuance. (This is the primary credit market; the secondary market is trading of existing...

The lack of a vaccine means it is vital to take the precautions that can help protect you from coronavirus. You are no doubt alarmed by news reports about the spread of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. Most confirmed cases of coronavirus cause mild symptoms, and it is possible that the death rate for the virus is artificially high because many of these mild cases haven’t been reported. University Health News Coronavirus: Take Precautions, But Try Not to Panic

A pretty scary episode of Renegade.inc.Because of globalisation the world is very  interconnect, but most businesses have taken their supply chains for granted, say Mitch Feierstein and Alan Day. They say that coronavirus is likely to cause serious shortages of food, medicines, and even water, and lots of people may die as a result. The only hope, they say, is a vaccine, and fortunately, there are some in the pipeline, although they don't mention this.The financier, Mitch Feierstein, and the...

Pulitzer-winning author and host of “On Contact” Chris Hedges joins Rick Sanchez to discuss the influence of lobbyists on establishment media in their coverage of politics and that donors, bankers and billionaires have on the US political process. He argues that the corporate elite sees Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) is a much greater threat to corporate power than President Trump, which is why they are uniting so stridently behind former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic...

Heavy on medical terminology but instructive.The Vineyard of the SakerHow to treat Coronavirus infection COVID-19 Interview with the member of Russian Academy of Science Alexander Chuchalin Translated by Scott HumorSee also Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the coronavirus - or any pathogen - cannot spread from...

Those of us who support Manning have been looking at this more as a fine on us than on her, because of course we were never going to let a heroic whistleblower spend the rest of her life under crushing debt. The fact that the money came together so quickly and easily, though, says a lot about the beauty of humans in my opinion.... Now there’s a much humbler task of raising funds for Manning’s living expenses, which is a GoFundMe for a trust of $30,000. This fundraiser is just hours old...

There has been major disruptions in Treasury market liquidity, with it being very difficult to sell off-the-run bonds. My initial reaction to these stories is that this is the typical complaining you get from people in any overly-specialised field when something slightly atypical happens. My argument is the worst case interpretation is that this is a reaction to one or major entities' balance sheets blowing sky high. Alternatively, this is just what happens when too many people take finance...

Get on that bike! Well, I spend three hours a day on my bike anyway.Fortunately, I like sleeping with all my windows open at night too as I'm unable to sleep otherwise, even in winter, especially as they are so mild nowadays. Put simply, medics found that severely ill flu patients nursed outdoors recovered better than those treated indoors. A combination of fresh air and sunlight seems to have prevented deaths among patients; and infections among medical staff.[1] There is scientific...