Mike Norman Economics

Scientists advising the government say an aggressive new approach adopted to attempt to "suppress" the virus may have to be in place for 18 months. The UK only realised "in the last few days" that attempts to "mitigate" the impact of the coronavirus pandemic would not work, and that it needed to shift to a strategy to "suppress" the outbreak, according to a report by a team of experts who have been advising the government. The report, published by the Imperial College COVID-19 Response...

Cuban doctors and medicine to rescue the world from COVID-19 While the first clinical test for a Coronavirus vaccine started in the United States today, Cuba may have already developed a successful medicine able to cure COVID-19. The western world has been slow to recognize the potential that this small Caribbean nation is contributing to the biggest challenge the world has faced in a very long time. Could Cuba save Italy and the world from Coronavirus?

So much for safe haven.Sputnik InternationalBitcoin Tumbles 15%, Mirroring Slumps of Global Markets

It’s now cheaper to invest in renewable energy than coal in all major markets around the world—and more than half of existing coal plants are also more expensive to keep running than building new renewables, according to a new report. By 2030, the think tank estimates that new renewables will be cheaper than existing coal plants in all major markets.... Milestone.Fast CompanyFrom U.S. to Europe to China to Russia, renewables are now cheaper than coal Adele Peters

These morons are DESTROYING THE FREAKING ECONOMY!!

Life as we knew it is changing fast, almost by the hour. Most of my speaking engagements, which were heavily booked for the foreseeable future, have been cancelled or deferred. All the gigs that my band was booked for have been cancelled until people start returning to the now, empty venues. And, more significantly, the ideologues are giving way to the pragmatists in the policy space. Almost (see below). The sudden realisation that even Germany will now spend large amounts to protect their...

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