Mike Norman Economics

Capitalism is about capitalizing whatever can be capitalized into an asset on a balance sheet. And it can be said that the creation of these 'assets' is now the focus of modern capitalism. This then defines modern capitalism as a mechanism for rent extraction, and not profit-making. And what that means is that value creation has ceased to be what markets are about. No wonder we are in the end-times for neoliberalism. Tax Research UK Assetisation and the end times of neoliberalismRichard...

  Update on what is known. A lot remains unknown or unclear, especially in the fog of panic. There is also considerable misinformation. The push is on to isolate the disease to prevent pandemic. This creates an impression that the worst is already happening when it is not. The worst case is a mutating virus and as far as is known, this is not happening — yet.  Let's keep this is perspective though. The likelihood of contracting coronavirus is still very low in most places, and the...

A debate is set by the way it is framed, along with the parties acceptance or rejection of key assumptions of the framework. These initial conditions determine the course of the debate and the likely winner. Accepting the assumptions of conventional political economy as the application of macroeconomics to policy issues all but guarantees defeat in policy debates since it is an uphill fight against entrenched forces to which one has needlessly and foolishly ceded the advantage. Bill...

Norway turns neoliberalism and neoclassical economics on its head. It does the opposite and yet it's the best place on Earth to live.All the incentives we are told about in neoclassical economics are not apparent. The cost is living is higher, probably because the wages of the poorest are pretty good, which will will increase prices. On average, those at the top earn 4 x more than those on the bottom, so when going for a meal the restaurant staff will be earning a fairly good wage. The...

Inexplicable problems require a whole new kind of economic thinking - and MMT is more logical than you probably think it is. Conventional economics has struggled to explain much of what’s happening in the world today. How can we have record low inflation and interest rates at the same time? How can some governments continue to increase their deficits and yet their bond yields go down and currencies go up? How on earth can you justify negative bond yields? There is one school of...

Employers in city region sign charter aimed at improving wages and workers’ treatment Employers in Greater Manchester have agreed to ban zero-hours contracts and pay above the minimum wage as founder supporters of its “Good Employment Charter”, launching this week. A handful will sign the charter, the brainchild of Labour mayor Andy Burnham, with more than 60 pledging to do so soon. More than 100 companies are in talks to sign the charter. FT - Manchester businesses agree to ban...

A video has surfaced of Paula White saying ‘We command any satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now!’ How the human mind works can be pretty scary, just about anything can be justified!2 She practices prosperity theology White believes in a school of thought called “prosperity theology”, which sounds a lot like a pyramid scheme. She believes that financial prosperity is a sign of God’s approval. Which means that God must really like her – she has a multimillion-dollar home in a gated...

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Properly understood, the middle class is the source of all growth and prosperity in a modern technological economy. There was six great Chinese civilizations and all of them collapsed for the same reason. Small rural villages would eventually become towns, and towns into districts, and districts into a country. The emperor would be benign and rule fairly. Small businesses prospered and and a well-off middle-class emerged.  Some businesses grew larger and a new merchant class...

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