Mike Norman Economics

Targeted expenditure based on priorities determined by national security and aimed at neutralizing threats. In other words, defense rather than global power projection, like US-led NATO. The real expenditure, however, is not in nominal terms but with respect to allocation of real resources that are scarce, most significantly, knowledge and skill. Russia has established dominance in technological innovation in weapons development and manufacture. This requires investment in education and...

Lula detailed the current “terrible conditions” for Brazilian workers. He ripped to pieces the economic program – basically a monster sell-out – of Finance Minister Paulo Guedes, a Chicago boy and Pinochetist who’s applying the same failed hardcore neoliberal prescriptions now being denounced and scorned every day in the streets of Chile. He detailed how the Brazilian right wing openly bet on neo-fascism, which is the form that neoliberalism recently took in Brazil. He blasted mainstream...

Backgrounder on neoconservatism and its marriage of convenience with liberal internationalism (Wilsonianism). Does the permanent warfare of today's neocons differ in any real way from the Trotsky idea of permanent world revolution? Socialism has been replaced by democracy-promotion but that difference is small, particularly as the consequences continue to play out on the world stage. This prompts the question as to why Donald Trump has appointed neoconservatives like John Bolton when he is a...

What happens if the two premises on which Israel and America’s grand Iran strategy is founded are proven false? ‘What if’ maximum pressure fails either to implode the Iranian state politically, nor brings Iran to its knees, begging for a new ‘hairshirt’ nuclear deal? Well …? Well, it seems that Netanyahu and Mossad were so cocksure of their initial premise, that they neglected to think beyond first move on the chess board. It was to be checkmate in one. And this neglect is the cause of the...

Market strategists have repeatedly warned about the potential fallout from the collapse of retail sales in China, a trend that has already led to a recession in global auto sales, while Chinese factory output has also declined. But the economic doldrums facing the world's most populous country didn't stop Chinese consumers from posting a massive tab on Alibaba's Singles Day. In fact, according to CNBC, it was the largest haul in the 11-year history of Singles Day.... But with the trade war...

Bill's 4 part series on Japan.Bill Mitchell – billy blogQ&A Japan style – Part 1Q&A Japan style – Part 2Q&A Japan style – Part 3Some reflections on my time in Japan while I am too busy to writeQ&A Japan style – Part 4 Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

An excellent way to explain it. When the goverment spends, that spending is someones income and that someone pays some tax so the government immediately gets some of their money back. And then that someone spends most of their money which becomes other peoples income. And these other people also pay tax, so the government gets another fraction back. And these other people also spend which becomes the income of even more people who also give a fraction back to the goverment. And so on. If...

The Grayzone's Anya Parampil took over an Al Jazeera interview to provide a point-by-point rebuttal of major myths surrounding the coup in Bolivia and placed the ouster of Evo Morales in proper historical context. [embedded content]

Anecdotally, several acquaintances have altered their view of future real estate prices and prospects, affecting their decisions on RE purchases and sales to reduce risk in view of expected or demonstrated location exposure. A very small sample, but it seems this could already be happening. If so, this is where the rubber hits the road.Zero HedgeMorgan Stanley: "Climate Will Be A Key Driver Of Asset Prices In The Months And Years Ahead" Tyler Durden

The military also ordered air-and-land operations to 'neutralise' armed groups that act outside the law.Everything in the West is a lie. No doubt the Western media will back this. The commander of Bolivia's armed forces called on embattled President Evo Morales to resign amid a growing furor over his disputed re-election. Morales should step aside to help ensure stability in the country, armed forces commander Williams Kaliman told reporters on Sunday, heaping pressure on the leftist...