Mike Norman Economics

Confronting an MMT critic (Ajit Ranade).Live MintOpinion | Why Modern Money Theory needs to be taken seriouslySashi Sivramkrishna

Stocks at record highs.

For 40 years, elites in rich and poor countries alike promised that neoliberal policies would lead to faster economic growth, and that the benefits would trickle down so that everyone, including the poorest, would be better off. Now that the evidence is in, is it any wonder that trust in elites and confidence in democracy have plummeted?... Trickle down or pissing on? I am not sure about his blanket recommendation to restore Enlightenment values. Enlightenment values led to bourgeois...

Every year, I look at measuring the US rate of profit a la Marx. Official data are now available in order to update the measurement for 2018 (not 2019 yet!). As usual, if you wish to replicate my results, I again refer you to the excellent manual for doing so, kindly compiled by Anders Axelsson from Sweden.There are many ways to measure the rate of profit a la Marx (for the various ways, see http://pinguet.free.fr/basu2012.pdf). As previously, I start with an update of the measure used by...

How intelligence agencies go undercover online to target groups, chat rooms, and blogs to manipulate the discourse and discredit activists to destroy their reputations. It's an attack on free speech, and yet we are told we live in the 'Free West'.  One of the many pressing stories that remains to be told from the Snowden archive is how western intelligence agencies are attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction. It’s...

The latest liberal parlor game is pretending there’s no such thing as neoliberalism. The game’s very popularity highlights neoliberalism’s enduring hegemony. What is neoliberalism, well, we all know, it's the present economic and political system adopted by the West the last 40 years or so? Started by Reagan and Thatcher, it involves mass privatisations and reduced government regulations, where private was always deemed good while publicly owned companies were considered bad. The...

'Most non-Isis powers — including Shia Iran and the leading Sunni states — agree on the need to destroy it. But which entity is supposed to inherit its territory?' Most normal people want to see ISIS eliminated, or at least disbanded and neutralised, but some officials think the head-chopping terrorists are useful for US foreign policy. Henry Kissinger has warned that destroying Isis could lead to an “Iranian radical empire”.  The former diplomat has suggested that once Isis is defeated,...

This is the first part of a three-part series this week, where I provide some guidance on some key questions about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) that various parties in Japan have raised with me. The public discussion about MMT in Japan is relatively advanced (compared to elsewhere). Questions are asked about it and answered in the Japanese Diet (Parliament) and senior economics officials in the central bank and government make comments about it. And political activists across the political...

Rather, the unprecedented decision to utilize six of Russia’s most advanced fifth-generation fighters—approximately half of the currently available roster—in a VIP escort mission is the latest step in Russia’s ongoing Su-57 branding campaign. Unsurprisingly, Putin has repeatedly showered the Su-57 with adulation over the past several years; it was only several months ago that he referred to it as the best fighter in the world. But as high-stakes Su-57 export talks with Turkey, India, and...

Sputnik InternationalUK's Super-Rich Reportedly Ready to Leave Country 'Within Minutes' if Labour Wins Snap ElectionSputnik InternationalHuawei Thriving Despite Mounting US Pressure, Company Executive Reveals The GeopoliticsIndia’s Naval Ambitions: Has it Realised the Mahanian Moment? Sindu Dinesh Zero HedgeHow Controlling Syria's Oil Serves Washington's Strategic Objectives? Nauman SadiqSic Semper Tyrannis Burn CIA and FBI to the ground? Start over? Col. W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret.)...