Mike Norman Economics

Francis Fukuyama says Beijing challenged the expectations he had when he published his book in 1992, but Chinese system must evolve to flourish This is not a glowing article about China, but it's interesting.  Francis Fukuyama says Chinese model may be very successful, but it could still go wrong. The Chinese middleclass are not interested in democracy, just a rising standard of living, and if the government fails to achieve this then the system may eventually fail.What I find...

This is not fixing anything.

Last Friday (October 4, 2019), a group of former central bank governors and/or officials in Europe, issued a statement damming the conduct of the European Central Bank. You can read the full text at Bloomberg – Memorandum on ECB Monetary Policy by Issing, Stark, Schlesinger. The timing of the intervention is interesting given the change of boss at the ECB is imminent. As I explain in what follows, the Memorandum should be disregarded. Its central contentions are mostly correct but the...

"Deficit too small!" ???Not that this is news to anyone here (at least shouldn't be): BREAKING: The CBO has estimated the federal budget deficit for 2019 to be $984 billion, the highest since 2012 - The Hill— News Breaking LIVE (@NewsBreaking) October 7, 2019

Book review by Marshall steinbaum.Binyamin Appelbaum’s new book has lived up to its controversial billing, particularly among its subjects. The book condemns the role the economics profession has played in breeding inequality, and holds economists to account for the resulting backlash of xenophobic white nationalism. When the New York Times published an excerpt, the reaction was sadly predictable: How dare he suggest that economists don’t care about inequality? It is only because of...

These new quantum computers will break all our encryption systems by overcoming them in seconds, or minutes, warn experts. A hacker may try to get into your account by trying one random computer generated password after another. If you have a 16 digit password it will take him years to get in, but with a quantum computer it will take maybe seconds or minutes.'Our modern systems of finance, commerce, communication, transportation, manufacturing, energy, government, and healthcare will for all...

[embedded content] Why did the intelligence agencies want to destroy Trump so much, asks Stephen Cohen. Other presidents have pursued detente, so why was Trump targeted so much.

Mother JonesAn Actual Conspiracy Kept Jeffrey Epstein’s Accomplices out of PrisonWith four little words, the government granted immunity to Epstein’s co-conspirators. Why? Leland NallyWCEG — The EquitablogThe political influence and preferences of the U.S. economic elite Somin Park Reminiscence of the FutureOn Russia And China (Again).Andrei MartyanovDances with BearsUKRAINIAN OLIGARCH VICTOR PINCHUK IS PUTTING HIS MONEY ON JOE BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT AT $40,000 PER MONTH – THAT’S $3,000 MORE...

It’s not the bureaucracy, it’s not the police, it’s not the politics but what is corrupt is the financial capital' Britain is the most corrupt country in the world, according to journalist Roberto Saviano, who spent more than a decade exposing the criminal dealings of the Italian Mafia. Mr Saviano, who wrote the best-selling exposés Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero, made the comments at the Hay Literary Festival. The 36-year-old has been living under police protection since publishing...