Mike Norman Economics

Labor shortage resulting in increasing labor share.. general sales prices for now remaining mostly stable...$SPX is reporting a (Y/Y) decline in earnings of -4.7% for Q3 2019, which would mark the 3rd straight quarter of (Y/Y) earnings declines for the index. https://t.co/4CyajAfhmR pic.twitter.com/UIRc9jPQDW— FactSet (@FactSet) October 19, 2019

US labor shortage continues to get worse:How tight is the U.S. jobs market? Denver's light-rail system has had to cancel trips because there aren’t enough operators to run the trains https://t.co/L6bYjMsHU8— Bloomberg Economics (@economics) October 23, 2019

In “Monopoly”, the bank can “print” money indefinitely, the players get into debt, and the state adds 200 Marks each round. But what if everyone had to pay 200 Marks each round and would suffer negative returns when owning railway stations?  Even if “Monopoly” comes from the US, it has long since become a classic German game. And it goes like this: In the ideal case four players buy and sell roads, build houses and hotels and pay each other rent, which depends on the price of the road and...

Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science“The Role of Nature versus Nurture in Wealth and Other Economic Outcomes and Behaviors” Andrew Gelman | Professor of Statistics and Political Science and Director of the Applied Statistics Center, Columbia UniversityProject SyndicateThe Open Secret of Development Economics Yao Yang is a professor at the National School of Development and China Center for Economic Research at Peking UniversityProject SyndicateWhy Rich Cities Rebel...

Must-read backgrounder on Syria."You can't tell the players without the scorecard."Dances with BearsOil And Water Don’t Mix – The Solution To The War In Syria Gary Busch Originally published at Lima Charlie News

Zombies selling on the news, as usual.

Putin is said to suppport the far-right parties in Europe - although he doesn't like the ones in the Ukraine very much. But Putin's Russia also funds the high quality liberal, left-leaning RT English. Well, you have to confuse your enemy, right, and Putin is the 'grand, devilish mastermind', they tell us.So the liberal, anti-war Tulsi Gabbard gets associated with the neo-nazi far-right. C.J. Hopkins says the media will destroy her. So much for democracy, hey! The Times piece goes on to list...

Continued strong growth, which is also reflected in home loans.Calculated RiskComments on September Existing Home SalesBill McBride

The signals of unrest in Chile mounted for years amid corruption scandals, rising inequality, and new monopolies. The tax increase on public transport that sparked the protests was only the final straw. ProMarket — The blog of the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessHow Economic Concentration and Crony Capitalism Led to the Chaos in ChileDaniel Matamala | Host of 360 and CNN Prime at CNN Chile

It is rumoured that Julian Assange is being treated with harsh psychiatric drugs to melt his brain. Who knows, but he has become almost incoherent. But his physical appearance was not as shocking as his mental deterioration. When asked to give his name and date of birth, he struggled visibly over several seconds to recall both. I will come to the important content of his statement at the end of proceedings in due course, but his difficulty in making it was very evident; it was a real...