Mike Norman Economics

This post is a review of British historian Adam Tooze's histories of WWII (The Wages of Destruction) – and of WWI (The Deluge), which Alastair Crooke applies to current world affairs based on US strategy to diminish political and economic rivals through economic (trade) policy that is really economic warfare. He posits that Tooze's work establishes a precedent for thisStrategic Culture FoundationThe Great Switch: The Geo-Politics of Looming Recession Alastair Crooke | founder and director of...

There are continual Twitter type debates and Op Ed/Blog-type articles going on about whether MMT says this, or that, or something else. The critics are refining their attacks by hammering on about “printing money” and hyperinflation, and, more recently that MMT ignores ‘power’ (whatever that is). The latter leads them to conclude that MMT is thus a naive approach and is inapplicable to a political agenda aiming at changing things for the better. These debates (if you can call them that) are...

Larry Summers attracted a great deal of attention with arguments that post-Keynesian theories ought to be taken into account, and the ability of central banks to stimulate the economy are limited. One could argue that the zeitgeist is shifting in the direction of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT): the role of fiscal policy may be increasingly important. However, I am unsure how far actual economics debates will shift.One may note that Summers dodged discussing MMT in his initial tweets; in fact,...

When leaving the White House for the G7 summit in France, Trump told reporters that he has "the absolute right to do that, but we'll see how it goes." He later explained that he was referring to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) …. Sputnik International Trump Says He Has ‘Absolute Right' to Order US Companies Out of China Based on 1977 Law

This is important. But if you have not been following Russia, then its level of detail may obscure the key point. Sergei Glazyev is the closest to MMT of all the Russian economists of influence, and he was in Putin's inner circle of advisors until this announcement.The Saker unpacks its implications for Russia. He views it as good move by Putin, since it is simply not possible to implement a Glazyev program in Russia. Neither is Putin that powerful if he wanted to do so, but other...

The now not-so-hidden agenda is to take Chimerica apart, although I haven't seen it in the Western media yet, and this is decidedly not where American business and finance want to go. Moon of AlabamaU.S. Decoupling From China Forces Others To Decouple From U.S.

RTEpstein: The Maxwell Connection (by George Galloway) Consortium NewsThe Missing Howls of Denunciation Over Major Sex TraffickingMint Press NewsFrom “Spook Air” to the “Lolita Express”: The Genesis and Evolution of the Jeffrey Epstein-Bill Clinton Relationship Whitney Webb Caitlin Johnstone — Rogue JournalistHow To Awaken From The Matrix Using Self-Enquiry Caitlin Johnstone The Babylon BeeReality Criticized For Not More Clearly Distinguishing Itself From Satire Defend Democracy...

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney took aim at the U.S. dollar's "destabilizing" role in the world economy on Friday and said central banks might need to join together to create their own replacement reserve currency.… Boom!!! (Sound of heads exploding.)ReutersWorld needs to end risky reliance on U.S. dollar: BoE's Carney Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by David Milliken

In an environment of secular stagnation in the developed economies, central bankers’ ingenuity in loosening monetary policy is exactly what is not needed. What is needed are admissions of impotence, in order to spur efforts by governments to promote demand through fiscal policies and other means. Throwing in the towel (but not endorsing MMT). Politically, this is about control of the Democratic Party after the transition from Clinton-Obama-Third Way. Summers is on the side of the...

The insights of this new data series are many, but for this post here I want to highlight a single eye-popping statistic. Between 1989 and 2018, the top 1 percent increased its total net worth by $21 trillion. The bottom 50 percent actually saw its net worth decrease by $900 billion over the same period.… People's Policy ProjectTop 1% Up $21 Trillion. Bottom 50% Down $900 Billion.Matt Bruenig