Mike Norman Economics

The big news from Italy this week is the seizure by Turin police of a massive arsenal of weapons held by a neo-Nazi group. Among the weapons was a stonking-big air-to-air missile. Reporting the story, the BBC links the neo-Nazis to ‘Russian-backed separatist forces’ in Ukraine….Naughty separatists. Despite all that talk of fighting ‘fascism’, it appears that they’re in bed with neo-Nazis. But then again, maybe not. For as Mark Ames points out on Twitter, there’s a problem with the BBC...

Checkpoint AsiaBRICS Now a Larger Share of World Economy Than G7 Constantin Gurdgiev

Dumb to spend $20 mln to stick your lines next to NYSE server.

Over the past few years, the economic literature and prominent scholars have paved the way for expansionist fiscal policy. In the US, Modern Monetary Theory proposes to finance a Green New Deal and full employment by increasing the deficit and using the central bank to pay off debt by printing more money. MMT is attracting more and more attention in Europe, including among populist parties, but also beyond, and will certainly be part of the conversation in upcoming elections. Investment to...

This dramatic rise is most likely caused by austerity and the government’s reduction of the deficit, though the post referendum stagnating wages and rise in inflation has also spurred on the level of debt. The relation with public and private debt is one that is of increasing interest to Post-Keynesian economists especially those who put their faith in Modern Monetary Theory. MMT would suggest the dropping government deficit is pushing the rest of us into deficit but the way the government...

Arvin Ash Says if we ever produce a quantum computer then we have to take the parallel universe theory seriously. Well, Google are on the verve of developing one.Alvin says physicists have worked out the size of our universe from the amount of marter there is, but the universe may be much bigger, extending without matter into infinity. But if it is infinite, then matter will eventually turn up again, and again, and again for infinity too.Now there are only so many ways you can combine all...

Shaun Scott is a DSA member running for Seattle City Council. We talked to him about his bold platform: building public housing, taxing the rich, and pushing for a municipal Green New Deal. A job guarantee (universal job offer to fit the applicant to the work) is only one piece of the pie to right the ship of the economy. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the UN General Assembly, all persons have a right to work (article 23), a right to leisure (article 24) and a...

China’s economy grew by 6.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2019, the lowest figure since records began in March 1992, but other data for June better than expected While this falls within Beijing’s GDP target for the year of between 6 to 6.5 per cent, it also shows the pressure the economy is under with the US trade war ongoing More wishful thinking. The Western media give the impression that the China economy is in decline when it's still sizzling growth moderated slightly and one...

Hotel Mount Washington where the Betton Woods Conference was held in 1944. Bretton Woods is the name of the town in New Hampshire.Global MonitorThe Bear On The Balcony At Bretton Woods

Professor Guy Standing was invited to speak to a group of leading Silicon Valley executives and they listened taking lots of notes. At the end of the speech a famous multi-billionaire got up and said he agreed with him.Guy Standing explains how the patent system is being abused creating rents for the One Percent and stifling competition.He also explains how privatisation has failed the public. [embedded content] There are three fundamental issues that lie at the heart of our current...