Tag Archives: US/Global Economics

A counter argument by Robert Reich about Pres. Joe Bidens 2021 CHIPS Act. Why Did the US give away $52bn to corporations like Intel? by Robert Reich The Guardian Congress will soon put final touches on the Chips Act, which will provide more than $52bn to companies that design and make semiconductor chips. The subsidy is demanded by the biggest chipmakers as a condition for making more chips in America. It’s pure extortion. The...

by David Zetland The one-handed economist Sometimes you just want the answer I’ve been thinking of the costs of “staying in place” (in terms of consumption) while Climate Chaos damages arrive since I read 2052 a few years ago (my review). It works like this: CC means that free and useful ecosystem services (e.g., cleaning water, regulating temperatures) are turning into expensive and harmful ecosystem attacks (e.g., storms, floods, heat...

The second part of my book proposal is a chapter outline and summary. I will be doing that on the installment plan, one chapter at a time. Below is a table of contents: 2.0 Marx’s Fetters and the Realm of Freedom: a remedial reading – part 2.0 – Angry Bear 2.1 Ambivalence – Angry Bear 2.2 Der Gefesselte Marx – Angry Bear 2.3 Inversion – Angry Bear 2.4 Alienated labour and disposable time – Angry Bear 2.5 Pauperism and “minus-labour”...

Book proposal: Marx’s Fetters and the Realm of Freedom: a remedial reading — part 2.0 The second part of my book proposal is a chapter outline and summary. I will be doing that on the installment plan, one chapter at a time. Below is a table of contents: Fetters/Der Gefesselte Marx Ambivalence Inversion Alienated labour and disposable time Pauperism and “minus-labour” From sufficiency to planned obsolescence… and back? The...

 I have my usual thoughts about inflation. People confuse levels and changes. I think this is a fundamental cognitive illusion. I think perceived inflation and the perceived effect of inflation on real incomes are based on an impressive pair of errors. 1) people estimate inflation from the price level comparing current prices to prices they remember and consider reasonable. As noted by Krugman and Nate Silver, this is not necessarily an error. It...

Money from Sick People Part IV: Paying a Premium for Drug Pricing Irregularity — 46brooklyn Research Starting with the Q1 2023 Drug Pricing file (all of this information was knowable before the 2024 Medicare plan bid process was completed). Within the files are the five insulin products we identified as taking large price decreases. 46 Brooklyn identifies each of the specific drug products (i.e. dosage form and strength) at the NDC-level, the...

by Tom Walker Econospeak Book proposal: Marx’s Fetters and the Realm of Freedom: a remedial reading — part 2.1 Karl Marx’s preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy contains the best-known description of his theory of history. At some point contradiction between the relations of production and the forces of production become fetters on the latter, ushering in a period of social revolution. The traditional interpretation...

by Tom Walker Econospeak Book proposal: Marx’s Fetters and the Realm of Freedom: a remedial reading — part 2.2 Published in 1821, The Source and Remedy of the National Difficulties was a major influence on Marx’s analysis of ‘disposable time.’ In an 1851 notebook, Marx logged a 1000 word summary of the pamphlet. He also discussed it extensively in volume 3 of Theories of Surplus Value. His discussion of disposable time in a section of...

I had presented Part I and Part II a while back. Part III was difficult to present in a piece-meal way so for now I have set it aside. What is interesting about Part IV is I can beak it apart into segments, still maintain the flow of informatio, and present it in a logical manner. Bear with me. By the time we get to the end, I believe you will be able to piece this together too. In Part IV . . . What Antonio is doing in Part IV is laying the...

by Tom Walker Econospeak Book proposal: Marx’s Fetters and the Realm of Freedom: a remedial reading — part 2.3  Inversion Marx stated repeatedly in the Grundrisse that capital inverts the relationship between necessary and superfluous labour time. Capital both creates disposable time and expropriates it in the form of surplus value, reversing the nature-imposed priority of necessity before superfluity and making the performance of...