.[embedded content] Angesichts der Ergebnisse der jüngsten Landtagswahlen in Deutschland gibt es allen Grund, Schröters Ansichten sehr ernst zu nehmen. Andernfalls besteht ein großes Risiko, dass populistische Extremistenparteien wie die AfD und die BSW weiterhin ihre Positionen ausbauen.

In today’s AFR. It’s paywalled and I don’t have access (I’ve been promised a PDF) so here’s what I submitted, which may not be final. Six months ago, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers was planning legislation to remove his own power (never used, but always available until now) to over-ride decisions of the Reserve Bank. Now, he has not only decided to retain this power, but has openly criticised the Bank’s interest rate decisions as “smashing the economy”. It’s easy enough to...

I have long thought that there is a (partially effective) treatment for opiate addiction — suboxone. To review suboxone is a mixture of buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is a partial opiate receptor agonist (activator) which also blocks other opiates. At least when taken orally, it relieves opiate craving but does not make people high and prevents them from getting high with other opiates. Naloxone is the well know opiate antagonist used in...

I have read many articles quoting (brave) Republicans complaining about Donald Trump’s focus on personal, petty and implausible attacks on Kamala Harris. They often assert that if the election were decided on the basis of policy or issues, then Trump would win. Here is the latest discussion I read about that (just the available link and an excellent blog post). My immediate reaction is to argue that the Republicans’ claim is false and that voters...

If so, that is the most important thing for the market.

 – by New Deal democrat On this Labor Day, it is fitting to update the economic state of ordinary workers. There is a variety of economic data series to track both average and median wages: The most commonly known measure average hourly pay for nonsupervisory workers, which is part of the monthly jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which conducts the household employment survey, also reports “usual weekly earnings” for full-time...

Debt Relief Could Have Changed Everything.

[embedded content] 643,567 views May 20, 2024Why would I be timely with this Keynote Address to the Class of 2024 by Ken Burns. Fifty-something addresses to graduating classes at Brandeis University. Good listen if you have 25 minutes to hear it. Ken Burns books are good reads and make for something to do while spending 10 or more hours on a plane. ...

The university where I was on faculty for 37 years has one of ten NIH-funded vaccine testing and evaluation units in the US. I vividly recall attending a presentation by the clinical director of our vaccine center in January of 2020 on the then-new SARS-CoV-2 virus. By the summer, our vaccine center became a clinical trial site for the Moderna mRNA vaccine. I immediately enrolled, even though I knew I had a 50% chance of being in the placebo arm (in...

Mainstream economics has a blind spot. It ignores private debt. This oversight is like trying to navigate a ship without a compass. You might think you're on course, but the reality is you're lost at sea. Credit is the lifeblood of the economy. It fuels growth and drives performance. When we overlook it, we miss the crucial factors that determine economic health. Take a look at the relationship between credit and unemployment. From 1990 to 2014, a staggering correlation...