The yellow caution flag on retail consumption is up  – by New Deal democrat Retail sales declined -0.1% in June, but since consumer inflation also declined -0.1%, real retail sales were unchanged for the month. There was an upward revision to May which helped out the comparisons slightly, but for the entire first half of this year real retail sales have been treading water at a level below last year. The below graph is normed to 100 as of right...

 Not MMT per se, but it explains something of the tenacious hold that neoliberalism has on economic and monetary policy owing to the Bank of International Settlements ((BIS).Monetary Policy Institute Blog #146The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) as ideological fortress for monetary technocratsVadym Syrota, Ph.D. in economics, independent banking expert, contributor to the specialized blog of the Kennan Institute Woodrow Wilson Center (USA)See alsoThe development of BRICS and its...

For the record. Trouble in MMT-land.Funding the FutureMMT’s Leeds conference and disinvitationsFunding the Future (formerly Tax Research UK)Richard Murphy, Tax Research LLP

Once the Fed starts cutting rates, things are going to change big time. But not the way people think.

I was born into an America where the eight-hour workday was widely observed. But what was for me just another fact of life was a hard-won right of the labor movement that cost hundreds of lives. “Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age America” by James R. Green is a history of the fight for the 8-hour work week and the labor movement of late 19th century America. It is also a...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Nima interview July 12 2024 World Shaking Up! Epic Political & Economic Earthquakes, Dialogue Works, July 12, 2024. NIMA ROSTAMI ALKHORSHID: Michael, let’s get started with the SCO summit. And right after that, we’re having the NATO summit. It seems that NATO is fighting on behalf of the United States to try to preserve the Continue Reading The post All Of Our Wealth Has Been Coming From You first appeared on Michael Hudson.

Thom Hartmann Commentary Some interesting reads . . . Finally: The New York Times Editorial Board Calls for Republicans To Reject Trump.  Calling him “Dangerous in Word, Deed, and Action,” the Times editorial board laid out, in detail, how deranged Trump is and how deadly his second presidency would be to American democracy and to the American people ourselves. Biden’s gaffes notwithstanding, he’s been one of the most effective and...

by Jasper Craven Task & Purpose In mid-April, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, and Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough demanding to know why the agency was wounding itself.  Specifically, they worried about a series of seemingly contradictory eligibility and staffing policies. In March, the VA handed down a directive that expanded healthcare eligibility to...

by Lloyd Alter Carbon Upfront! The size an style of these vehicles will not make you embrace them as an alternative form of transportation. The concept is solid though. The savings to be achieved is realistic. The impact on our environment would be enormous. It is about time America abandons the too big, too fast, and too often phase we have in our heads. Doug Ford, the Premier of the Province of Ontario where I live, is trying to...

Despite the relative majority obtained by the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP, left-wing alliance) in legislative elections, the French political landscape remains marked by divisions and uncertainty. Let’s be clear: The left’s gains in votes and seats are actually very limited, and reflect insufficient work on both policy and structure. It is only by resolutely tackling these shortcomings that the left-wing parties will be able to get through the period of turbulence and minority...