Memorial Day . . . I am sure everyone is out cooking burgers and hot dogs except in the desert where the temperature is triple digit. And what is this old Marine Sergeant gonna do? Certainly not get out in the heat. I will drink a beer to honor the friends I lost and in the silence of my home. No parades, no John Wayne movies, just silence and thinking of the times I drank a beer with them. Robert Reich has an interesting commentary up about...

In praise of pluralism Recognition of the speculative value of counterfactualizing provides the grounding for a defense of theoretical pluralism in economics. The existence of multiple contending theories in economics is inconvenient, of course. It casts doubt on the truth content of the counterfactual scenarios generated by the predominant approach and challenges the predominant causal claims … But that is precisely the virtue of contending theoretical...

from Dean Baker Suppose the G-7 finance ministers sat down and worked out a plan to spend tens of billions of dollars a year to subsidize developing countries in their transition to a green economy. Many of us might think this is a good idea since global warming poses a real threat to the planet. Unfortunately, the G-7 finance ministers seem to have done the exact opposite. According to the coverage in the New York Times, they discussed ways to retaliate against China over its own plans...

Can you spare 21 minutes of your time? [embedded content] Ken Burns, H’24 Keynote Address to Brandeis University’s 2024 Graduates, youtube.com.Some easy listening . . . Tags: Ken Burns

Tom Dispatch site commentary suggested by Dale Coberly . . . Tom: It’s not complicated. This country, as TomDispatch regular and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign Liz Theoharis makes clear today, is simply unprepared — unprepared, that is, to keep all too many Americans even reasonably healthy and well. It matters little that this may be the wealthiest country on the planet . . . The Great Unwinding by Liz Theoharis TomDispatch.com...

I seldom eat at chain restaurants, and I’ve never set foot in a Red Lobster. So the latest bankruptcy of Red Lobster doesn’t affect me personally, but it does serve as yet another illustration of pernicious consequences of vulture capitalism.When the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital bought Red Lobster, the chain was already beaten down by the COVID pandemic and rising operating costs. “Typically, when a private-equity firm takes over a company,...

Friskolor — en nationell säkerhetsrisk Utöver AcadeMedia ägs tre större utbildningskoncerner av utländska aktörer. Internationella Engelska Skolans huvudägare är registrerad i Luxemburg, skol- och förskolekoncernen Dibber ägs av det norska bolaget Laeringsverkstaedet som i sig ägs av ett norskt par boende i Schweiz, och förskolekoncernen Norlandia ägs av det norska investmentbolaget Hospitality Invest. Det här är aktörer som alla har intresse av att...

The Conversation asked economists about the budget. I thought the questions poorly framed. Q: What grade would you give the budget, given Chalmers’ stated objective of “fighting inflation in the near term and then growth in the medium term”? A, B, C, D, E or F My answer: An exclusive, or even primary, focus on a rapid return to an arbitrary inflation target represents a misconception of the role of fiscal policy. I decline to offer a rating on this basis. Considered more...

Another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please. I’m now using Substack as a blogging platform, and for my monthly email newsletter. For the moment, I’ll post both at this blog and on Substack. You can also follow me on Mastodon here. Share this:Like Loading...

Watch the full Real-Time with Steve Keen & Friends where this clip was from. Full Show: https://www.youtube.com/live/MNpVQvgzn30?si=IyA66BpHcn_aSecI