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 this:Like Loading...

Given the latest catastrophe in Israel/Palestine, it’s time for me to repost my comprehensive plan for US policy in the Middle East, just as applicable now as it was when I suggested it back in 2011. As usual, it’s over the fold. Share this:Like this:Like Loading...

Around the world, up through the mid-20th century, it was pretty much dog-eat-dog. Until the 19th, according to legend, nations attacking one another gave the peasantry something worthwhile to do with their lives and provided entertainment for the Nobility. Until the 19th, legend was a bit weak on the details. Then, history and photography came along and screwed everything up. Turns out, far from being splendid, wars were too awful to even think...

Economics and the way the world works With any phenomenon of interest, understanding its nature or essential properties allows us to relate to, or interact with, it in more knowledgeable and competent ways than would otherwise be the case … A surprising number of social theorists, when embarking on substantive analyses, pay almost no attention at all to insights bearing on the nature of these (or any other) factors. Instead, the preferred option is to...

“Energizer Bunny economy!”  Another figure of speech…   This is what you get from these people… every time…

An excellent headline jobs number may mask unresolved seasonality, while unemployment weakness “stuck” at a higher level  – by New Deal democrat As per my reporting earlier this week, my focus this month was on whether wage and jobs growth continue to decelerate, and whether the unemployment rate would remain “sticky” at its higher, 3.8%, rate. Two of those three came to pass. The third, jobs growth, emphatically did not! But it may well...

I have been thinking about buprenorphine, naltrexone and the stimulants cocaine and methamphetamine. An issue which came to my mind recently and which I think it worth discussing is that cocaine is often cut and replaced with fentanyl to hide the over-dilution. This is sometimes done sloppily leading to fentanyl overdoses of people who did not know they were consuming opiates. This is another reason to provide naltrexone to all who request...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]This first week of October has seen U.S. interest rates soar to the 5% level on long-term Treasury bonds. That has made long-term Treasuries one of most attractive investment vehicles in the world, or even the most attractive. One obvious result is that countries aiming to dedollarize their central-bank reserves would make an untimely decision Continue Reading The post A BRICS+ Bank: How would it really function? first appeared on Michael Hudson.

The issue is an alternative payments system and not an alternative currency.Naked CapitalismMichael Hudson: A BRICS+ Bank: How Would It Really Function?With introduction by Yves Smith

Like most U.S. appointees to head the [World] Bank, Banga had no experience or earlier interest in development finance. Now, he is obliged to pursue U.S. interests and agendas. He has already announced he will rely on the private sector for funds and ideas....Neo-feudalism. MR OnlineDebt-pushing as financial inclusionJomo Kwame SundaramOriginally published: IPS News on October 4, 2023