The 2022 Globie: Money and Empire by Joseph Joyce Every year we name a book the “Globalization Book of the Year” (aka the “Globie”). The prize is (alas!) strictly honorific and does not come with a monetary award. But announcing the award gives me a chance to draw attention to a recent book—or books—that are particularly insightful about globalization. Previous winners are listed at the bottom of the column (also see here and here). This...

Bankerna driver på klimatkrisen Offentliga institutioner reglerar redan i dag bankernas penningskapande i allmänhetens intresse, om än på ett mycket fragmentariskt sätt. Det tydligaste exemplet är kanske de strikta skyldigheter som bankerna har för att säkerställa att de pengar de skapar inte används för finansiering av terrorism och penningtvätt.Tidigare, efter andra världskriget, styrdes många banker att låna ut till sektorer som ansågs viktiga för den...

Unionize America sea to shining sea — do away with the biggest threat to democracy — with one easy federal labor law stroke. On Today’s Page (ontodayspage.blogspot.com), Denis Drew. Denis Drew has a commentary unions and federal Labor Law. Conjuring up a potential labor market where all businesses are family owned and family operated. Where no outside labor is hired and prices of goods and services are set at the highest amount families...

That was my suggested headline for my latest opinion piece, which ran in Australian online magazine Crikey under the sub-editors (blander IMO) choice of “We don’t need a nuclear renaissance. We need a solid plan on renewables” The idea of the piece was to respond to Exhibit A in the case for nuclear power, the successful French construction program of the 1970s and 1980s, under the Messmer Plan. I’ve previously written about the way this program depended on the power of the French...

Radical universalism beyond identity .[embedded content] The universalist ideas of the Enlightenment are still relevant, despite the numerous criticisms that have been levelled against them. The Enlightenment was characterized by a spirit of exploration that led to new discoveries in both science and culture. Rather than promoting a narrow worldview, it encouraged people to question assumptions and religious beliefs. It still provides a framework for...

The question of the popular or bourgeois profile of different votes has always given rise to a great deal of controversy. In our « History of political conflict« ,  Julia Cagé and I developed a method for establishing a number of facts and trends. We begin by compiling the electoral results at muncipality level for all legislative and presidential elections from 1848 to 2022, as well as for the most significant referendums from 1793 to 2005. We then classify the 36,000 municipalities ...

Has the scenario changed? Here’s what I think. 

Wealth and debt are related?

The 2 big reasons (one obvious, one subtle) why real median household income declined in 2022  – by New Deal democrat Last week, with its usual very big lag, median household income was reported by the Census Bureau for 2022. If, given big wage gains and hiring in 2022, you were expecting a significant increase, well, that didn’t happen. Instead, real median household income declined -2.3% from $76,330 in 2021 to $74,580: Unsurprisingly,...

General Disclaimer: I don’t know what I am writing about. I am an economist not an electical engineer. This should go without saying, but just in case, remember that I don’t know what I am typing about. Radar is used to determine where airplanes are. One use is air traffic control for civil aviation — the airplanes cooperate. Another is military — hostile aircraft do not cooperate. First in civil aviation, the system is far removed from...