Some Canadian conservatives were predictably angry last week when the Federal Liberal government highlighted Canada’s relatively low net debt. They want to instead focus on the gross debt, which moved in a different direction. (The figure above shows the gross and net financial liabilities of the “general government” — includes provincial governments. Canadian provincial governments have a big economic footprint, and in order for the debt figures to be comparable to international peers, you...

I was at the optometrist the other day getting my regular eye test and all the person doing the test wanted to talk about was whether we were heading into recession. I think he was toying with buying a new apartment to live in and was trying to assess risk with the rising interest rate regime and all the negative talk. I actually don’t like giving that sort of advice to people I am dealing with in that sort of relationship. But it is a good question – and there is evidence either way. First,...

The USD as a "nuclear" weapon. It is the preferred weapon in that it leaves everything intact while submitting the recalcitrants to US-elites will. But, ironically, use of the weapon weakens the weapon as other countries develop counters to it, such as alternative payments systems and import substitution that build selfsufficiency.CaitlinJohnstone.comMarco Rubio Accidentally Makes A Great Argument Against US Dollar HegemonyCaitlin Johnstone

Bayes theorem — what’s the big deal? There’s nothing magical about Bayes’ theorem. It boils down to the truism that your belief is only as valid as its evidence. If you have good evidence, Bayes’ theorem can yield good results. If your evidence is flimsy, Bayes’ theorem won’t be of much use. Garbage in, garbage out. The potential for Bayes abuse begins with your initial estimate of the probability of your belief, often called the “prior” … In many cases,...

Open Thread March 28, 2023, Angry Bear, Angry Bear Blog Tags: open thread

I have been hitting the issues with FFS Medicare vs Medicare Advantage hard. Primarily, Medicare Advantage is draining Medicare funding due to the $billions being spent due to over-coding. Twelve $billion of over-coding charges in 2020. Another $15 billion of over-coding charges in 2021. CEOs are raking in higher salaries due to the preferential treatment the Medicare Advantage plans receive from Congress and CMS. Over-coding is just one of the...

Steve Hutkins and former N.C. Postmaster Mark Jamison have been following the issues with the USPS, its reorganization, and the attacks on it by politicians and commercial interests. This particular post is detailing parts of the reorganization of it. As you will read, the plan is to establish distribution centers where Mail Delivery Personnel would pickup the mail and go on their delivery routes. The plan was developed and put into play by USPS...

Public AffairsThe Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton available as ebook for $3.99.

 Professor Zhang Yuyan, Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Senior Fellow of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, said in a W.E. Talk exclusive interview with China News Service, that Kindleberger’s research in essence is about the old “Collective Action Problem” in economics. To avoid the “Kindleberger Trap”, the international community not only needs to solve the “Collective Action Problem” by institutional reforms and innovations for a just and reasonable...