Michael Hudson: The Vocabulary of Economic Deception
Michael Hudson gives a wide-ranging interview, discussing the importance of euphemism in obscuring power relationships and exploitation.
Read more...Category Archives: Economic fundamentals
Why It’s So Hard for Most Countries to be Economically Independent from the West
Western countries insist both on “free trade” with poor countries and farm subsidies for themselves.
Read more...Do Climate Policies ‘Kill jobs’? An Economist on Why They Don’t Cause Massive Unemployment
Sadly, an upbeat take on what “green” policies might means for jobs greatly understates the depth of economic restructuring needed to reduce the pace of climate change.
Read more...Wolf Richter: “Severe Collapse” of Home Prices Might Trigger a “Financial-Institution Crisis” in Australia: OECD Frets about the Banks
Australia looks to be on the verge of a nasty unwind of its housing bubble. A plunge would damage not only its banks but also retirement funds, since banks play an outsized role in the Australian stock market.
Read more...France’s Macron Makes Concessions While ‘Yellow Vest’ Protests Continue
Some background on the demands the gilets jaunes are presenting to French president Macron.
Read more...The Inconvenient Truth about Climate Change and the Economy
The new IPCC Report is overly optimistic about global productivity growth and fossil fuel energy use. More dramatic, immediate action on climate change is needed
Read more...Why “Green Growth” Is an Illusion
Wishful thinking and tinkering like “green growth” won’t cut it. Nothing short of a mass mobilization for deep de-carbonization across the global economy can avert the looming climate catastrophe.
Read more...G20: You Can Smell Tear Gas in the Streets as the Oil Industry Squabbles
What the G20 and OPEC meetings mean for the political relations, economies, and people of the world.
Read more...Brexitonomics
A short discussion of why economists’ efforts to model the impact of Brexit leave a lot to be desired.
Read more...American Life Expectancy Continues to Fall: Rise in Suicides, Overdose Deaths the Big Culprit
America’s falling life expectancy is a symptom of rising social distress.
Read more...White House Doubles Down On Coal Despite New Climate Report
Yet more official climate change denialism…
Read more...Michael Hudson: “Moral Hazard” vs Mutual Aid – How the Bronze Age Saved Itself from Debt Serfdom
Bronze Age societies forgave agricultural debt to keep cultivators working on their land, able to pay taxes and work in the military and on public projects. Lenders were seen as greedy and exploitative.
Read more...An MMT View of “Twin Deficits”: Budget and Current Account Deficits
Why the worries about the US budget deficit and China buying Treasuries are overblown.
Read more...Is This Time Different? Examining Recent Emerging-Market Turbulence
Some emerging-market economies look wobbly. How likely are we to see more crises?
Read more...High Stakes, Entrenched Interests And The Trump Rollback Of Environmental Regulations
Trump’s “progress” in gutting environmental protections.
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