“Capitalism must not build a new road to serfdom” concludes an article by Peter Franklin – a previous Conservative speechwriter it turns out – so I was on my guard – but he seems to have been writing mostly for thoughtful Conservatives such as Oliver Letwin… Although, in the article he was talking about the… Read more
Category:
Economics
Economics Theory
Cash or Blockchain?
There is an interesting article in MIT Technology Review which says that “More and more security holes are appearing in cryptocurrency and smart contract platforms, and some are fundamental to the way they were built.” That does not surprise me. If the blockchain can be built then so indeed can it be unbuilt or subverted…. Read more
US versus European Community Banking
I never knew that the US Federal Reserve had someone on their Board of Governors who specialised in community banking but they do, and the Bank of International Settlements has published a recent speech by the holder, Michelle Bowman. She fills the “role designated for someone with community banking experience on the Federal Reserve Board,… Read more
Capitalism’s Contradictions and Business Cycles
After Yanis Varousakis in Oxford, his fellow ex-Australian, Steve Keen has been speaking in Berlin. As ever he pursues an unorthodox and original view, which I consider provides great insight. I’ve tried to hone the 45 minute lecture into a short article, focussing and building on what I think is new. Capitalism, Steve Keen suggests,… Read more
A communist manifesto for money?
I am reposting the article below by Wally Mooney (with permission) which was an indirect reply to Paul Mason’s recent article. I thought it was a very lucid and well-argued piece on why Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)’s conclusions as to how money is created is factually correct and that is the case whether you are… Read more
Yanis Varousakis on flawed economic theory
A very interesting lecture was given by Yanis Varousakis in January this year, which I’ve only just got around to looking at. The link is here. I summarise below the essence of what I understood. He suggests the economists are Utopians – and much like Biblical scholars of the middle ages, they form the language… Read more
China’s lessons
There is an interesting – if unofficial – translation here of Professor Xiang Songzuo of Renmin University’s School of Finance, and former chief economist of China’s Agriculture Bank, December lecture. He starts by saying that China wants private enterprise to flourish but the Politburo seeems to debate rather too often whether private property should be… Read more
Brexit losses mount up – in all senses
The CBI figures for stockpiling (amoung others) are recorded in the chart below: I rather thought that they might affect GDP figures for the last quarter but, either they haven’t (which objectively is unlikely) or the figures will turn out to be actually even worse than provisionally quoted. Then, in case you hadn’t noticed, German… Read more
Life, liberty and the pursuit of sadness
There has been some publicity given to the recent ending of the trial in Finland to pay 2000 randomly chosen, long-term unemployed with a tax free, unconditional, ‘Basic Income’. This was really at the limits of what can be called a ‘Basic Income’ and a big part of its ‘lack of success’ is that no… Read more
Debunking hyperinflation and challenging inflation
I see Tim Harford of the Financial Times has challenged, even if ever so gently, the neoliberal bogeyman of inflation in his recent article. So wary is he, that it starts: “Perhaps it is rash to say so” Still, he continues, “but I think we can set aside fears of hyperinflation in an advanced economy… Read more