Friday, December 31, 2021

Zero Hedge — "Journalism Is Not Sedition"

 After Assaange, Snowden, Manning and others, the US has zero moral authority or credibility to lecture anyone about press freedom. It's farcical. America should walk its talk.

Zero Hedge
"Journalism Is Not Sedition": US & Taiwan Blast China's Crackdown On Hong Kong Free Media
Tyler Durden

Vladimir Putin and Joseph Biden: Telephone conversation, December 30, 2021 — The Saker

The Russian and American (very different) official statements.

The Vineyard of the Saker
Vladimir Putin and Joseph Biden: Telephone conversation, December 30, 2021
The Saker
http://thesaker.is/telephone-conversations-with-us-president-joseph-biden/

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

A Free Market is Always Full of Cheap Ideas — Sandwichman



Econospeak
Sandwichman
http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-free-market-is-always-full-of-cheap.html

Mental Models for What Government Does With Our Money | Mind Matters — Jonathan Bartlett

Nice try from the angle of mental models, but totally wrong about the MMT mental model. No indication that the author has read Stephanie Kelton's The Deficit Myth, aand if he did, he missed the point — it's about availability of real resources and the rest is accounting. The accounting, or failure to understand it, can obscure where currency comes from (issuance, which he realizes), how it is produced and distributed through the central bank, and how fiscal operations including taxation and securities issuance operate. 

While Jonathan Bartlett does not go into it, there is a also huge amount of confusion over the monetary and fiscal aspects of government finance. Many if not most financial professionals misunderstand this.

 Where Bartlett is correct is in viewing the popular MMT mental models as somewhat simplistic for pedagogical purposes. And as he points out, even the hard sciences do this since many don't have the background to understand the sophistication of the actual models. It would be a distraction for beginning students and the general public. So the models are dumbed down. 

But criticizing a dumbed down model when the professional literature clarifies it is attacking a straw man. Of course, it is fair game to criticize the dumbed-down model as a teaching tool, especially when something more suitable is available. This improves teaching.

The important matter regarding the article lies in taking the angle of mental models. Most people outside the sciences do not understand this concept, let alone how conceptual models work. This is a huge gap in critical thinking that leads to many false ideas. This is clear regarding MMT judging from much of the criticism. Most popular criticism of MMT takes a popular model of MMT to be "MMT," when the professional literature shows otherwise. 

Mind Matters
Mental Models for What Government Does With Our Money | Mind Matters
Jonathan Bartlett | Senior Fellow, Walter Bradley Center For Natural & Artificial Intelligence
https://mindmatters.ai/2021/12/mental-models-for-what-government-does-with-our-money/

Links — 29 Dec 2021

Consortium News
PATRICK LAWRENCE: Putin Speaks
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/12/28/patrick-lawrence-putin-speaks/

TASS
First S-550 air defense systems enter service in Russia — [anonymous] source
https://tass.com/defense/1382133

Reminiscence of the Future
OK, This Is An Official WOW!!
Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues.
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/12/ok-this-is-official-wow.html

War On The Rocks
STRATEGIC AMBIGUITY AND THE RISK OF WAR WITH RUSSIA OVER UKRAINE
RALPH CLEM AND RAY FINCH
https://warontherocks.com/2021/12/strategic-ambiguity-and-the-risk-of-war-with-russia-over-ukraine/

Sputnik International (Duh)
https://sputniknews.com/20211229/russia-conducts-tests-of-s-500-anti-missile-defense-systems-in-arctic-region-source-says-1091889174.html

Ex-UN Expert: Stop Lying, Pentagon's War Budget Has Nothing to Do With US 'Defence'
https://sputniknews.com/20211229/ex-un-expert-stop-lying-pentagons-war-budget-has-nothing-to-do-with-us-defence-1091892229.html

CaitlinJohnstone.com
Refusing To Oppose US Tyranny Is Siding With It: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
Caitlin Johnstone
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/12/29/refusing-to-oppose-us-tyranny-is-siding-with-it-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/

The Cradle
Pepe Escobar
https://thecradle.co/Article/columns/4857



First-Ever Fully-Autonomous Semi-Truck With No-Human On Board Traverses Arizona Highway — Tyler Durden

More potential leisure.

Zero Hedge
First-Ever Fully-Autonomous Semi-Truck With No-Human On Board Traverses Arizona Highway
Tyler Durden

Biden’s Agenda Is on Its Death Bed Because the Interests of the Rich and Poor Are Irreconcilable — Branko Marcetic

Joe Biden’s rationale for his own presidency was that he could bring oligarchs and working people together and hammer out a compromise that worked for both. The apparent death of his legislative agenda proves what a laughable fantasy that was....
Jacobin
Biden’s Agenda Is on Its Death Bed Because the Interests of the Rich and Poor Are Irreconcilable
Branko Marcetic
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/12/bbb-infrastructure-business-manchin-sinema-democrats/

Paul Samuelson On Knut Wicksell — J. Barkley Rosser

Interesting tidbits on the history of economics and Wicksell's role if that is your thing. Wicksell was somewhat of a precursor of Post Keynesianism and MMT, although his view of money is not mentioned specifically in this article. In addition, he was an interesting fellow — a (non-Marxist) social activist, for example in contrast to the amoral stance of conventional economics "as a science."

Econospeak
Paul Samuelson On Knut Wicksell
J. Barkley Rosser | Professor of Economics and Business Administration James Madison University

Natural Rate of Interest in Crisis — Philip Pilkington

Just before the holidays I wrote an article for Newsweek arguing that the official basis for Federal Reserve policy was at risk of coming unwound due to the present uptick in inflation. My basic argument was that the Fed and other central banks act as if they have some ‘objective’ criteria for setting interest rates while in the real world they are constantly worrying about upsetting financial markets. This leads them to the Catch-22 position today: should they raise rates to fight inflation and risk a market crach? Or should they sit on their hands, allow markets to march ever higher and risk being blamed for inflation?

The framework for understanding monetary policy in this way is laid out in an essay I published last year in the scientific journal Inference Review, entitled Monetary Faith. In it I argue that there is no solid relationship between the central bank interest rate and any real macroeconomic variable — say, savings or investment. Rather the central bank interest rate is watched, not by CEOs and entrepeneurs, but by financial markets participants — who, frankly, have turned the central bank interest rate into a cultic object of worship in the past 30 or so years.

So, back to the natural rate of interest. Firstly, I should say: I know that the Fed and other central banks do not set the rate of interest in line with estimates of the natural rate — the so-called ‘r*’. That said, the theoretical framework behind the r* is supposed to guide central bank policy. It is worth looking at what is going on with the r* today....
Macrocosm
Natural Rate of Interest in Crisis
Philip Pilkington

Here’s Why OPEC+ Didn’t Respond To U.S. Calls For More Oil — Irina Slav

  • Russia’s Deputy PM and top OPEC+ negotiator Alexander Novak explains in a recent interview why the group decided not to heed the U.S. call for more production
  • Novak: Oil production companies must plan their investments ahead of time in order to secure production growth
  • Novak, like many observers, downplayed the effect of the SPR release….
Oilprice
Here’s Why OPEC+ Didn’t Respond To U.S. Calls For More Oil

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Neil Wilson — The Interest/Price Spira

As MMT shows the cost of credit is incorporated into the cost of all goods and services. The higher the interest rate, the higher the price....
New Wayland
The Interest/Price Spiral
Neil W
https://new-wayland.com/blog/interest-price-spiral/  


The Real Culprits — Dave Schuler

How surprising is it, really, that those tasked with formulating policy miraculously come up with [climate] policies that barely touch themselves at all while falling most heavily on those who have practically no ability to effect the change notionally intended? And talk about undemocratic!…
It's the super-consumers. And they are not about to change their lifestyle.
 
Glittering Eye 
The Real Culprits
Dave Schuler

Confusion Reigns — Peter Radford

 While Peter Radford doesn't mention MMT, his argument can read as a justification of MMT against the mainstream and a take down of mainstream propaganda based on conventional economics. Worth reading.

The Radford Free Press
Confusion Reigns
Peter Radford
http://www.radfordfreepress.com/?p=3350

KV - Cycling: Are you a masher or a spinner?

 I've cycled all my life, but other than my mates teaching me how to get it the hang of it, I've had no other training. When you you first cycle it's natural to just push down on the pedals, but years later I read about cadence and spinning. With this technique you go into a lower gear and pedal faster. Spinners tend to pull on the upstroke too, using their clipless padals, because as you are botted into the padal, you are able to pull up. All I can say is that I hated spinning and pulling on the up stroke, as it was just hard work and wore me out. Maybe I needed to get used to it, but I just gave up in the end. 


Eventually, I found three great articles on this topic which supported my point of view, and all said spinning and up pulling was nonsense. It's a minority view, though, but, from my experience, they are right, anyway, each to their own. Maybe my body is just more suited to mashing, or that I've done it for so long that it now suits me more, because my body may have adapted perfectly to it. So, why change anything, especially as I've never had an injury from cycling, like sore ligaments, or too muscle building up in one place, which can knock the knee cap out of place moving it to one side, which can happen to people when they do a lot of cycling. 


Many cyclists work hard to perfect their padal stroke, sometimes even sitting a boring stationary training bike to improve their technique, but is it all nonsense? I just go and cycle for the fun of it.


 The Cycling Myth That Won’t Die: Pedaling Circles





Here’s a cycling myth that just won’t die; if you want to be a great cyclist you need to perfect your spinning technique and pedal perfect circles. It seems every year we get bombarded with articles explaining the benefits of pedaling in circles. They all say the a stop mashing the pedals and start working on all parts of the pedal stroke. Usually, these articles include a call to try out some goofy one legged-pedaling drills or worse a pitch for some silly piece of equipment.


So, surely professional cyclists must pedal in perfectly round circles, right? Nope. Not at all. The reality is that the best cyclists out there absolutely mash on the pedals. Pedaling circles is a myth, and one that can do real harm to you.


https://gearandgrit.com/the-cycling-myth-that-wont-die-pedaling-circles/


Is High Cadence Cycling Actually Slowing You Down?

WILL FORCING YOURSELF TO SPIN FASTER MAKE YOU RIDE BETTER? HERE’S WHAT THE LATEST RESEARCH HAS TO SAY.


https://www.bicycling.com/news/a26305270/high-cadence-cycling-not-increase-speed/

Monday, December 27, 2021

Links — 27 Dec 2021

Sputnik International
US LNG Cargoes to Europe Jumped by a Third Over Christmas Weekend - Reports
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/us-lng-cargoes-to-europe-jumped-by-a-third-over-christmas-weekend---reports-1091846306.html

Ukraine’s Former Prime Minister Reveals ‘European’ Gas Kiev Has Been Buying is Actually Russian
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/ukraines-former-prime-minister-reveals-european-gas-kiev-has-been-buying-is-actually-russian-1091840512.html

UK Reportedly Has 'Exit Strategy' for Its Troops From Ukraine if ‘Conflict’ With Russia Escalates
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/uk-reportedly-has-exit-strategy-for-its-troops-from-ukraine-if-conflict-with-russia-escalates-1091837804.html

AntiWar
Ray McGovern, co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, and retired 27-year career CIA whose tasks included preparing and briefing The President’s Daily Brief and leading the Soviet Foreign Policy Branch
https://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2021/12/26/what-no-russian-invasion-of-ukraine/

TASS
Lavrov says West seeks ‘small’ Ukraine ‘war’ to blame Moscow, stifle Russia economically
https://tass.com/defense/1381381

Gazprom sets new record for gas supplies to China on December 23 (China has almost twice the population as all Europe combined and more than US and Europe.)
AFP
https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/24/berlin-wants-eu-to-be-fourth-german-reich-says-poland-s-kaczynski

Eursasia Review
Is China An Existential Threat To US Or A Challenge To Its Hegemony? – Analysis
Manoj Kumar Mishra, Lecturer in Political Science, S.V.M. Autonomous College, Odisha, India
https://www.eurasiareview.com/27122021-is-china-an-existential-threat-to-us-or-a-challenge-to-its-hegemony-analysis/

Brave New Europe
Erik Reinert, Professor of Technology Governance and Development Strategies at Tallinn University of Technology
https://braveneweurope.com/erik-reinert-the-nobel-prize-winner-that-predicted-a-crisis-between-nature-and-capital

Common Dreams
The Pentagon Just Got $778 Billion, But USAID Is Running Out of Money for Covid-19 Vaccines?
Brett Wilkins
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/12/27/pentagon-just-got-778-billion-usaid-running-out-money-covid-19-vaccines

RT
China complains about near-misses with SpaceX satellites
https://www.rt.com/news/544541-china-spacex-starlink-danger

Real-World Economics Review Blog
A golden age of macro economic statistics 4. A Bank of England treasure trove.
Merijn Knibbe
https://rwer.wordpress.com/2021/12/27/a-golden-age-of-macro-economic-statistics-4-a-bank-of-england-treasure-trove/

Politico
The new rules of Monopoly
Leah Nylen
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/27/monopoly-antitrust-new-rules-tech-525161

Conversable Economist
Adam Smith: On the Disposition to Admire the Rich and Neglect the Poor
Timothy Taylor | Managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, based at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota
https://conversableeconomist.wpcomstaging.com/2021/12/27/adam-smith-on-the-disposition-to-admire-the-rich-and-neglect-the-poor/

Zero Hedge
Wal-Mart Faces Backlash From Chinese Consumers As Sams' Club Removes Items From Xinjiang
Tyler Durden
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/wal-mart-faces-backlash-chinese-consumers-sams-club-removes-items-xinjiang

Moon of Alabama
When China Does Great Question Its Cost
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/12/china-but-at-what-cost.html

CaitlinJohnstone.com
If You Haven’t Researched Arguments Disputing A Western Narrative, You Don’t Understand The Issue
Caitlin Johnstone
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/12/27/if-you-havent-researched-arguments-disputing-a-western-narrative-you-dont-understand-the-issue/


Running a Modern Money Economy — Neil Wilson

Neil Wilson explains how the economy can work for the benefit of the people; how it can be the servant of society rather than its master. Originally published on Neil’s New Wayland blog on 16 May 2017.
Oldie but goodie resurrected by Gower today.

The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies
Running a Modern Money Economy
Neil Wilson
https://gimms.org.uk/2021/12/26/running-a-modern-money-economy/

The Meaning of MMT — Drumetz Françoise, Pfister Christian, Banque de France

In the last few years in the U.S. and especially since the publication of Stephanie Kelton’s book, The Deficit Myth (Kelton, 2020) in Europe, the so-called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has been gaining prominence in the media and the public. This paper exposes the main proposals of MMT in the light of their doctrinal sources, also confronting them with economic facts and with other currents of economic thought. The first part deals with the approach to money and monetary policy developed by MMT, the second part with its recommendations regarding fiscal policy and aggregate demand management, the third part with the structural policies it advocates, the fourth part with the international aspects of MMT. The fifth part concludes. Overall, it appears that MMT is based on an outdated approach to economics and that the meaning of MMT is a more that of a political manifesto than of a genuine economic theory.…
Download the paper here.
https://publications.banque-france.fr/sites/default/files/medias/documents/wp833_0.pdf

Banque de France
Working Paper Series no. 833: The Meaning of MMT
Drumetz Françoise, Pfister Christian
https://publications.banque-france.fr/en/meaning-mmt

How Capitalism Stole the Holidays (and Killed the Planet Along the Way)

Workers are crushed under low wages and long hours, while the waste created wrecks the planet. 

It's natural for us to want more and more, but there must be a better way? 



https://youtu.be/2KCVF09aMGU


Can - I Want More (and more, and more, and more)



https://youtu.be/t22Tyi6SSQc

Sunday Times - Why I live in a shed

 Priced out of the housing market, Catrina Davies lives in a Cornish shack — and couldn’t be happier.

Her father's business went bankrupt in her 90s. She's a music teacher, but could not afford to rent a home. She wrote a book about her experience. It looks nice, but it's freezing in winter. 



https://youtu.be/nuL6VDVH6og

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Bill Mitchell — My blog is on holidays

My blog is on holiday until Monday, January 3, 2022. The baffling quiz at the coming weekend will still appear. While the local beach is enticing I am actually in personal lockdown while I finish some outstanding (and late) writing commitments....
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
My blog is on holidays
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Russia Links

India Punchline
Putin hints at military options in Ukraine
M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service
https://www.indianpunchline.com/putin-hints-at-military-options-in-ukraine/

AntiWar
Psy Ops as the Key to Understanding What Russia Has Been Doing Lately To Force a US-NATO Capitulation
Gilbert Doctorow
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2021/12/26/psy-ops-as-the-key-to-understanding-what-russia-has-been-doing-lately-to-force-a-us-nato-capitulation/

Over 10,000 Russian Troops Returning to Bases After Drills Near Ukraine
Dave DeCamp
https://news.antiwar.com/2021/12/26/over-10000-russian-troops-returning-to-bases-after-drills-near-ukraine/

Sputnik International
Putin on 'Red Lines': West Has Pinned Russia Into a Position Where It Has Nowhere to Fall Back To
https://sputniknews.com/20211226/putin-on-red-lines-west-has-pinned-russia-into-a-position-where-it-has-nowhere-to-fall-back-to-1091813306.html

British Mercs Have Infested Ukraine, Former Security Service Officer Claims
https://sputniknews.com/20211224/british-mercs-have-infested-ukraine-former-security-service-officer-claims-1091780086.html

PeaceWorker
Ukraine: Tragedy of a Nation Divided
Jack Matlock, former US ambassador to Russia
http://peaceworker.org/2021/12/ukraine-tragedy-of-a-nation-divided/
https://www.krasnoevents.com/uploads/1/1/6/6/116679777/krasno_analysis_-_matlock_ukraine_-_dec._2021.pdf

Consortium News
How Not to Explain the Ukraine Crisis
Mike Madden
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/12/24/how-not-to-explain-the-ukraine-crisis/

The Hill
Reports of Russia's decline are greatly exaggerated
Andrew Latham. professor of international relations at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/587281-reports-of-russias-decline-are-greatly-exaggerated

How much less likely are you to spread covid-19 if you're vaccinated?

Jimmy Dore's, Caitlin Jonestone', Max Blumenthal, and others, arguments against mandates is that vaccines don't slow transmission of Covid, so why force a 'medical procedure' on someone. They say people have rights, my body, my choice. 


A number of points: 

Scan the Internet and you will see that vaccines do slow transmission of the virus. 

No one is forcing any vaccines on anyone, and if people don't want to get a vaccine they can find another job. 

The people who say that mandates are authoritarian, fail to consider that the rest of us have rights too, and that we don't want the unvaccinated near our children, our old folk, the vulnerable, or even ourselves at this present time. This is a fair right, especially when we believe that the unvaccinated can spread Covid. 

So, those that refuse to get a vaccine get it wrong on all counts and fail to understand that other people with different POV have rights too. 

What is important to realise, de Gier says, is that the full effect of vaccines on reducing transmission is even higher than 63 per cent, because most vaccinated people don’t become infected in the first place.

De Gier and her team used data from the Netherlands’ contact tracing system to work out the so-called secondary attack rate – the proportion of contacts infected by positive cases. They then worked out how much this was reduced by vaccination, adjusting for factors such as age.

De Gier says they cannot calculate the full reduction in transmission due to vaccination, because they don’t know exactly how much vaccination reduces the risk of infection. But even assuming vaccination only halves the risk of infection, this would still imply that vaccines reduce transmission by more than 80 per cent overall.

Others have worked out the full effect. Earlier this year, Ottavia Prunas at Yale University applied two different models to data from Israel, where the Pfizer vaccine was used. Her team’s conclusion was that the overall vaccine effectiveness against transmission was 89 per cent.

 more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2294250-how-much-less-likely-are-you-to-spread-covid-19-if-youre-vaccinated/#ixzz7GAkXkcVJ

The Biden Administration Rejected an October Proposal for “Free Rapid Tests for the Holidays”

 

Don’t tell me: “out of money!”?   “deficit too high!”?   morons…





Watch robots build houses at incredible speed. 3D printing meets AI.

3D printed houses are rising around the world. They're cheaper, smarter, better for the environment and promise to help tackle homelessness.



https://youtu.be/OEH4pMnpgps

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Happy Birthday

 

I think these are probably accurate observations by Corn here but these type of mere observations didn’t work then (yo, they killed him…) and they are not going to work now:



Paul on mere observations quoting from the prophet to Israel Isaiah:

"Ideally the holy spirit speaks through Isaiah the prophet, to your fathers, saying, 'Go to this people and say, "In ….observing, you will be observing, and may by no means be perceiving,"  Acts 28


Mere observation didn’t work, does not work, will not ever work…



Shawn - Jimmy Dore's Anti-Vaccine Lies

 How Jimmy Dore twists the facts. 




Friday, December 24, 2021

The Grinch, the Goose Egg, and the Gloomier Economic Outlook — Stephanie Kelton

Sen. Manchin is a fiscal conservative.

The [MMT] Lens
The Grinch, the Goose Egg, and the Gloomier Economic Outlook
Stephanie Kelton | Professor of Public Policy and Economics at Stony Brook University, formerly Democrats' chief economist on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, and an economic adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders
https://stephaniekelton.substack.com/p/the-grinch-the-goose-egg-and-the

MAGA crypto

 

Uh oh Trump warning against danger in crypto and advocating for simple USD use:



Meanwhile Bannon shilling a new “FJBcoin” to MAGA audiences:



Could be trouble brewing in MAGA paradise… 🤔



Thursday, December 23, 2021

A New Path for Economics—Steve Keen’s The New Economics: A Manifesto — Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan

Book review.

Dissident Voice
A New Path for Economics—Steve Keen’s The New Economics: A Manifesto
Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan

Links — 23 Dec 2021 Part 2

Gilbert Doctorow — International relations, Russian affairs
Vladimir Putin’s Annual Press Conference, 23 December 2021
Gilbert Doctorow
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2021/12/23/vladimir-putins-annual-press-conference-23-december-2021/

Zero Hedge (clickbait headline-it's China- but a pretty good article)
Putin Names Russia's "Number One Partner" At Year-End Press Conference
Tyler Durden
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/putin-names-russias-number-one-partner-year-end-press-conference

New Satellite Images Purport To Show Russian Force Build-Up Near Ukraine [article tells the true story]
Tyler Durden
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/satellite-images-purport-show-russian-force-build-north-ukraine-border

US, Japan Draft Plans To Set Up Attack Base In Event China Invades Taiwan
Tyler Durden
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-japan-draft-plans-set-attack-base-event-china-invades-taiwan

AntiWar
US and NATO Nuclear Lunacy Still Raving
John LaForge
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2021/12/23/us-and-nato-nuclear-lunacy-still-raving/

ECNS
China Daily
http://www.ecns.cn/news/2021-12-24/detail-ihatyfhf5833488.shtml

Reminiscence of the Future
Merry Christmas
Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues.
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/12/merry-christmas.html

Links — 23 Dec 2021

Strategic Culture Foundation (the gas goes to China rather than Europe)
Pepe Escobar
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2021/12/23/exit-nord-stream-2-enter-power-of-siberia-2/

Sputnik International ("Putin revealed that Moscow and Beijing have teamed up to develop high-tech weapons, cooperating in space and aviation")
From Ukraine Crisis to Gender Politics: Key Takeaways From Putin's 2021 Presser
Daria Bedenko
https://sputniknews.com/20211223/from-ukraine-crisis-to-gender-politics-key-takeaways-from-putins-2021-presser-1091746890.html

The Vineyard of the Saker (video with translation, no transcript yet)
Putin: Annual Press Conference
The Saker
http://thesaker.is/putin-annual-press-conference/

Counterpunch
Putin Says Ukraine Peace Up to US
Len Bracken
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/12/23/putin-says-peace-in-ukraine-is-up-to-us/

2022 — Year of Major Power Conflict Over Ukraine
Scott Ritter
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/12/23/2022-year-of-major-power-conflict-over-ukraine/
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/23/russia-buildup-ukraine-satellite-images-526109

Russia Observer
RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 23 DECEMBER 2021
Patrick Armstrong, retired analyst and diplomat (2008) serving in the Canadian Department of National Defence specializing in the USSR/Russia from 1984 and a Counsellor in the Canadian Embassy in Moscow in 1993-1996.
https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2021/12/23/russian-federation-sitrep-23-december-2021/

Moon of Alabama
U.S. Navy Acknowledges Russian Weapon Superiority

Counterpunch
America’s Foreign Policy Death Spiral
Walter L. Hixson is Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Akron
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/23/americas-foreign-policy-death-spiral/

India Punchline
US plays Tibet card as India seeks modus vivendi with China
M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service
https://www.indianpunchline.com/us-plays-tibet-card-as-india-seeks-modus-vivendi-with-china/

Asia Times
Ken Moak
https://asiatimes.com/2021/12/folly-to-base-china-bashing-on-questionable-allegations/

Visual Capitalist
Visualizing the $94 Trillion World Economy in One Chart

MMT’s Fatal Flaw: Political Willpower — Michael Lebowitz

MMT’s Fatal Flaw #1 – Measuring Inflation
The first flaw is in the measurement of inflation. In the article mentioned above, we state:

“Inflation is impossible to calculate. Inflation is impossible to calculate. No, that is not a typo. For emphasis, let us put it another way. Inflation is impossible to calculate.

The point that inflation is impossible to calculate cannot be overstated.”…

MMT’s Fatal Flaw #2 – Political Willpower
The second and more vexing problem with inflation is politicians’ willpower and vested interests. Should we expect elected officials to reduce spending and raise taxes when inflation is problematic? One needs only to consider the current environment when answering the question....

Inflation is MMT’s fatal flaw. Inflation is the fly in MMT’s ointment.

The current high inflation episode exposes MMT’s fatal flaw. Despite the flaw, we suspect the push for MMT will continue, and the rules around inflation will change, allowing for more inflation. Without stringent inflation guidelines [contradiction: he says inflation cannot be measured] and willpower, MMT is nothing more than a printing press for the government....

Historically, MMT-like schemes have always resulted in default. We do not doubt that the adaption of MMT leads us on that same path.
I suspect quite a few people view it this way.
 
Real Investment Advice
MMT’s Fatal Flaw: Political Willpower
Michael Lebowitz

Bill Mitchell — The ECB is facing a crisis–rising inflation and risk of Member State insolvency–how to make a problem

The Eurozone continues to stumble on, held together by the vast bond-buying program of the ECB, which has saved several Member States from insolvency over the last several years. While all the talk at present has been about what to do about the punitive and unworkable fiscal rules in a post-pandemic (when will that be?) period, when the emergency waivers of the Excessive Deficit Mechanism procedures are withdrawn, the reality is that under the current architecture, the only thing that keeps the currency union intact is the ECB acting outside of the legal structures set down by the treaties. Yes, I know full well that the elites have massaged the public into believing that there is no breach of the no bailout clauses, but the reality is different. The ECB is (indirectly) funding Member State fiscal deficits through its massive asset purchasing programs, the two relevant ones being the PSPP and the PEPP. And ever since they introduced the Securities Market Program (SMP) in May 2010 they have been providing funding to Member States to allow them to run fiscal deficits while maintaining low bond yields. With the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) scheduled to end in March 2022, the fears are growing that Italy will be the first Member State to succumb to the bond markets – the yields on debt will rise because the investors appreciate the credit risk and will know they cannot offload as much debt onto the ECB in the secondary markets. The fact that these fears are becoming more widespread should tell you that the role of the ECB is exactly what I say it is rather than the ‘maintaining order in investment markets’ spin that the ECB runs as the smokescreen....
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
The ECB is facing a crisis – rising inflation and risk of Member State insolvency – how to make a problem
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=48916

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Inflationary Pressures in the Time of Covid-19: MMT as a Theory of Inflation — Andrés Bernal

Abstract: According to Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), the only constraint on public spending for a currency issuing authority like the United States government is inflation. This paper develops an alternative understanding and analysis of economic inflation through the lens of MMT in the aftermath of the Covid-19 public health crisis and consequential economic shutdown and reopening. It argues that conventional explanations of inflation remain ideologically constricted to an outdated social theory and conceptual framing. As such, public policy responses to contemporary price increases are limited in scope and incapable of neither effectively stabilizing prices nor avoiding the worsening of social inequities and harm. The paper will first develop MMT’s insights about inflationary pressures as a theory of qualitatively determined resource use, costs, and political coordination, as opposed to a collapse in the value of money from excessive public spending. An analysis of price pressures throughout 2021 is then provided by examining supply chains, industry specific shocks, and market power. Lastly, inflation is explored in the context of an ongoing planetary climate and environmental crisis with deep implications about the future of sustainability, economic development, and price stability.
I said this some time ago. The concept of inflation is not useful for at least two reasons. First, it is not good science. Secondly, the term carries both emotion and ideological charge. It should be retired.

Inflation in contemporary economics and finance suffers from the physics envy that affects the economics profession and spills over into finance. It is a search for a simple solution to a complex problem that is complicated by economics and finance being historical and social rather than naturalistic, as theories of inflation assume.

Moreover, attempting to apply concepts that apply more or less general special cases involving exogenous shock, which the pandemic certainly is, can be myopic unless one addresses the speciality of the case. This is compounded by the criticism of those opposed to fiscal policy for ideological reasons (rather than evidence) who claim that rising prices are proof of fiscal profligacy.

Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity
Working Paper No. 132 —December 2021
Inflationary Pressures in the Time of Covid-19: MMT as a Theory of Inflation
Andrés Bernal, Research Fellow

See also
Larry Summers has struck again with yet another missive agonising about inflation risks. What is somewhat interesting about this latest piece is that parts of it could have been written by myself. Unfortunately for Summers, that is not exactly complimentary for his world view, for reasons that I will explain.
Bond Economics
Almost Agreeing With Larry Summers (And Why That's Bad...) 
Brian Romanchuk
http://www.bondeconomics.com/2021/12/almost-agreeing-with-larry-summers-and.html


My new podcast episode is out

Links — 22 Dec 2021

Gilbert Doctorow — International relations, Russian affairs
Putin’s ‘Military-Technical’ Measures if Negotiations Fail
Gilbert Doctorow
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2021/12/22/putins-military-technical-measures-if-negotiations-fail/

Moon of Alabama
What Russia Says About Its Not-An-Ultimatum To The U.S. And NATO
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/12/what-russia-says-about-its-not-an-ultimatum-to-the-us-and-nato-.html

Geopolitika
Eurasianist Putin V/s Atlanticist Biden
Alexander Dugin
https://www.geopolitica.ru/en/article/eurasianist-putin-vs-atlanticist-biden

TASS
Russia’s import substitution was response to sanctions, not violation of WTO rules — MFA
https://tass.com/economy/1379191

BRICS
CIA consultant thinks US close to civil war
Lucas Leiroz, researcher in Social Sciences at the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, geopolitical consultant
http://infobrics.org/post/34817/

AlterNet
John Stoehr
https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/matthew-sheffield-right-wing/

Bill Mitchell — Turkey–who is squeezing who?

It’s Wednesday and a shorter blog post, which includes the latest from Turkey and some music. The mainstream narrative against Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has been ramped up significantly in recent weeks as a result of events in Turkey, where, up until yesterday, the currency had depreciated significantly. The screams for interest rate rises from bankers etc (of course! they profit or protect foreign debt exposure) have been deafening. But the most recent monetary policy decision was on December 16, 2021, when the CBRT reduced its policy rate (the one-week repo auction rate) from 15 per cent to 14 per cent. The ‘markets’ can’t really get a handle on the current government’s thinking because it is running against the mainstream in several ways, including cutting rates to reduce inflationary pressures (see Press release on Interest Rates – from the CBRT). Overnight a big swing happened after the government made a significant fiscal policy announcement. That will further confound the markets who were forced to scramble to close out short-selling positions as the lira appreciated by around 25 per cent in one day. The fiscal squeeze worked. You couldn’t make this stuff up....
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Turkey – who is squeezing who?
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Review of There is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century by Fiona Hill, Mariner Books; 2021. — Natylie Baldwin

Fiona Hill, former official at the U.S. National Security Council specializing in Russian and European affairs, is a "Russia expert." Natylie Baldwin explains why she finds that dubious based on reading Hill's book.

AntiWar
Review of There is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century by Fiona Hill, Mariner Books; 2021.
Natylie Baldwin
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2021/12/21/review-of-there-is-nothing-for-you-here-finding-opportunity-in-the-21st-century-by-fiona-hill-mariner-books-2021/

What could happen next if the USA rejects the Russian ultimatum? — The Saker

Update.

The Vineyard of the Saker
What could happen next if the USA rejects the Russian ultimatum?
The Saker
http://thesaker.is/what-could-happen-next-if-the-usa-rejects-the-russian-ultimatum/

Reminiscence of the Future
Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues.
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/12/patrick-armstrong-went-all-in.htmlhttp://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/12/patrick-armstrong-went-all-in.html

Mass representative democracy — Steve Randy Waldman

Is it possible to have an actual democracy as governance of, by, and for the people instead of an oligarchy?

Interfluidity
Mass representative democracy
Steve Randy Waldman

We’ve Seen The Ultimatum, What Is The “Or Else”? — Patrick Armstrong

Detailed analysis of the Russian ultimatum to the US. When reading PA, follow the links he provides.

Russia Observer
WE’VE SEEN THE ULTIMATUM, WHAT IS THE “OR ELSE”?
Patrick Armstrong, retired analyst and diplomat (2008) serving in the Canadian Department of National Defence specializing in the USSR/Russia from 1984 and a Counsellor in the Canadian Embassy in Moscow in 1993-1996.
https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2021/12/21/weve-seen-the-ultimatum-what-is-the-or-else/

See also

Gilbert Doctorow — International relations, Russian affairs
A surprise Russian ultimatum: new draft treaties to roll back NATOA surprise Russian ultimatum: new draft treaties to roll back NATO
Gilbert Doctorow | European Coordinator of The American Committee for East West Accord Ltd.
https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2021/12/19/a-surprise-russian-ultimatum-new-draft-treaties-to-roll-back-nato/

The Vineyard of the Saker\
Quick update on the Russian ultimatum
The Saker
http://thesaker.is/quick-update-on-the-russian-ultimatum/

Sputnik International
Russia Considers NATO’s Further Expansion to Its Borders a ‘Red Line’, Foreign Minister Says
https://sputniknews.com/20211221/russia-considers-natos-further-expansion-to-its-borders-a-red-line-foreign-minister-says-1091702304.html

Zero Hedge
US Issues Advisory Warning Against Travel To Ukraine Due To "Russia Threat"
Tyler Durden
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-issues-advisory-warning-against-travel-ukraine-due-russia-threat

History News Network (yes)
The U.S. Can Legally Intervene in the Ukraine Should Russia Invade
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/182056

AntiWar
Putin Has a Big Brother in Xi
Ray McGovern, co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, and retired 27-year career CIA whose tasks included preparing and briefing The President’s Daily Brief and leading the Soviet Foreign Policy Branch
https://raymcgovern.com/2021/12/21/putin-has-a-big-brother-in-xi/

Neochartalists On Turkey, Part 2 — Ramanan

Ramanan responds to Bill Mitchell

The Case for Concerted Action
Neochartalists On Turkey, Part 2
V. Ramanan

Nord Stream 2 is a double-edged geopolitical tool — M. K. Bhadrakumar

Where's the US LNG?

India Punchline
Nord Stream 2 is a double-edged geopolitical tool
M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service
https://www.indianpunchline.com/nord-stream-2-is-a-double-edged-geopolitical-tool/

See Also

Sputnik International
Gas Futures in Europe Hit New All-Time High Above $2,150 Per 1,000 Cubic Meters
https://sputniknews.com/20211221/gas-futures-in-europe-hit-new-all-time-high-above-2150-per-1000-cubic-meters-1091699523.html

Zero Hedge
Europe On Edge Of Energy Disaster As Power Prices Smash All Records
Tyler Durden
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/europes-energy-crisis-rapidly-intensifies-power-prices-scream-higher

Oilprice
Europe’s Gas Prices Jump To Record As Key Pipeline From Russia Halts Flows
Tsvetana Paraskov
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Europes-Gas-Prices-Jump-To-Record-As-Key-Pipeline-From-Russia-Halts-Flows.html

TASS
Reverse gas supplies start via Yamal-Europe to Poland after Gazprom’s booking refusal
https://tass.com/economy/1378677


Monday, December 20, 2021

Bill Mitchell — To reclaim the state, we have to start with ourselves

The problem is capitalism.

Because the logic of that system evolves into what we have.

Harry Braverman understood that even though he didn’t live to see the worst of what it has become.

As the first step, education.

Then, reclaim the state.

Then evolve the production and distribution system away from one that needs to colonise every aspect of our lives with ‘markets’.…
Not MMT but it is important that an MMT economist is saying it. What is the point of full employment when the tendency of capitalist expansion — commoditizing everything — is creating bullshit jobs? Marx called this alienation. I am happy to see Bill addressing this head on.

Bill Mitchell – billy blog
To reclaim the state, we have to start with ourselves
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

China sets to build fusion energy research facility — Xinhua

China is building a research facility to incubate core technologies used in power generation of fusion energy that powers the sun.

The facility in the pipeline, called "Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology" (CRAFT), is a platform on which engineers develop and test fusion energy reactor's key components.

It is expected to be finished around 2024, according to the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP).

China has already completed the engineering design of a fusion energy testing reactor, according to ASIPP.…
The next step. 

Xinhua (Chinese state media)

Links 20 Dec 2021

India Punchline (out of paradigm with MMT but still interesting)
Joe Biden presidency on the skids. World must take note.
M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service
https://www.indianpunchline.com/joe-biden-presidency-on-the-skids-world-must-take-note/

Reminiscence of the Future
Saker Did A Good Write Up On Russian Ultimatum's Options
Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/12/saker-did-good-write-up-on-russian.html

Dances with Bears
GERMAN PARLIAMENT OFFICE REPORTS NO RUSSIAN INVASION OF DONBASS, REJECTS MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA
http://johnhelmer.net/german-parliament-office-reports-no-russian-invasion-of-donbass-rejects-media-and-government-propaganda/

RUSSIA’S NON-AGGRESSION PACT IS AN OFFER FOR GERMANY TO REALIZE THE US WON’T NEGOTIATE BECAUSE THE BLIN-NEEDLE GANG WILL FIGHT TO THE LAST GERMAN, THEN RUN AWAY
http://johnhelmer.net/russias-non-aggression-pact-is-an-offer-for-germany-to-realize-the-us-wont-negotiate-because-the-blin-needle-gang-will-fight-to-the-last-german-then-run-away/
John Helmer

TASS (Russian state media)
Moscow ready for military response if NATO ignores Moscow’s concerns — senior diploma [Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov]
https://tass.com/politics/1378079

Putin, Modi express intent to further develop Russia-India strategic partnership
https://tass.com/politics/1378043

US breaking promises by trying to use Taiwan to contain China, Beijing says
https://tass.com/world/1377995

Chinese top diplomat: ‘We aren’t afraid of confrontation with US, but seek cooperation’
https://tass.com/world/1377991

Sputnik International
White House: US Ready to Engage in Diplomacy With Russia, Says Dialogue Must Be Based on Reciprocity
https://sputniknews.com/20211220/white-house-us-ready-to-engage-in-diplomacy-with-russia-says-dialogue-must-be-based-on-reciprocity-1091675671.html

ECNS
Chinese FM calls for exploring way of peaceful coexistence between China, U.S.
http://www.ecns.cn/news/politics/2021-12-20/detail-ihatyfhf5832200.shtml
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/20/the-mainstream-media-seems-to-want-more-war-for-the-united-states/

NEO — Journal of Russian Academy of Science’s Institute for Oriental Studies
Belt and Road: How Laos Exemplifies Preconditions for Global Success
Petr Konovalov
https://journal-neo.org/2021/12/20/belt-and-road-how-laos-exemplifies-preconditions-for-global-success/

ECNS
Under British colonial rule, no democracy in Hong Kong: white paper
http://www.ecns.cn/news/2021-12-20/detail-ihatyfhf5832181.shtml

Full Text: Hong Kong: Democratic Progress Under the Framework of One Country, Two Systems
http://www.ecns.cn/news/politics/2021-12-20/detail-ihatyfhf5832113.shtml

The Vineyard of the Saker
A Throne of Chinese Skulls! Oh Yeah?
Chris Faure for the Saker Blog
http://thesaker.is/a-throne-of-chinese-skulls-oh-yeah/

RT — China & Russia are ready to end US dominance of global finance

Not in paradigm with MMT, but that is a small point in the overall article, which is about de-dollarization as the US increasingly uses finance as a weapon in economic warfare.

RT (Russian state-sponsored media)
China & Russia are ready to end US dominance of global finance
https://www.rt.com/russia/543537-us-world-bank-role-lose/

Michael Roberts — Chile: copper-bottomed?

The victory of Boric could open up a new chapter is Chile’s political economy. Indeed, there are huge opportunities for the Chilean economy to increase investment and diversify the economy. The IMF finds that even under the previous regimes there has been some development in non-mineral and technology exports. This must be the way for Chile to go.

So will Boric revive the socialist experiment began by Salvador Allende in the early 1970s? So far, that seems unlikely, as Boric’s program is moderate by those standards; with no plans to socialise the economy, but merely to try and redistribute the largesse appropriated by capital somewhat more evenly. The multi-nationals and the forces of the reactionary right-wing in the Chilean business sector, Congress and the media are gearing up for an incessant campaign of attack against the new President....
Detailed analysis of the Chilean economy and neoliberal economic policy since Pinochet. Can the incoming leftist president turn it around? Michael Roberts cautions that this will be difficult with the electorate almost equally divided between left and right.

This division is similar to the US but only superficially in that Chile has a real left and the US does not. Even though the US is a center right country, its political leadership still cannot come to compromise on issues of pressing public purpose.

Michael Roberts Blog — blogging from a marxist economist
Chile: copper-bottomed?
Michael Roberts
https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2021/12/20/chile-copper-bottomed/

Bill Mitchell — Turkey tells us nothing about MMT–but MMT tells us a lot about why Turkey is in trouble

I have noticed a lot of Internet traffic about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and the situation in Turkey at present. Apparently, as the narrative goes, MMT is finally being revealed as a fraud because Turkey’s economy is going backwards and its currency is depreciating rapidly. The logic, it seems, is that if a nation enters rough economic waters and the financial markets sell its currency (although remember someone has to be buying it simultaneously) then that proves MMT is false. An extraordinarily naive viewpoint if you think about it. This viewpoint has somehow missed the train on understanding what MMT actually is and seems to think that MMT economists have seen Turkey as a policy model. In this blog post, I consider some aspects of this naivety. It won’t silence the critiques, but it, hopefully will educate those who are interested in the topic and are learning about MMT....
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Turkey tells us nothing about MMT – but MMT tells us a lot about why Turkey is in trouble
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=48895

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Links — 19 Dec 2021

Russia’s ultimatum to the WestThe Vineyard of the Saker
Russia’s ultimatum to the West
The Saker
http://thesaker.is/russias-ultimatum-to-the-west/

Eurasia Review
US Senator: Russia Trying To Create ‘Pretext For War’ By Making Impossible-To-Accept Demands From US, NATO
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
https://www.eurasiareview.com/20122021-us-senator-russia-trying-to-create-pretext-for-war-by-making-impossible-to-accept-demands-from-us-nato/

TASS
Any NATO’s expansion adds to its own vulnerability - Russian senior diplomat
https://tass.com/politics/1377781

Sputnik International
French Defenсe Minister Says Paris Unwilling to Return to Cold War With Russia
https://sputniknews.com/20211219/french-defense-minister-says-paris-unwilling-to-return-to-cold-war-with-russia-1091645774.html

Moon of Alabama
Russia Details Security Demands To U.S. And NATO
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/12/russia-details-secruity-demands-to-us-and-nato.html

Reminiscence of the Future
Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues.
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/12/people-asked-i-respond-on-run.html

The Unz Review
War with China! Another Bright Idea from the Yankee Capital
Fred Reed
https://www.unz.com/freed/war-with-china-another-bright-idea-from-the-yankee-capital/

Asia Times (more signs of a shift in the world order away from US unilateral dominance.
Israel ponders a Pax Sinica
Spengler (David P. Goldman)
https://asiatimes.com/2021/12/israel-ponders-a-pax-sinica/

Sputnik International (it was already clear in the translation at the time)
Chinese Tennis Player Peng Shuai Denies Making Sexual Assault Accusations
https://sputniknews.com/20211219/chinese-tennis-player-peng-shuai-denies-making-sexual-assault-accusations-1091653324.html

Axios
Leftist former student leader Gabriel Boric elected Chile's youngest-ever president
https://www.axios.com/chile-leftist-gabriel-boric-elected-president-f3e51570-9685-46eb-aba6-d2d9a5a6db47.html

Oilprice
Coal Use Is Reaching Record Levels In India And China
City A. M.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Coal-Use-Is-Reaching-Record-Levels-In-India-And-China.html




Rendezvous in Mallorca: a conversation with Warren Mosler — Stuart Medina Miltimore

Extract from a long interview with Warren Mosler held in Mallorca on October 14, 2021. Originally published by Red MMT in both English and Spanish
The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies
Rendezvous in Mallorca: a conversation with Warren Mosler
Stuart Medina Miltimore

The Enlightened Economist Prize 2021 — Diane Coyle

 A worthy choice. Amartya Sen, currently Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University. He formerly served as Master of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences[ in 1998 and India's Bharat Ratna in 1999 for his work in welfare economics. The German Publishers and Booksellers Association awarded him the 2020 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for his pioneering scholarship addressing issues of global justice and combating social inequality in education and healthcare. (Wikipedia)

The Enlightened Economist
The Enlightened Economist Prize 2021
Diane Coyle | Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Links — 18 Dec 2021

Russia Observer
AMERICANS NEED A CONSPIRACY THEORY THEY CAN ALL AGREE ON
Patrick Armstrong, retired analyst and diplomat (2008) serving in the Canadian Department of National Defence specializing in the USSR/Russia from 1984 and a Counsellor in the Canadian Embassy in Moscow in 1993-1996.
https://patrickarmstrong.ca/2021/12/18/3914/

India Punchline
A Sino-Russian military alliance is gratuitous (as of now)
M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service

CaitlinJohnstone.com
“Chinese Aggression” Is Just China Responding To US Aggression
Caitlin Johnstone
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/12/18/chinese-aggression-is-just-china-responding-to-us-aggression/

The Vineyard of the Saker
The Russian website GEOFOR interviews the Saker
The Saker
http://thesaker.is/the-russian-website-geofor-interviews-the-saker/

Sputnik International
Moscow: If US, NATO Reject Security Proposals, Russia Will Be Forced to Create Counterthreats
https://sputniknews.com/20211218/moscow-if-us-rejects-security-proposals-russia-will-be-forced-to-create-counterthreats-1091631658.html

TASS
NATO to face ‘military-technical alternative’ if it rejects Russian proposals - diplomat
https://tass.com/politics/1377629

Common Dreams
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/12/18/ny-times-us-hid-true-toll-air-wars-thousands-dead-civilians-many-them-children

Neochartalists (“MMTers”) On Turkey — V. Ramanan

This is an old debate begun by the opposition between Warren Mosler and Wynne Godley. The former dismissed the crucial importance of the international position/balance of payment that Wynne Godley held.

Turkey is addressing its trade balance by increasing military exports while sticking with low rates on the assumption that raising the interest rate is a price increase that is passed through the economy. This can still be correct even if the international position/BoP is also a significant factor.  So the question comes down to how significant it is relative to monetary and fiscal policy.

The Case for Concerted Action
Neochartalists (“MMTers”) On Turkey
V. Ramanan

Friday, December 17, 2021

China Rescues Myanmar From Dangerous Dollar-Dominated Waters — Brian Berletic

China and the Myanmar junta agree to use yuan in cross-border trade, evading the USD-dominated system. China and Russia recently made a similar agreement. De-dollarization expands its reach as a result of sanctions.

Additionally, Brian Berletic presents the Myanmar situation from a different POV politically and geopolitically.

NEO
China Rescues Myanmar From Dangerous Dollar-Dominated Waters
Brian Berletic

Related at NEO
The western elites have finally pushed China and Russia too far. A long awaited independent trade network and alternative currencies will certainly go forward as Washington pushes NATO deeper into Eurasia. Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have now agreed to accelerate attempts to create a system that cannot be influenced by ‘third parties.’
The New Great Game Is Afoot – With All Of Us “Underfoot”
Phil Butler

Russian draft documents on legal security guarantees from the United States and NATO — The Saker

This document is in six sections.
  1. The first is from ColonelCassad and is a machine translation. This would form a necessary overview and is a description of the current situation.
  2. The second is Russian Deputy FM Ryabkov’s special video briefing in Moscow and contains some incisive Q&A
  3. The third is a short press release
  4. The fourth is a proposed draft treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States of America on security guarantees
  5. The fifth is a cohesive complement to the draft treaty and is an agreement on measures to ensure the security of the Russian Federation and member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
  6. The sixth is Jen Psaki’s initial response as reported by RT
We await the Saker’s Analysis in the next few days....
The Vineyard of the Saker
Russian draft documents on legal security guarantees from the United States and NATO
The Saker

GOODBYE TO SCF — Patrick Armstrong

Just sent this to SCF [Strategic Culture Foundation]

As you can see from this, the threats that have silenced many of your American contributors will be coming to Canada soon.

I will no longer contribute to Strategic Culture Foundation. Thank you for your honourable behaviour and honesty. I am sorry to do this but it’s a case of force majeure. I’m too old to want to fight it.

Please give any remaining honorariums to this charity supported by the Rotary Club of St Petersburg.

Thank you.
Patrick Armstrong blogs here at his own site and at Col. Patrick Lang's site, Turcopolier. Presumably, he will continue to publish at this venues.

Russian Observer
GOODBYE TO SCF
Patrick Armstrong, retired analyst and diplomat (2008) serving in the Canadian Department of National Defence specializing in the USSR/Russia from 1984 and a Counsellor in the Canadian Embassy in Moscow in 1993-1996.

Exploring the impact of automation and new technologies on the future of U.S. workers and their families — Kathryn Zickuhr

Employers are only concerned with the economic, socializing the externality involved. Thus, these innovations appear to constitute a mixed bag that will have social and therefore political implications, in addition to economic, likely leading to labor unrest unless creative solutions are found and implemented successfully at scale.

WCEG — The Equitablog
Exploring the impact of automation and new technologies on the future of U.S. workers and their families
Kathryn Zickuhr, labor market policy analyst at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth

Why China Continues to Rise — Zhang Jun

If countries like the United States are imposing high tariffs on Chinese exports, it stands to reason that China should depend less on exports. Likewise, if countries are restricting technology transfer to Chinese companies, China must ensure that it can develop the technologies it needs without outside help....
First Russia and now China driven to import substitution to achieve greater self-sufficiency. 

The next obvious step is Russia and China sharing technology and manufacturing capability and capacity. That is likely happening already. This will further undercut Western dominance. The great danger is that as a result the West will resort to war to maintain dominance as it looses leverage.

China has a large enough domestic population to become self-sufficient, especially when it is receiving Russia's natural resources to meet its development demand, which, of course, also benefits Russia and deprives other customers of what goes to China.

 Russia is not all that significant to the US, although it is to Europe, but China is significant. Moreover, the loss of exports to China that will never be coming back after substitution is highly significant. Decoupling would be major.

Project Syndicate
Why China Continues to Rise
Zhang Jun, Dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University, is Director of the China Center for Economic Studies, a Shanghai-based think tank
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-technological-development-despite-international-hostility-by-zhang-jun-2021-12

Spectre of war is haunting Europe — M. K. Bhadrakumar

 I would amend the headline to "the world," since Russia has warned that it will strike command cneters, including the continental US, if the US/NATO attacks. China has committed to backing Russia. WWIII?

India Punchline
Spectre of war is haunting Europe
M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service
https://www.indianpunchline.com/spectre-of-war-is-haunting-europe/

Thursday, December 16, 2021

The Maestro of Messes — Patrick Lawrence

 Globo-neoliberalism gasping for air?

Counterpunch
The Maestro of Messes
Patrick Lawrence
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/12/14/patrick-lawrence-the-maestro-of-messes/

Related

Reminiscence of the Future
It Hurts Where It Matters The Most. Wealth
Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues.
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/12/it-hurts-where-it-matters-most-wealth.html

The scam of the Reagan-era neoliberalism is crumbling—and there's a battle for its replacement — Thom Hartmann

Speculative but interesting if you are interested in historical cycles. Hartmann sees the battle for replacement of neoliberalism (Thatcherism/Reaganism, "trickle down") as being between progressivism  on the left and populism, which he labels neo-fascism, on the right. Of course, the right labels progressivism as socialism and even communism. So it will be interesting to see this play out in the elections of US elections of '22 (midterm) and '24 (general). The GOP is already positioned toward populism, whereas the Democrats are locked in a struggle between the neoliberal (Clinton-Obama-Biden wing that is dominant) and the progressive (Bernie Sanders wing). At this point, the political energy favors the mostly unified GOP against the fractured Democrats.

AlterNet
The scam of the Reagan-era neoliberalism is crumbling — and there's a battle for its replacement
Thom Hartmann
https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/ronald-reagan-era-neoliberal/

Related

Sputnik International
US Voters Favor Republicans Over Democrats by 48% to 39% in Generic Congress Ballot
https://sputniknews.com/20211217/us-voters-favor-republicans-over-democrats-by-48-to-39-in-generic-congress-ballot-1091586032.html

Biden’s “democracy summit”–how Marx showed the fake character of capitalism’s concept of “human rights” — ̋ John Ross

Marx put it regarding the purely formal statements of capitalist/parliamentary democracy: “The state abolishes, in its own way, distinctions of birth, social rank, education, occupation, when it declares that birth, social rank, education, occupation, are non-political distinctions, when it proclaims, without regard to these distinction, that every member of the nation is an equal participant in national sovereignty.” But in reality, none of these real distinctions was removed: “Nevertheless, the state allows private property, education, occupation, to act in their way – i.e., as private property, as education, as occupation, and to exert the influence of their special nature. Far from abolishing these real distinctions, the state only exists on the presupposition of their existence.”…
"Democracy" and "rights" in name only. The supposed "freedom" is negative freedom, i.e., absence of constraint. But there is no guarantee of positive freedom of agency or consequence, as the data show. "Liberal democracy is an abstraction that should not be confused with reality, which tells a different story.

Learning from China
Biden’s “democracy summit” – how Marx showed the fake character of capitalism’s concept of “human rights”
John Ross, Senior Fellow, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China
https://www.learningfromchina.net/bidens-democracy-summit-how-marx-showed-the-fake-character-of-capitalisms-concept-of-human-rights/

International Links — 16 Dec 2021

India Punchline
A Sino-Russian Military Alliance Is Gratuitous (As Of Now)
M. K. Bhadrakumar | retired diplomat with the Indian Foreign Service
https://www.indianpunchline.com/a-sino-russian-military-alliance-is-gratuitous-as-of-now/

Asia Times (disregard the view about debt)
Putin, Xi running circles around Biden’s hybrid war
Pepe Escobar
https://asiatimes.com/2021/12/putin-xi-running-circles-around-bidens-hybrid-war/

AntiWar
Xi to Putin: Our Relationship ‘Exceeds an Alliance’
Ray McGovern
https://raymcgovern.com/2021/12/16/xi-to-putin-our-relationship-exceeds-an-alliance/

TASS
Press review: Russia, China bolster ties to take on West and key US official visits Moscow
https://tass.com/pressreview/1376319

Sputnik International (translation: Western liberalism, stay out of India. We are traditional.)
Don't 'Interfere in Our Hindutva Movement', BJP MP Warns Prospective US Ambassador to India
https://sputniknews.com/20211216/dont-interfere-in-our-hindutva-movement-bjp-mp-warns-prospective-us-ambassador-to-india-1091565176.html

Russian Investment in US Treasuries Plummets to New Low (de-dollarization continues apace)
https://sputniknews.com/20211216/russian-investment-in-us-treasuries-plummets-to-new-low-1091569064.html

Krasno Analysis: Weekly Spotlight, No.2/2021 (December 14, 2021) 
Jack F. Matlock |Visiting Scholar at Duke University, and former U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union
https://www.krasnoevents.com/uploads/1/1/6/6/116679777/krasno_analysis_-_matlock_ukraine_-_dec._2021.pdf

ACURA
ACURA ViewPoint: James W. Carden: How Do We Stop The Neocons From Starting Another Disaster In Ukraine?
https://usrussiaaccord.org/acura-viewpoint-james-w-carden-how-do-we-stop-the-neocons-from-starting-another-disaster-in-ukraine/

Reminiscence of the Future
Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-lesson-in-real-realism.html

The Vineyard of the Saker
Assessing the outcome of the Biden Putin summmit
The Saker
https://thesaker.is/assessing-the-outcome-of-the-biden-putin-summmit/

Central Bank Hawkishness — Brian Romanchuk

The Bank of England hiked today, and the Fed’s dot plot yesterday indicated that rate hikes are expected to hit in 2022. This is a quite different script than the last cycle, although it remains to be seen how many hikes happen before they stall out....
Bond Economics
Central Bank Hawkishness
Brian Romanchuk

Climate Change update

Extreme weather events resulting from the changing climate are threatening some 40 percent of the world’s recoverable oil and gas reserves, risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft has said in a new report.


The portion is equal to some 600 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the report’s authors also said. Some 10.5 percent of the global recoverable oil and gas reserves are located in places that were rated as extremely risky under the consultancy’s Climate Change Exposure Indices, while the other 29.5 percent were rated as highly risky.


Among the events listed in the report are storms and floods, rising sea levels, and extreme temperatures....
Oilprice
Climate Change Is Threatening 40% Of All Global Oil And Gas Reserves
Irina Slav
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Climate-Change-Is-Threatening-40-Of-All-Global-Oil-And-Gas-Reserves.h…

Tom Dispatch
Climate Crisis at the Top of the World: Global Orders and Catastrophic Change
Alfred W. McCoy | Harrington professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
https://tomdispatch.com/climate-crisis-at-the-top-of-the-world/?utm_source=TomDispatch

Counterpunch
Make No Mistake: Hydrogen = Fracking
Jeremy Nichols
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/16/make-no-mistake-hydrogen-fracking/