Friday, June 10, 2022

Links — 10 June 2022 Part 1

Consortium News
The Plot Against GrayZone & Suspicions About Consortium News
Joe Lauria | editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and numerous other newspapers, and an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/06/09/the-uk-plot-against-grayzone-suspicions-about-consortium-news/

CaitlinJohnstone.com
Study US Foreign Policy By Looking At Oil Reserves: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
Caitlin Johnstone
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/06/10/study-us-foreign-policy-by-looking-at-oil-reserves-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/

The Last Refuge
Hawley and Grassley Receive Evidence from Whistleblower Showing DHS Intent to Weaponize Social Media to Control Information
Sundance
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/06/09/hawley-and-grassley-receive-evidence-from-whistleblower-showing-dhs-intent-to-weaponize-social-media-to-control-information

One World
Konrad Rękas
Polish journalist and economist living in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
https://oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=2957

Andrew Korybko, American geopolitical analyst and independent journalist based in Moscow, and member of the expert council for the Institute of Strategic Studies and Predictions at the People’s Friendship University of Russia
https://oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=2958

A Son of the New American Revolution
Why Were Ukrainian Nazis in the U.S. Capitol on January 6
Larry C. Johnson | CEO and co-founder of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm with expertise combating terrorism and investigating money laundering, formerly Deputy Director in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism (1989-1993, and CIA operations (1984-1989)
https://sonar21.com/why-were-ukrainian-nazis-in-the-u-s-capitol-on-january-6/

Reminiscence of the Future
Larch Defines Moral Point, Larry's Friend Defines Strategy.
Andrei Martyanov, former USSR naval officer and expert on Russian military and naval issues
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2022/06/larch-defines-moral-point-larrys-friend.html

The Vineyard of the Saker
Sitrep Operation Z: Beginning of this End (but there are other beginnings and other ends)
Amarynth
http://thesaker.is/sitrep-operation-z-beginning-of-this-end-but-there-are-other-beginnings-and-other-ends/

TASS (Russian state media)
Beijing warns: ‘If Taiwan torn away from mainland, China won’t hesitate to go to war’
https://tass.com/world/1463671

Effect of sanctions less acute than expected so far — Bank of Russia
https://tass.com/economy/1463665

Bank of Russia continues following floating ruble rate policy — Central Bank chief [Elvira Nabiullina]
https://tass.com/economy/1463659

Risks of secondary sanctions against Russia remain — Central Bank chief
https://tass.com/economy/1463623

Sputnik International (Russian state-sponsored media)
Beijing to 'Smash to Smithereens' Any 'Taiwan Independence' Plot, China Defence Chief Warns US
https://sputniknews.com/20220610/beijing-to-smash-to-smithereens-any-taiwan-independence-plot-china-defence-chief-warns-us-1096193385.html
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/lloyd-austin-warns-chinese-defense-chief-halt-destabilizing-actions-aimed-taiwan-1st


18 comments:

Footsoldier said...

" An economic article 5 "


So many people didn't believe me and all my rants on Billy Blog for at least 6 months.


And yet another way to stop MMT or any developments in economics whatsoever. The current economic paradigm was set up to represent EU expansion and NATO.

Been shouting it but nobody is listening.









Footsoldier said...

Was in the WSJ


https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-economic-article-5-to-counter-china-11613084046?mod=opinion_lead_pos9


Narrative and framing is priceless and they have got it down to a fine art.





Peter Pan said...

Of course nobody is listening.

Remember when MMT pundits were excited about Stephanie Kelton's book?

Or when Bill Mitchell mentioned he was having discussions behind closed doors?

Important!
Game changer!
Overton window is shifting!

Much ado about nothing folks.

"Peak MMT" was when a young politician (Alexandria Ocasio Cortez) arrived on the scene and talked about it. It's been all downhill since.

Footsoldier said...

Yup, if the mainstream win the inflation debate we have seen peak MMT.

Matt Franko said...

What could happen is the QT could finally make available additional finance of expanded production and inventories of petroleum/gas and autos and unit prices will come down .. then will morons figurative “inflation!”…

MMT won’t have anything to do with that because the MMT thesis related to this is “reserve balances don’t matter!” which is BS…

If that’s what ends up happening then fairly MMT wouldn’t deserve any credit..,

lastgreek said...

"Andrew Korybko, American geopolitical analyst and independent journalist based in Moscow..."

An oxymoronic phrase. Still, it was good for a laugh :)

Also, note that in "oxymoronic phrase" you have three, count 'em, three Greek words.

Tom Hickey said...

independent journalist based in Moscow

Meaningless. John Helmer is also an "independent journalist based in Moscow" that criticizes the Russian, US, UK, and European regimes.

Tom Hickey said...

I am not overly pessimistic about the politics of MMT.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”
(misattributed to Mahatma Gandhi)

We've gone from the "laugh at you" phase to the "fight you" phase. Everything is right on track.

Peter Pan said...

There is no politics of MMT. What we have is a club comprised of nerds.

Maybe one of the 'Great men of history' will ride to our rescue.

Milton Friedman, Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau...

Tom Hickey said...

There is no politics of MMT.

Not so. MMT economists have specifically discussed "strategy" (that word was used) with respect to promoting MMT. This is a political choice, not an economic one or a pedagogical one either. This is, of course, completely different from MMT as a macro theory. MMT does have economic and pedagogical strategies as well, that is, how to present MMT as a macro theory and how to teach it academically as well as educate the public about MMT and the policy options it shows are available, contrary to conventional wisdom and popular belief.

The other side, opponents also have developed strategies for attacking MMT in the media and they have changed that strategy with changing conditions. For example, initially it was all about debt and deficits and now that has shifted to hanging the inflation albatross on the neck of MMT.

Peter Pan said...

Having failed to educate the masses, there is no politics for MMT 'strategists' to play with.

Appealing to the 'movers and shakers' in backroom discussions doesn't have quite the effect when there's no movement backing you.

Having failed to educate the masses on the subtleties of inflation, get ready to bear that albatross.

Tom Hickey said...

Peter, they realize that the process of educating the public will take a lot of effort over a long time. We may be in the last mile but it is going to be slog all the way, although less so over time as more influential voices join the chorus. It would also be aided by dire economic conditions such as made the New Deal possible.

I don't see any major change likely before 2032, and perhaps not even then. Basically, the whole Democratic establishment has to go and be replaced by realists. That, I think, is being delivered by the stupid, corrupt and arrogant Clintonistas. But presently, there is no promising replacement on the horizon. And forget the GOP ever coming to its senses.

Regarding influential voices, James K. Galbraith is a solid pillar among more or less conventional economists, and Michael Hudson among the unconventional and Marxians. Galbraith carries a lot of weight with left of center Democrats, while Michael Hudson is very popular among an as yet unnamed group, many of whom are picking him up, like Pepe Escobar. His posts are also reposted on alt-right sites like The Unz Review. Tellingly, he doesn't carry much weight with progressives and MMT economists distance themselves from him, too.

Also notable is the activity of MMT proponents on social media now, although the MMT economists are not blogging much anymore other than Bill. The action has switched to Twitter.

So things appear to me to be on schedule.

Tom Hickey said...

I guess what I am saying is that it isn't really going to happen to any large degree before the next generation, some of whom are already entering academia, or have already entered. That is to say, unless there is a mass conversion of existing economists to MMT owing to as yet unforeseeable circumstances, like MMT picked up economics prof. Dirk Ehnts in Germany, who is now writing about MMT in German.

Peter Pan said...

10 years from now, you'll be telling me that everything is on schedule for 2042.

My crystal ball says we'll have bigger problems to worry about in a decade, and economic narratives will have changed to frame new realities. Artificial scarcity will be an artifact of the past, being replaced by real resource constraints. MMT won't be of help by then.

The top end of town will do whatever it takes to maintain their privilege.

Peter Pan said...

Academia has done its work. Or rather, the few academics who have integrity have done their work, which is then received with the sound of crickets by the bought-and-paid-for imprimaturs.

Activists have had ten years to educate the public and that mission has failed. They don't have an unlimited amount of time until external issues render the whole project moot.

Tom Hickey said...

My crystal ball says we'll have bigger problems to worry about in a decade, and economic narratives will have changed to frame new realities.

Mine, too.

Monetarism is getting quite long in the tooth and it is on the wane. Monetarism has been foundational to the conventional economics since the 70s. Many of the key players have either already passed on or retired, and many more soon will. A new crop is sprouting.

MMT is definitely a contender to replace it on the left. So is Austrian economics on the right.

Climate change is beginning to bite, and "going green" has led to issues yet to be resolved.

In addition, the global order is realigning, with all that forebodes.

The possibility of wider war is also increasing.

Covid is not over and other pandemics (monkeypox) threaten.

This is new territory. The old rules are breaking down.

What MMT has going for it principally is that its descriptive analysis accords with reality, whereas other schools of economics that are out of paradigm with MMT don't accord with reality.

Of course, if the world would move away from a floating rate system like we now have, MMT as we know it would have to adapt to the new institutional arrangements.

Peter Pan said...

If CBDCs come to pass, what is the purpose of MMT?

Programmable fiat could be used to alter consumer behavior and end consumer culture. With a social credit system to be employed as enforcement. With a UBI-like stipend, provided you behave.

Different system, different policies. Elites still in control, of course.

"You'll own nothing and be happy"; with the corollary we'll own everything and take care of you; is feudalism. Those plans may never come to fruition, but the ownership class are stating a willingness to change the socio-economic game.

The January 6th commission and talk of civil war in the MSM are signs of a pretext. Banning Trump from running in the next race is tantamount to ending electoral politics in the US. They want a crisis in order to declare an emergency. Censorship always leads to violence.

When I take these developments into account, it is over for MMT. We are entering new territory whose form should be visible within ten years. Progressives are not ready for these changes.

Peter Pan said...

And if the future plays out as a decline in industrial civilization, MMT will lose relevance as national governments lose relevance in ordinary people's lives. The welfare state will decline, forcing people to become more self-reliant. It's the libertarian dream come true, but as a result of declining resource availability.

By wrecking the planet, some ideologies will eventually describe material reality.