Financial News Hub

Investing, trading, stocks and Forex news & updates

> Home / Macro Economics
abs_728z90_red

When Boris Johnson won the 2019 General Election

by

in November, many people were shocked. How could someone who had been free with racist slurs towards many minority groups, who had arranged for an opponent to be beaten up, who had been sacked twice for lying and yet had continued to lie frequently, who had been the worst foreign secretary in decades, and who had wasted a lot of public money on blunders as Mayor of London go on to win a General Election? That he became Tory leader in the previous July could easily be explained, given the nature of his electorate then, but winning a General Election was something else. He had been elected as leader in part because the party saw him as the only person who could prevent Nigel Farage taking many … [Read More...]

How should academic economics cope with ideological bias

by

This question was prompted by this study by Mohsen Javdani and Ha-Joon Chang, which tries to show two things: mainstream economists are biased against heterodox economists, and also tend to favour statements by those close to their own political viewpoint, particularly on the right. I don’t want to talk here about the first bias, or about the merits or otherwise of this particular study. Instead I will take it as given that ideological bias exists within mainstream academic economists (and hereafter when I just say ‘academic economics’ I’m only talking about the mainstream), as it does with many social sciences. I take this as given simply because of my own experience as an economist.I also, from my own experience, want to suggest that in their … [Read More...]

Schmuck!

by

SOURCE: Funny Economist – Randall Parker’s Completely Serious Macroeconomics Blog – Read entire story here.

Read Seth Cotlar

by

@sethcotlar has a very excellent thread asking never Trump conservatives what really changed with Trump. He says he is willing to be convinced that Trump isn’t just letting the mask drop and saying the quiet parts out loud, but that they haven’t made a case that Conservativism was ever worth anything. Zack Beauchamp fair used […] [Read More...]

The political consequences of Nigel Farage

by

Nigel Farage, as leader of UKIP, was critical in making Cameron commit to an EU referendum. As a key player on the Leave side in the referendum he helped gain a narrow victory. Conservative Brexiters then turned a vote for a negotiated deal with the EU into a headbanging demand to leave without any deal at all. When that failed to be agreed by parliament Nigel Farage re-enters the picture talking about humiliation and national betrayal and demanding a No Deal exit. The political consequences of Farage have already been immense, and they do not look like they are going away. What further havoc is he likely to cause? With the exception of the EU referendum itself, his influence has nearly always been through the Conservative … [Read More...]

Quality Spreads

by

While the yield curve turning negative is getting a lot of attention and seems to be the main excuse for yesterdays stock market drop, there are other financial indicators that are also signaling weaker economic growth ahead. The primary one is quality spreads as the yield on corporate bonds are rising relative to treasuries.  This […] [Read More...]

Is Labour’s fiscal policy rule neoliberal?

by

That is the charge some on the left, particularly followers a movement called MMT, have laid against Labour’s Fiscal Credibility Rule (FCR). MMT stands for nothing very informative, but it is a non-mainstream left-wing macroeconomic school of thought. Bill Mitchell, one of the leading lights of MMT, has run a relentless campaignagainst the FCR through his blog. As my own workwith Jonathan Portes helped provide the intellectual foundation for the FCR, I will try and explain why I find the neoliberal charge nonsensical. Although MMT has had its biggest impact in the US, it is increasingly discussed by those on Labour’s left (e.g. proand con). Here I will give a lay person’s guide to only the aspects of MMT that lead to its dislike … [Read More...]

Fun with Bernie ….if there is such a thing with a Marxist mental midget…

by

What is scary is that he actually believes the Marxist filth that comes out of his pie hole. As Brett Stephens has said, the young people who support him are too young to remember what socialism did. The older folks who support him are too stupid to understand what it does.”Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston ChurchillCount me out. [Read More...]

Is Brexit a culture war or a class war?

by

The dynamic of today’s service based economy means that social liberalism is in part generated by class. Imagine someone with a piece of thin card. They draw a circle with a compass and cut out the circle. Two people arrive and pick up the card. One says look, someone has cut out a circle. The other says there is no circle, its just a thin bit of card. The debate over Brexit within the Labour party is in danger of following a similar structure. For most Labour voters and members its position should be absolutely clear. Labour should stand for openness and international cooperation. Brexit is the opposite of these things. However a minority says that many in Labour’s working class heartlands support Brexit and we should … [Read More...]

Traffic Jam in Shenzhen, China

by

” The long line of trucks is a traffic jam of military trucks. Shenzhen (China), to state the obvious, is across the border and located just north of Hong Kong (see map). This show of force could still be a well poised threat to Hong Kong warning them to discontinue their protests or else. Shenzhen […] [Read More...]

Trends

all posts analysis aud banking best articles bitcoin blockchain brexit China commodities contributions credit cards crypto Economics employment equities eur Euro finance fixed income forex frugality futures gbp getting started gold investing investment funds investments links marketing tips meeting minutes multi-asset natural gas oil places Politics premium articles r/bitcoin real estate sectors special report startup stocks subjects trading videos trend following usd video wealth adviser