Category Archives: Economic fundamentals

Applications for New Businesses Have a Double-WTF Moment

Federal data says new businesses are being formed in droves. But PPP fraud complicates this otherwise positive picture.

How China Is Offering an Alternative to the IMF

China has been setting up currency swap lines with many countries. But is this an idea that is ahead of its time?

Inflation in the Aftermath of Wars and Pandemics

Challenging the conventional wisdom that government responses to Covid will generate inflation.

Michael Hudson: America’s Neoliberal Financialization Policy vs. China’s Industrial Socialism

Further discussion of the American and Chinese economic models, focusing on financialization as a central distinction.

Lessons from the First New Deal for the Next One

Whether it is called “Build Back Better” or a Green New Deal, it is imperative to reject the false dichotomy of “jobs against climate.”

UNCTAD’s Richard Kozul-Wright on the Post-COVID World Economy: Out of the Frying Pan… Into the Fire?

Kozul-Wright warns that for a sustainable Covid-19 recovery, it is key to abandon policies that concentrate economic power and wealth

Michael Hudson Asks Our Readers: If Democracy Winds Up Creating Financial Dominance, What Do We Call China?

Michael Hudson seeks reader input on what to call modern governments not run by traditional nobles or financial interests.

Why the Government Bonds Owned by the Bank of England Are Not a Debt Burden, Even When They’re Repaid

A short discussion of government bonds and what happens when a central bank holds them.

QE During the “Everything Mania”: Fed’s Assets at $7.7 Trillion, Up $3.5 Trillion in 13 months

Trying to make sense of what the Fed is up to.

The ‘Roaring Twenties’ and Covid Recovery: Revisiting the Evidence for Europe

Are the Roaring Twenties an analogue for what a post Covid economy would look like?

China and US: Stumbling into War?

China and the US are doing an awful lot of chest-poking, and if anything, it’s getting worse under Biden. Could this sparring lead to war?

Preparing for a Wave of Non-Performing Loans: Are Banks at Risk?

On a aggregate basis, EU banks appear to have enough capital to weather even a bad Covid storm. A country-by-country look tells another story.

Chicago School Economists Got it Wrong. Strong Antitrust Policy Boosts the Economy.

History shows robust antitrust enforcement helps promote a prosperous, fair, and balanced economy.

Will Biden’s Central American Plan Slow Migration (or Speed It Up)?

Biden”s Central America plan includes US funding of domestic security forces to keep citizens put and support foreign economic exploitation.

We Have to Consign the Era of Financial Engineering to History

Financial legerdemain is still very much with us, despite the Big One in 2008 and continuing distortions confirming its high cost.