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Category Archives: economics and money

Broken: the implicit contract between the rulers and the ruled. Part 2 of 2

2 Sep

… continued from Part 1 …. * In a piece replicated in full on this site – Who pays for the US war machine? – my old friend Bryan Gocke noted that despite running a colossal national debt, the USA … Read More »

economics and money, general, usa 2 Comments

Is the rouble in trouble?

18 Aug

Well of course it is! Same as there’s a rude word in Scunthorpe and a big cat in billionaire. Just look at the spelling of trouble, will ya? But as you no doubt guessed, I refer to headlines like this … Read More »

economics and money, ukraine war 4 Comments

Russia’s banking system and the West’s

10 Aug

For some time I’ve been hammering away at the point that China’s capitalists are subordinate to the state, while in the West the reverse applies. My aim is not to counter mainstream media propaganda, predictably immense and ceaseless; upmarket no … Read More »

china rising, economics and money, russia, usa 8 Comments

‘Resilience’ – a sneaky neoliberal trope

27 Jun

In his post yesterday, blogger, tax specialist and MMT pundit Richard Murphy cites a tweet by a Dr James Davies: ‘Resilience’ is a sneaky neoliberal trope. It frames, as a psychological virtue, painful endurance of circumstances from which others benefit … Read More »

economics and money 3 Comments

A crisis created in Threadneedle Street

24 Jun

For the second time this week I’m replicating a column by tax specialist and modern monetary theorist Richard Murphy. Here (lightly edited) is what he wrote yesterday. Why interest rate rises are fuelling inflation I have been suggesting interest rate … Read More »

economics and money, uk 9 Comments

Yes, there is a magic money tree!

22 Jun

Few alive today in the West have experienced destitution. Yes, baby boomers raised on working class streets knew the haunted look of mothers with too much week and too little money. I recall – I’d be seven or eight – … Read More »

economics and money, science and reason, uk Leave a comment

The Emerging New World Economy

19 Apr

At close of my last post but one – War over Taiwan? A gorgeous stupidity! – a “coming soon” alert promised: Three discussions which progressively widen the focus: from Alex Mercouris on Kiev’s much heralded spring counter-offensive, through Brian Berletic … Read More »

economics and money, general Leave a comment

Debt forgiveness: a lesson in our time

9 Apr

While taking on the belligerent idiocy of the Observer’s Simon Tisdall two weeks ago, I blamed his elephant-in denialism – and that of his employer and corporate mass media at large – re the existence of the US Empire. The … Read More »

china rising, economics and money, usa Leave a comment

Speaking of self-serving credulity …

17 Mar

I’ve been using that term so often of late I’m tempted to give it in abbreviated form. Trouble is, SSC is too close to this site’s SCS for comfort. But a shortened form is required, given that self-serving credulity is … Read More »

economics and money 4 Comments

SVB/Credit Suisse: 3 pieces on the panic

15 Mar

Humour me, why don’t you? Which of the two images below serves best as metaphor for this week’s panic in the markets?   I’d say both but what do I know? Let’s just give praise to the Lord for “fact … Read More »

economics and money 6 Comments

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tune for the day

Tamla Motown, Pink Floyd, Elvis. I’ve seen class tribute acts but none got it as eerily right as the Bootleg Beatles: Day in the life

last 350 posts (most recent first)

  • The trial by media of Russell Brand
  • Media Lens on Climate Collapse – The Grim Silence Of Our Leaders
  • Damned by their own words
  • Catherine Bennett, Ben & Jerry – and the Moral Ratings Agency
  • Two short reads: Mary Mellor on ‘wellth’; Caitlin Johnstone on advertorial ‘journalism’
  • A course in Media Studies – Lesson #93
  • Zelensky’s patron arrested. Why now?
  • Scholz: “why isn’t Putin complaining about EU sanctions?”
  • Broken: the implicit contract between the rulers and the ruled. Part 2 of 2
  • Tell me again what ‘provoked’ means
  • More on who killed Prigozhyn
  • Who killed Prigozhin?
  • New York Times and Wall Street Journal come (sort of) clean on Ukraine’s unfolding nightmare
  • 30 signs of Chronic Thought Disorder
  • The global tyrant
  • The night the cops tried to break Thelonius Monk
  • UK – Starmer’s cowardice is the least of it
  • Is the rouble in trouble?
  • No censorship please: we’re Westerners
  • An American in the cradle of the civil war
  • Yves Smith on Ukraine’s unfolding defeat
  • Down to the last Ukrainian …
  • Wizwoz on the Niger coup
  • Yes, the West is losing its war on Russia!
  • Russia’s banking system and the West’s
  • Eritrea’s leader pays homage to Russia’s
  • A canary sings: make peace, you fools!
  • Calling Russia’s invasion “unprovoked” is proof of media corruption on matters vital to power
  • Sinéad O’Connor: artist and heroine
  • What the Oppenheimer film ignores
  • Steel city house gets new keyboard mat!
  • Broken: the implicit contract between the rulers and the ruled. Part 1 of 2.
  • Ruling class devilry and the Holy Bible
  • Ukraine: Latin America defies the West
  • Remembering Nordstream
  • The most effective propaganda is subtle
  • On Vilnius, and the NATO blame game
  • “Putin’s War” for Dummies
  • Now they done moved Ukraine to Iraq!
  • ‘Resilience’ – a sneaky neoliberal trope
  • A crisis created in Threadneedle Street
  • Yes, there is a magic money tree!
  • Excuse me – I just saw a golden eagle!
  • Is it stupid to believe media propaganda?
  • Two reads on media propaganda
  • British wildlife in May
  • Caitlin: “you can be happy and informed!”
  • Three perspectives on the UK today
  • Musings on an osprey
  • Richard Murphy on Keir Starmer
  • Cromarty at April’s end
  • The bluebells at Strelley
  • Alex Mercouris on the battle for Bakhmut
  • Empire of hypocrisy
  • USA: “jump!” Denmark: “how high?”
  • On Russia leaving the neoliberal West
  • Trivialising capitalism’s rape of nature
  • Ukraine and the talented Mr Berletic
  • The Emerging New World Economy
  • Ukraine leaks? Immolate the leaker!
  • War over Taiwan? A gorgeous stupidity!
  • Julian: US Democrats cry “enough!”
  • WW3? A matter of chips freedom!
  • Speaking of paedophiles …
  • His Creepiness the 14th
  • Debt forgiveness: a lesson in our time
  • Is Beijing paranoid?
  • Is Mr Putin paranoid?
  • The Greatest Journalist Of All Time
  • Indicting Donald
  • Three Sunday reads
  • What if journalists did their (putative) job?
  • Endless war, and media complicity
  • The whataboutery of Simon Tisdall
  • Mr President removes his watch
  • That ICC arrest warrant: an Indian view
  • The ICC: a kangaroo court, yes. A joke, no
  • ICC weaponised? Putinbot poppycock!
  • Speaking of self-serving credulity …
  • SVB/Credit Suisse: 3 pieces on the panic
  • “Because I’ve got a brain!”
  • Richard Murphy on Silicon Valley Bank
  • Sergey Lavrov speaks out on the WTO
  • More on the Iran-Saudi deal
  • They say the darkest hour …
  • Telling a Martian what hospitals do
  • China brokers Iran-Saudi rapprochement
  • Gary Lineker? Or H.M. Loyal Opposition?
  • Only connect …
  • A brief stroll from farming to WW3
  • Nordstrom: the comedy continues
  • The hazard of Oz revisited
  • China on “US Hegemony And Its Perils”
  • Richard Murphy on UK capital flight
  • All we are saying is give peace a chance!
  • A Ukrainian socialist speaks
  • Starmer and the victory of dark politics
  • Anti-war demo in London, February 25
  • On Worcestershire Beacon
  • Titanic in 3D
  • Are anti-war protests useless?
  • The etymology of ‘tad’
  • Reimburse the Bottlecap Balloon Brigade!
  • Did the crazies capture the USA? How?
  • Stop the War NOW!
  • The hazard of Oz: Canberra’s US nukes
  • Labour won’t save Britain’s public sector
  • Ukraine take 6 – Seymour Hersh
  • A rubber tramp in Cambridge
  • Ukraine take 5 – Gilbert Doctorow
  • Who pays for the US war machine?
  • A rubber tramp in Hartlepool
  • A rubber tramp in Redcar
  • I’m a fan of Sean Penn but …
  • Ukraine Take 4 – The Guardian
  • Carole and Aretha trans-slated!
  • More trans lunacy
  • Redress and the presumption of guilt
  • Ukraine Take 3 – Caitlin Johnstone
  • Oxfam, WSWS and survival of the richest
  • US and NATO send tanks to Ukraine
  • We are stardust …
  • Ukraine Take 2 – Stephen Gowans
  • Ukraine take 1 – Richard Murphy
  • Caitlin is with Ghandi on Western values
  • Mayflies – the Swiss option
  • Scramble for Africa – Version Two
  • Thank God Trump lost!
  • Film Review: Lady Chatterley’s Lover
  • Is Vladimir Putin too soft?
  • I’m no fan of Scottish Tories but …
  • Iran: we’re being played. Again.
  • Biden’s role in the US war in Ukraine
  • Conspiracism and the late David Griffin
  • Russian oil cap? No EU-turn in Brussels!
  • Dress code for a night at the Mariinsky
  • Jonathan Cook on a myopic Monbiot
  • Europe cannot win this economic war
  • Ukraine: Europe’s anger at Washington
  • Guardian to Julian: may I help you?
  • Ukraine – a wintry endgame?
  • Why does the West hate Putin?
  • Cheerleading for WW3
  • The staggering hypocrisy of Julian’s jailers
  • Ukraine: training the West’s far right
  • The lies that triggered WW3
  • UK responses to Hunt’s budget
  • Missile strikes on Poland: cui bono?
  • Ukraine: more dangerous Guardian drivel
  • Straight talking on Cop27
  • The propaganda blitz on Bucha
  • Shills for empire: a matter of intent?
  • Cook on Monbiot on Ukraine (again)
  • Objective journalism is an oxymoron
  • Ukraine and the official narrative
  • Austerity? Britain can’t afford that!
  • Ukraine and the Democrat ‘progressives’
  • Magic Money Tree? Part Two
  • Keir Starmer on “hate crime”
  • Magic Money Tree? Part One
  • Labour’s love of voodoo economics
  • Two ways Hunt can “balance the books”
  • Britain’s new chancellor of the Exchequer!
  • Zugzwang for TrussTweng?
  • With Ukraine ablaze, is Taiwan next?
  • How sanctions on Russia boomeranged
  • Caitlin on Ukraine opinion manufacture
  • So Truss and Starmer want growth …
  • Stellar! Mrs Assange v John Bolton
  • UK in turmoil: a Quaker speaks
  • It’s only a conspiracy theory if anti-USA
  • “The economic illiteracy is staggering”
  • Rupa Huq: Kwarteng “superficially” black
  • Shock therapy for Britain?
  • From Black Hole to Bucha
  • Footnotes: top tactics for top tacticians
  • Why read Michael Hudson? Part 3
  • Ukraine: what does Russia want?
  • Wear the fox hat!
  • Jacques Baud: a vital voice on Ukraine
  • Drinkable water please …
  • On the death of a Queen
  • Democracy is so not coming to the USA
  • Where have all the flowers gone?
  • The tragedy of Mikhail Gorbachev
  • When State & Capital conspire to censor
  • Persecuting Professor Hayward
  • Who killed Daria Dugina?
  • Attacks on Crimea up the nuclear ante
  • Down with Covid!
  • Why read Michael Hudson? Part 2
  • It ain’t half hot mum!
  • Pretending the US Empire doesn’t exist
  • Who wants a nuclear disaster in Ukraine?
  • Why read Michael Hudson? Part 1
  • Who fact-checks the fact-checkers?
  • There are no adults in the room
  • Dementia patient tries to start WW3
  • Three cheers for amazing Audrey White!
  • Dress code for an execution
  • US diplomacy as Greek Tragedy
  • Ukraine: Europe’s very own Bangladesh
  • Nancy playing with fire over Taiwan
  • Will the real Zelensky please stand up?
  • Caitlin on Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan
  • Covid in the age of crisis capitalism
  • Big pharma, and people with penises
  • Meanwhile back in Norfolk …
  • Meanwhile back in Taiwan …
  • Ukraine and the fall of the US Empire
  • What makes America so dangerous?
  • After Boris Johnson, what next?
  • Ukraine: graveyard of the US Empire?
  • Socialism or barbarism?
  • Two big errors about Russia
  • Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
  • Anyone (not Russian) for tennis?
  • Getting real about Ukraine
  • The invisibility of empire
  • Priti Patel and the power of lies
  • What price US nukes? $80k a minute!
  • The barbarism of dying empires
  • Understanding empire, from “i.e.” to “e.g.”
  • On war crimes in Ukraine
  • Who am I? (And why write?)
  • Who beat the drums for Dear Prudence?
  • On media manufactured monsters
  • Let’s give Ukraine’s fascists a makeover!
  • Rye v Hastings? Dickens v Tressell?
  • Meditation for the politico
  • A little more on the US war machine
  • “The wrong direction at maximum speed”
  • The USA: “no way out but war”
  • Power is at war with truth
  • On and on and on …
  • Why the times they are a-changing
  • “Left” Democrats vote to prolong war!
  • Ukraine: “the global south must act”
  • Starmer, Nato and the death of truth
  • As we hydroplane towards WW3 …
  • Is Team Biden the worst ever?
  • Tucker Carlson on ‘disinformation’
  • Oh my giddy AUMF!
  • “Zelensky good … Putin baad …”
  • Red-lines real … red lines reductive
  • What about those too tired to have sex?
  • We need to talk about pacificism
  • Ukraine and the death-logic of escalation
  • Ukraine in La La Land
  • Easter offerings
  • Caitlin’s love letter to draft dodgers
  • India in the dock for empire disobedience
  • Ursula weeps for Ukraine
  • Red Star Belgrade v Media Amnesia
  • Ukraine: “turning brains to soup”
  • Ukraine: a military assessment
  • Sakwa: “Paul Mason wrong on Ukraine”
  • Peace in Ukraine? Zelensky has zero say
  • Is Russia losing the information war?
  • The day John Pilger met the CIA Boss
  • Britain is a crime scene
  • The US wants this war to go on and on
  • No matter what the risks to us all …
  • Yes, we are being lied to. Massively.
  • Defending democracy in Ukraine?!?
  • Ukraine: the Far Left is almost right
  • Observations on the week so far …
  • Yesterday in and around Lathkill Dale
  • This ain’t Putin’s price hike
  • No, I’m not telling you what to think!
  • Dark Side of the Mood Music
  • Pentagon bioweapons in Ukraine
  • Carbon dating …
  • Ukraine: why bomb a hospital?
  • Ukraine on fire
  • Yes, Ukraine is in the grip of Nazis!
  • Sanctions: America’s Greek Tragedy
  • US Colonel McGregor: “Zelensky no hero”
  • The real purpose of sanctions on Russia?
  • Cook on Monbiot on Ukraine
  • Media double standards over Ukraine
  • Is this Russian propaganda?
  • A calmer panorama in the English Lakes
  • The most important question in the world
  • Ukraine through the eye of a UK diplomat
  • Ukraine: what does Mr Putin have to say?
  • Diana Johnstone on Russia bear baiting
  • Ukraine: the elephants in the room
  • Russia Today
  • Kiev shelled: Zelensky calls martial law
  • Media Lens on Guardian on Ukraine
  • Russia’s recognition of the LDNR
  • Vladimir Putin on what’s bothering Russia
  • “Why Russia wants Ukraine”
  • The royaling boil of Martin’s kettle
  • Useful Useless idiot 76423: Richard Engel
  • Russia’s gonna invade Ukraine for sure!
  • Caitlin on The Official Story
  • Can Europe break free of a dying Empire?
  • The view from Langley, Virginia
  • An inaccurate, biased Amnesty report?
  • Whose bass guitar gently wept?
  • The weirdness of BoJo’s Savilegate
  • Mini-break on the Yorkshire coast
  • “We have evidence” is not evidence!
  • Ukraine: has Washington already lost?
  • Ukraine: maps, history, duff reasoning ..
  • Ukraine: the madness of Empire’s critics
  • Is a nuclear war in Europe probable?
  • Is humanity doomed?
  • Ukraine and the West’s lies
  • Monolithic control at the Guardian?
  • They tried to bury us …
  • Agonising over Auntie
  • Eurasia’s rise is unstoppable
  • Getting real on the US-NATO-Russia talks
  • Mini Gems good – Midget Gems baad!
  • Kazakhstan tests China non interference
  • Mike on Mingus
  • Do dolphins flick the bean?
  • Yes, Kazakhstan is a (failed) US coup!
  • Planting flowers for 2022
  • Caesar salad
  • Kazakhstan: why is the steppe on fire?
  • Battle of the mutes
  • Far-left Sinophobia: an infantile disorder
  • Talking down China’s economy
  • Caitlin calls it right on web censorship
  • Happy new year to The Free World?
  • Sinophobia – but at what cost?
  • The obvious has been made unspeakable
  • CounterPunch on US foreign policy
  • Ukraine and Georgia are Russia’s red lines
  • Assange? China? It’s not rocket science!
  • My date with Sister Scope
  • A third Ukraine read
  • Dear Guardian Media Group …
  • A murderous state speaks of human rights
  • Damn lies and daft stats on Hong Kong
  • Two short reads on the Ukraine crisis
  • Frankly I couldn’t give a damn …
  • Xinjiang debated
  • Priti’s Police Bill – why now?
  • Sunlit but wintry: Woollaton today
  • Another winter comes to Attenborough
  • Are we sleepwalking to Armageddon?
  • Snowfall on the Soar
  • Margaret Mead and that femur …
  • Sri Lanka and the ‘debt trap’ slur
  • Kyle Rittenhouse and the outrage industry
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