Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

“The Sources of International Investment Income in Emerging Market Economies”

by Joseph Joyce “The Sources of International Investment Income in Emerging Market Economies” The Review of International Economics has published my paper on “The Sources of International Investment Income in Emerging Market Economies” in its latest issue. You can find the paper here, and this is the abstract: We investigate international investment income flows in 26 emerging market […]

Real wages decrease sharply – at least, if you include used vehicle prices

Real wages decrease sharply – at least, if you include used vehicle prices As I pointed out yesterday, the big increase in inflation over the past few months has made the YoY change in real wages for nonsupervisory workers negative. Let’s take a little closer look. Here is a graph of wages for nonsupervisory workers […]

Will A Rise in Interest Rates Lead to a New Debt Crisis?

by Joseph Joyce Will A Rise in Interest Rates Lead to a New Debt Crisis? The question of when the Federal Reserve will begin to reverse its loose policy stance continues to be a topic of widespread speculation. At last month’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, its members showed a willingness to cut back on asset […]

Socially Ambivalent Labour Time: TSV part 3, chapter 20

Socially Ambivalent Labour Time: TSV part 3, chapter 20 Marx’s discussion of socially necessary labour time in Chapter 20 of Theories of Surplus Value is notable for the fact that it comes immediately before Chapter 21, where he doesn’t mention socially necessary labour time (but the concept lingers just below the surface in the latter chapter). He talked about […]

Why we’re failing to stop climate chaos

by David Zetland Why we’re failing to stop climate chaos Climate chaos (CC) is the largest threat to our collective prosperity. (Water scarcity, biodiversity loss, increasing vulnerability to viruses and bacteria are a few more.) But “we” (citizens of rich countries) are having a hardER time understanding and addressing CC due to a few strategic […]

Socially Ambivalent Labour Time IV

Socially Ambivalent Labour Time IV: TSV part 2, chapters 8, 9, 16, and 17 Nothing notable in these chapters. Chapter 8: Poor quality land requires more labour time than socially necessary (which is to say the average labour time required to produce a given output). Chapter 9: Socially necessary labour time is permanently established in […]

USPS proposal Reduces service standards Causing “undue discrimination”

Steve Hutkins from Save The Post Office, “Why the USPS proposal to reduce service standards will cause “undue discrimination” The Postal Service’s plan to reduce service standards is now being reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission for an Advisory Opinion. On Monday, June 21, the Postal Service and several of the intervenors in the case […]

Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA

US crude supplies falling at a record pace, down 17.4% YoY; gasoline output at a 22 month high; record gasoline demand The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA, RJS, Marketwatch 666 US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending July 2nd showed that even after a sizeble […]