I vote TGD for Mod of Economics Board

Bobby. wrote on Feb 14^th, 2026 at 5:16pm:


Wrong.

1. You claimed China's ability to out-compete other nations in, eg, EVs, PVs and metals refining, rendering Oz unable to compete in global markets, is due to "illegal Chinese pricing". 

I pointed you to prof Keen's analysis of the WTO's delusional "comparative advantage" dogma, which explains why the WTO "freetrade rules"  have failed to engender prosperous development in ALL nations, and Trump's rejection of the international rules-based system. 

You are apparently too lazy to read and then offer your critique of Keen's brilliant expose' of the Neoclassical 'comparative advantage' delusion (post #1412).

2. As you already know, I'm highly critical of the CCP's management of China's economy, in the present era of Trump's pushback (he wants to maintain US global hegemony) against China because of dysfunctional WTO rules.

Fact is both China and India (and all developing nations) need to attain 'developed nation' per capita incomes, in a just global trading system which also avoids the rust belt phenomenom in developed nations.   [Prof. Keen has also addressed this issue in a previous post.] That's means India and China will be the largest economies in the world by far.

3. Indeed I'm interested in the theory of government - specifically, one-party meritocracy compared with  adversarial-party democracy, given the political instability caused by cost-of-living pressures on low and middle income groups, in most democracies around the world.

Does all this make me a "CCP shill"?


 

TGD,
Quote:


Yes I do.

It involves price dumping at below cost to destroy companies outside China.

The dysfunction of mainstream Neoclassical economics:

(ABC News)

Unemployment rate remains at 4.1pc in January, leading to talk of another rate rise

(excerpt)

In recent weeks, some economists have been arguing that the RBA's inflation-fighting strategy has been a failure and the RBA needs to lift interest rates much higher to drag inflation back down, even though that could lead to much higher unemployment.

..an argument Tim Wilson supported today (ABC News).  Of course he would - he's more interested in high-interest bank accounts for boomers, than ensuring real full employment (ie, with no under-employment).

So the idea is....you increase unemployment in order to bring inflation down - surely the definition of macroeconomic dysfunction.

Meanwhile in the UK:

(Daily Mail)

Inflation falls to 3% boosting chance of interest rate cuts

UK inflation has fallen to its lowest since March last year due to a drop in petrol, food and airfare prices. The drop has raised the likelihood that the Bank of England will cut interest rates

Lower food prices? How did that happen - reduced demand or increased supply?

BUT:

(google)

As of the latest data released in February 2026 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK unemployment rate for the period of October to December 2025 increased to 5.2%

So - considerably higher than Oz.

And (in the UK):

Unemployment has unexpectedly risen to its highest level for five years and wage growth has slowed again as the UK jobs market continues to come under pressure, according to official figure

So why did wage growth slow? Higher unemployment? Lower food prices?

Yet cost of living pressures remain high for at least half the population.

Obviously the macroeconomy is too complex to be handed over to mainstream economists in central banks - whose main inflation-fighting tool (ie monetary policy) is woefully inadequate for the task. 

While the wealthy laugh all the way to the bank.

More on the Neoclassical 'scarcity' dogma, and it's related push for 'government  austerity':

(google)

Bitcoin has a fixed limit of 21 million coins, hardcoded by creator Satoshi Nakamoto to ensure scarcity and create an anti-inflationary, "digital gold" asset that cannot be devalued by central authority money-printing.

Why the 21 Million Limit Exists:

Engineered Scarcity:

Inspired by precious metals like gold, the fixed cap makes Bitcoin a deflationary, long-term store of value.

Inflation Resistance:

Unlike fiat currencies, which can be printed endlessly by governments, Bitcoin’s supply cannot be artificially increased, protecting against inflation.***(see below)

Controlled Emission:

New bitcoins are generated through mining, with rewards halving roughly every four years, creating a decreasing, predictable, and finite emission schedule.

Mathematical Logic:

The 21 million figure is a direct result of the code's design—starting with a 50 BTC reward, cutting in half every 210,000 blocks (roughly 4 years)—rather than a random choice.

ie  a ponzi scheme based on demand for 'scarce' BTC.


***the error above is most money in the economy is created in private banks  (when they create loans for credit-worthy customers), not by "money printing" in central banks -  as shown by the fact governments sell bonds to borrow money.


To wit:

(Markets Insider)

Wall Street's 'Dr. Doom' economist blasts bitcoin as a 'bogus' asset, and says crypto risks destabilizing the financial system

One of Wall Street's biggest crypto skeptics is taking fresh aim at bitcoin amid its steep sell-off.

Nouriel Roubini also known as "Dr. Doom" for his frequently apocalyptic predictions on markets and the economy — doubled down on his view that bitcoin is far from being an inflation hedge and is a "pseudo-asset class."

Bitcoin, which entered bear market territory late last year, traded around $67,400 on Wednesday, down 45% from its peak in late October.

"Calling Bitcoin or any other crypto vehicle a 'currency' has always been bogus. It is neither a unit of account, a scalable means of payment, nor a stable store of value," Roubini wrote in an op-ed for Project Syndicate earlier this month.

Roubini, who has blasted bitcoin in the past as a "Ponzi Game" associated with criminal activity and said he believed the token was in "the mother of all bubbles," pointed to the crypto's potential use in illegal transactions. He also said that crypto broadly poses a risk to the financial system as lawmakers integrate it further into traditional banking.

In particular, he highlighted the GENIUS Act, and said the landmark stablecoin bill should be remembered as the "Reckless Idiot Act," partly because the bill specifies that stablecoins do not have lender-of-last resort or deposit insurance benefits.

The push among some players in the crypto industry to allow interest payments on stablecoins could further "undermine the foundations of the banking system," he added.

"Thus, all it would take to incite a panic and trigger a bank run is for a few bad apples in pseudo-libertarian US states to mis-invest their holdings or place their deposits in weak institutions," Roubini speculated. "This is a political and financial stability issue, and few are as serious or as sensitive," he later added.

Bitcoin's pronounced sell-off has slashed the token's value nearly in half. Should its decline lead to a true bitcoin winter, some forecasters see the coin dropping to as low as $31,000, a more than 50% drop from the token's current levels.
....

But I wonder if Nouriel, like Musk, doesn't understand how real - ie fiat - money is created.....the subject of this MMT thread.

No surprise here: Trump is still seen as the best US leader, who at least is fighting to change the egregious global Neoclassical-ordained 'dismal science', while the Dems still don't even know who is their next presidential candidate, because the mainstream political centre (Left or Right) are hood-winked by Neoclassical economics, and are hopelessly divided. eg AOC coudn't answer a question about Taiwan without resorting to a word salad...and Newsom doesn't want to raise taxes on the wealthy - how will he change anything for average Americans?

(Of course, this MMT thread shows why Newsom - or any leader -   doesn't need to raise taxes on wealthy Americans to fund essentials for low income workers, but he hasn't got a clue about how money is created. Hopeless). 

(The Daily Digest)

Trump scores another major win over the Democrats

Overall, Trump scored an abysmal disapproval rating of 60% in the latest polling, which ABC News reported marked “the highest numerical disapproval of his second term and matching his disapproval rating as he left office after his first term in January 2021.”

Unfortunately, Americans don’t believe that the Democrats in Congress could do any better. In what might be one of the most shocking findings from Trump’s second term in office, a large majority of respondents revealed they did not trust the Democrats to do a better job of governing than President Trump on the major issues facing the country.

More evidence mainstream Neoclassical economics is ruining our democracies.

Trump's strength is that he is not mainstream....but ...oh dear... his failings are legion.   

Another criticism of orthodox Neoclassical central banking:

https://ellenbrown.com/2026/02/25/regime-change-at-the-fed-from-big-bank-bailout...

Regime Change at the Fed: From Big Bank Bailouts to Local Productivity

On January 30, when former Federal Reserve board member Kevin Warsh was nominated by President Trump as the central bank’s next chair, markets sold off and gold and silver plunged. Investors were positioned for a “dove,” someone inclined to cut rates aggressively and keep money loose; and Warsh has a long-standing reputation as a “hawk.”

So wrote Michael Nicoletos in an article titled “Everyone Is Focusing on the Wrong Thing.” But Nicoletos and some other commentators are seeing something else on the horizon – a rebalancing of the banking system through an overhaul of the Federal Reserve itself. In recent months, noted Nicoletos,  Warsh has argued that the central bank’s “bloated balance sheet” has made borrowing “too easy” for Wall Street, while leaving “credit on Main Street too tight.” That contrast — abundant liquidity for the largest financial institutions, scarcity for the communities that actually generate economic activity — is a structural flaw that has unbalanced the American economy.

Nicoletos explained:

For the better part of fifteen years, the dominant approach to economic management went something like this: the Fed buys massive amounts of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (Quantitative Easing), flooding the financial system with reserves. This pushes asset prices higher: stocks, bonds, and real estate. The people who own those assets feel wealthier. Through this “wealth effect,” they spend more. And since roughly 70% of U.S. GDP is consumption, the economy grows.

As a result:

The top 10% of Americans, who own the vast majority of financial assets, did exceptionally well. The other 90%, the average worker, the small business owner, the person trying to buy their first home, were largely left behind.

(Continue reading at link)