Is the USA a third world country

 Damn. Every time I get an idea someone comes up and beats me.

Read noah smith on the-richest-third-world-country

I cannot get over how dirigiste the US has become.

Think about it.

Trump wants: 

•  to direct private investment
• 'influence' who is the CEO
• tell companies what policies and procedures they must implement
• take an equity stake in public companies
• deport anyone without due process
• bar people from visiting or studying if they criticise Trump or the state of Israel

I could go on but why bother you get the picture and these people have the effrontery to call themselves conservative!

Whoopsy I forgot to mention the Lisa Cook affair. 'Strongmen' always want control over the economy. Why hasn't the market really cranked then you ask. Because they believe the move is illegal. If the Supreme Court overrules the ruling they made early this year to favour Trump yet again then watch for market fireworks

Why aren't any people apologising?

 Since that fateful day when Hams murdered innocent Israeli civilians we have heard the government has allowed anti-semitic sentiments to run rogue. We saw fires and other incidents at jewish establishments.

We now know almost all these incidents were either the result of criminals trying to get leniency in their cases or Iran paying criminals to do damage. In Iran's case we know they are responsible for twop incidents but this will undoubtedly rise.

This all means the so-called anti-semitic surge never really existed. all those people who got into a lather about it ( including the Israeli PM) need to offer apologies for getting it so wrong.

It was suspect in the first place. anti-semitic feeling does not rept. It is always there. There was always something suspect about some of the incidents. Chris Minns please take note!

Why have we not seen an apology then? The reason must be the very same people do not want to admit they were wrong.

On a related issue we saw yesterday Israel bomb a hospital in Gaza not once but twice. This means they deliberately targeted those people attempting to rescue those injured with the first blast. It was a barbaric act. More so when the excuse was a person with a camera was there!!

It aint the first time Israel has has targeted and  murdered journalists.

Israel is now a pariah state and it will as Israel attempts to get rid of all palestinians and become the one state in the area and thus destroying any form of a  Palestinian state. only get worse

Shires Cricket

 I need a break from all this awful news.

I umpired in shires cricket for some time. I also played cricket in Shires ( where I took three hatricks!)

CricketNSW announced without notice they would no longer pay for the umpires in Shires cricket. The clubs now have to find the money.  They have agreed to pay for two umpires in 1st and 2nd grade but only one umpire in 3rd and 4th grade.

This will mean the clubs will have to find an extrav $15k this coming season. At least three clubs are in financial difficulty because of this so the future is uncertain.

There are a number of points to make.

1. How come cricketNSW did not have a transition period for this action. Let us say it cost $250k each season for umpires. I do not know! They could have reduced the payment to $125k this season and then $75k the next season. Their action merely heightens concerns they are facing financial problems.
2. Having merely one person to umpire some games will be very hard for those umpires. I had to umpire a match on the second day by myself because my partner had a stroke. It was an easy match as it was a strong side against a weak side and both sides were well behaved BUT I was mentally exhausted when the match ended and that was 5 or 6 years ago.
3. The rules will have to be changed when there is only one umpire. The umpire must be able to overrule the square leg if he believes the wrong decision was made as occurs on sunday.
4. The Shires umpire association will lose members. Over time the  premium  paid to umpires in Shires will reduce compared to local associations. Umpires will go to local competitions because of this.
5. If any clubs fold then shires will lose the grounds for good. either the local associations will claim them or the councils will get rid of the turf pitches as they are costly to maintain.

I ended umpiring at the right time.

The USA

 Two things occurred over our weekend.

Firstly transcripts of the 'Maxwell interviews' was released. It was embarrassing. Clearly the Deputy of the DOJ had little knowledge of the court case. He let numerous lies/ misleading answers pass through to the keeper. He had no follow up questions. It was very odd Maxwell was not warned of being charged if she lied although given the  interviewer had little knowledge of the subject this perhaps is not surprising. If I did not know better I would think Trump told him to go and  interview her to get certain 'answers' and if they were the 'right' answers she could be moved to another prison. Wow and she was!

John Bolton's house and offices were raided by the FBI supposedly on information provided by the head of the CIA. I would have thought the statute of limitations would be relevant here however tti would not be if this 'investigation' is for performative reasons only. Usually a search comes near the end of an investigation not at the start! I doubt if there will be an indictment.

wow I forgot to note the difference between this raid and the one on trump's home in Florida. In the latter case they outlined which documents they might find and they found them! I wonder if we wil ever see the subpoena in this case!

Around the Traps 22/8/25

 It is time for Around the Traps again.

Aussie,Aussie,Aussie,Oy,Oy,Oy

• Dennis Muller on bendigo-writers-festival-has-questions-to-answer-over-untenable-code-of-conduct-for-authors
• Nicole Townsend on new-research-shows-wwii-dominates-australians-knowledge-of-military-history-but-big-gaps-remain
• Ross Gittins on want-better-productivity-keep-wages-rising-strongly ,ive-changed-my-mind-about-red-tape-its-well-worth-cutting
• John Hawkins on with-just-three-days-to-inform-the-next-three-budgets-heres-how-chalmers-roundtable-kicked-off
• Richard McGregor on between-china-trump-little-wonder-australia-japan-have-lots-talk-about-even-if-not
• Nicki Hutley on economic-roundtable-winners-and-losers-australia-productivity
• Duygu Yengin on productivity-is-the-buzzword-of-the-week-but-were-not-making-the-most-of-half-the-workforce 
• Sassan Stone on taxpayer-bailouts-are-common-yet-rarely-make-economic-sense-heres-how-to-strike-a-better-balance 
• Jenny Bloomfield on re-inventing-productivity-wheel

OZ Climate

• waratah-australias-most-powerful-battery-smashes-output-record-again
  
• recycle-and-reuse-mandatory-new-rules-to-stop-millions-of-solar-pv-panels-going-into-landfill
  
• network-giant-flags-tipping-point-as-nsw-coal-dominated-grid-charges-towards-90-pct-renewables 
  
• australias-biggest-gas-advocates-are-quietly-swapping-out-peaking-plans-for-batteries 
  
• can-australias-electricity-market-finally-be-truly-efficient-for-consumers 
  
• times-up-solar-recycling-is-finally-on-the-political-agenda-but-is-it-too-late-for-some-investors 
  
• aemo-says-wind-solar-and-storage-keeping-energy-reliability-healthy-despite-leap-in-data-driven-demand 
  
• batteries-soak-up-pv-in-sunny-south-to-smash-charging-record-as-wind-blow-strong-in-sunshine-state 
  
• ausgrid-hopes-new-solar-pilot-can-help-break-the-boundaries-on-narrow-network-limits 
  
• the-solar-farm-that-winds-down-at-dusk-charges-up-for-dinner-and-is-still-generating-at-midnight 
  
• stunning-success-of-home-battery-boom-will-slash-rooftop-solar-exports-and-reshape-the-grid-again 
• Louise Grimmer et al on soft-plastics-recycling-looks-set-to-return-to-supermarkets-cutting-back-on-plastic-would-be-even-better
• Raphael Trouve et al  on climate-change-is-driving-a-silent-sinister-change-in-australias-mountain-ash-forests

Northern America

• institutional economics on the-macro-mob-called
• Brad De Long on hoisted-from-the-archives-trump-does-not-have-the-cognitive-competence-to-do-the-job , dementia-ridden-cognitively-addled-chaos-monkey-causes-chaos-at-alaskan-summit , trump-is-losing-all-his-trade-wars-badly
• Barry Eichengreen on trump-tariffs-exploit-overwhelming-force-like-falklands-war Thanks Nick
• Systematic Hatreds on nixon-won Thanks Nick
• Menzie Chinn on ppi-cpi , guest-contribution-monthly-household-income-estimates-at-the-white-house
• Kruggers on the-economics-of-stagflation-part 1 , iceing-the-us-economy , crime-and-self-promotion , kilowatt-madness
• angry bear on how-bad-is-crime-in-washington-d-c
• Alex Tabarrok on the-japanese-threat
• new deal democrat on the-muddied-historical-picture-of-ppi-vs-cpi , jobless-claims-suggest-our-recent-good-news-has-been-more-unresolved-seasonal-quirks
• the conversable economist on federal-reserve-independence-not-just-a-good-idea-its-the-law
• Ruth Marcus on pam-bondi-profile
• David Frum on show-immigration-caitlin-dickerson
• Brent Christophers on whose-fed-independent-central-bank
• Jonathan Blitzer on a-tale-of-two-jurists-in-the-trump-era
• Cristian Farias on can-donald-trump-police-the-united-states
• noahopinion on moderation-is-good-for-its-own-sake
• uneasy money on grok-karoline-leavitt-and-me
• Jeet Heer on trump-putin-alaska-ukraine-russia-foreign-policy
• Michael Steele on trump-statistics-crime-economy-health
• Zack Beauchamp on trump-dc-immigration-authoritarian-stephen-miller-democracy
• Liz Anderson on states-of-resistance
• Ed Pilkington on justice-john-roberts-supreme-court
• Andrew Prokop on john-bolton-fbi-raid-trump-retribution
• Fred Kaplan on trump-russia-putin-ukraine-zelensky-peace-talks

Europe

• Pedro Martins on russia-central-asia-are-quietly-embracing-taliban
• Mathew Sussex on putin-got-the-red-carpet-treatment-from-trump-where-does-this-leave-ukraine
• Iona Main on georgian-dream-now-nothing-nightmare
• Mick Ryan on why-putin-smiled-broadly-he-left-his-alaska-encounter-trump
• Thomas Wright on trump-ukraine-russia-peace
• Sonia Mycak on zelensky-leaves-washington-with-trumps-security-guarantees-but-are-they-enough
• Joshua Keating on ukraine-land-swap-territory
• Mary Harris on trump-putin-zelensky-russia-ukraine-invasion
• stumbling and mumbling on achieving-political-change
• Frank Ledwidge on kharkiv-what-i-saw-in-ukraines-unbreakable-eastern-capital

Asia

• UN women Australia on afghanistan-ten-ways-taliban-vanishing-women-public-life
• Clare Corbould on theres-no-such-thing-as-someone-elses-children-omar-el-akkad-bears-witness-to-the-destruction-of-gaza-and-the-wests-quiet-assent
• John Strawson on israels-opposition-against-benjamin-netanyahu-but-not-yet-for-peace-with-the-palestinians
• Amin Saikal on how-can-western-countries-back-up-palestine-recognition-with-action-here-are-4-ways-to-pressure-israel
• Khang Vu on kim-jong-un-builds-destroyers-his-grandfather-never-could-what-ends
• Faisal Edroos on libya-senior-official-secret-talks-israel-resettle-palestinians-gaza
• Daniel Flitton on how-india-us-relations-unravelled-trump-modi-timeline 
• Sanchari Ghosh on why-has-india-reimagined-its-role-vishwaguru-vishwamitra
• Hussein Ibish on palestinian-state-west-recognition
• Ran Porat on with-eyes-on-re-election-netanyahus-fights-with-world-leaders-aim-to-distract-from-many-political-problems
• Peninah Kansiime and Giselle Woodley on israel-is-on-notice-for-using-sexual-violence-against-palestinians-its-all-too-common-as-a-war-tactic
• Hussein Agha and Robert Malley on what-killed-the-two-state-solution

Wonk

• asterisk on why-are-there-so-many-rationalist-cults Thanks Nick
• Tim Harford on cautionary-tales-genius-still-unrecognised-the-worst-poet-in-the-world-2
• the conversable economist on using-royalty-payments-to-track-technological-leadership , voltaire-on-the-civility-of-markets , in-praise-of-editors , some-economics-of-leasing-antiquities
• Tyler Cowen on a-median-voter-theory-of-right-wing-populism , twin-studies-data-and-the-link-between-social-media-and-well-being , the-decline-in-reading-for-pleasure
• Kruggers on ai-is-power-hungry , what-happens-if-ai-hits-an-energy
• noahopinion on the-us-china-competition-is-on-pause
• Declan Humphreys on ai-free-from-bias-and-ideology-is-a-fantasy-humans-cant-organise-data-without-distorting-reality
• Alex Tabarrok on china-versus-the-us-in-the-competition-for-global-talent

General

• Phillip Almond on not-quite-angels-why-we-should-stop-calling-these-small-winged-children-cherubs
• Orsola De Marco on astronomers-have-glimpsed-the-core-of-a-dying-star-confirming-theories-of-how-atoms-are-made
• Laura Driessen on whats-a-black-moon-heres-why-its-worth-looking-up-at-the-sky-this-week

Climate

• Melanie MacGregor on the-global-plastics-treaty-process-has-fallen-flat-heres-what-went-wrong-and-how-you-can-help
• skeptical science on factheck-trump-climate-report-100-mistakes-or-misleading-claims , is-permafrost-really-a-climate-time-bomb , new_research
• Adam Morton  on voices-arguing-climate-crisis-action-is-a-waste-of-time-are-wrong
• Nerilie Abram et al on from-sea-ice-to-ocean-currents-antarctica-is-now-undergoing-abrupt-changes-and-well-all-feel-them
• 
  

Andrew Gelman ( mainly stats)

• pivoting-to-new-funding-sources-in-light-of-new-government-regulations
  
• two-cool-math-lectures-by-yuval-peres
  
• steering
  
• the-edlin-factor-strikes-again-the-crown-jewel-of-the-nudge-literature-finds-its-effect-cut-by-76 
• survey-statistics-answers-from-the-bls 
  
• i-guess-my-question-is-how-bad-must-it-be-before-retraction-becomes-appropriate 
  
• for-which-cases-does-ai-help-with-classification-medical-diagnosis-example
  
• the-folk-theorem-of-statistical-computing-fake-data-simulation-as-posterior-predictive-checking
  
• freakometrics on the (non)ethics of capitalism , disentangled deep smooth bootstrapfor fair imbalanced regression

Dianne Coyle ( quirky + book reviews)

• econjeff on squanto-by-andrew-lipman , mr-smith-goes-to-prison-by-jeff-smith , book-voltage-effect-by-john-list , book-learn-to-write-badly-how-to-succeed-in-the-social-sciences
• John Quiggin on if-something-cant-go-on-forever-it-will-stop
• Tyler Cowen on capitalism-a-global-history-by-sven-beckert

Vox Wonk

• silver-spoon-becoming-more-important-netherlands
  
• how-wage-inequality-affects-labour-movement 
• adjusting-productivity-carbon-emissions-new-perspective-growth-slowdown
  
• revisiting-consequences-job-displacement
  
• how-donald-trump-should-have-tackled-us-trade-deficit 
  
• fentanyl-transnational-vector-violence
  
• exit-costs-are-entry-costs-why-india-needs-ease-exit-barriers-manufacturing-firms
  
• why-some-countries-win-world-trade-unpacking-export-competitiveness
  
• how-update-eu-merger-guidelines
  
• information-and-labour-market
  

A few things

 It is a miserable day in a miserable week in Sydanee.

Economic roundtable

Just bring in a price on carbon. you can get rid of a lot of regulations, rely on the market and improve the budget. Taking a good look at spending would mean a budget in balance without that much trouble!

Putin/ Zelensky meeting

This will never happen. Putin has never ever mentioned Zelensky by name. He does not believe Ukraine is a country. Putin likes meeting and talking to Trump as it gives the appearance of equals. He won't do Ukraine the pleasure of that.

If trump realised the problems of the Russian economy he would actually give Ukraine more military aid ( he is giving nothing at present) and together with Europe give Ukraine the weapons to beat Russia however this won't happen either.

Israel

Israel's Prime Minister gave Albo a spray which actually made him not Albo look weak. Tony Burke had a brilliant rejoinder.  Everybody was on Israel's side after October 7. Their behaviour since then have made Israel a  pariah state.

AEMO

we are informed by AEMO as more coal fired power stations 'retire' and less output for gas fired power stations our energy sector becomes more reliable!

boosting productivity

 I have to say I am in agreement with Ross Gittins. However I am getting ahead of myself. It is very hard to measure productivity. how do you measure productivity for teachers, nurses or any white collar job.

Productivity always depends on capitalists. They invest workers do not!

Thus if you want to boost productivity you surely must do two things. ( For Flying High fans do not call me shirley!) 

They are:

1. ensure you have competitive industries. Competition ensures higher productivity because companies are always looking for a competitive advantage ( in a Michael Porter way)
2. As Ross Gittins says ensure wages are rising strongly. Only boosting productivity will ensure profits are not hit badly in some cases and continue to rise in most cases.