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Brendan Greeley — America has never worried about financing its priorities

Summary:
Americans are just fine with debt. When they fight about it, they're actually negotiating in code over something else: what programs are so important that it doesn't matter how you pay for them?A little more than a month ago, Howard Dean had breakfast at the Hotel Vermont in Burlington with Stephanie Kelton. Mr Dean has served as Vermont's governor, a candidate for President, and head of the Democratic National Committee. Ms Kelton, who teaches economics and public policy at Stony Brook University in New York, is the best-known advocate for modern monetary theory, a way of looking at how governments spend money. "I expected some semi-Marxist bullshit," says Mr Dean, "but she’s a real thinker."... Good article.FT AlphavilleAmerica has never worried about financing its prioritiesBrendan

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Americans are just fine with debt. When they fight about it, they're actually negotiating in code over something else: what programs are so important that it doesn't matter how you pay for them?

A little more than a month ago, Howard Dean had breakfast at the Hotel Vermont in Burlington with Stephanie Kelton. Mr Dean has served as Vermont's governor, a candidate for President, and head of the Democratic National Committee. Ms Kelton, who teaches economics and public policy at Stony Brook University in New York, is the best-known advocate for modern monetary theory, a way of looking at how governments spend money. "I expected some semi-Marxist bullshit," says Mr Dean, "but she’s a real thinker."...
Good article.

FT Alphaville
America has never worried about financing its priorities
Brendan Greeley


See also Warren's comment:
Warren Mosler

Excellent report and thanks for the mention!
Let me state that you need to omit the word 'only' as there are numerous other reasons for what is called "inflation" in addition to what you described:

"Modern monetary theorists argue that inflation happens only when the real economy — plants, machines, workers — can't absorb what the government is spending."

Also, for the record, I met with Don Rumsfeld seeking guidance on promoting the understandings. He directed me to Art Laffer's firm where I worked with Professor Mark McNary to write 'Soft Currency Economics'. My 2010 book 'The 7 Deadly Innocent Frauds of Economic Policy' is free online at www.moslereconomics.com
And for those interested, core understandings include:
1. The currency itself is a state monopoly, and monopolists are necessarily 'price setters'.
2. The 'money story' begins with a state desiring to provision itself. 
3. Taxation by design functions to create sellers of goods and services (unemployment) seeking the state's currency in exchange to avoid tax penalties. The state can then provision itself with its otherwise worthless currency.

4. The state (or its agents) is the single supplier of that which it demands as payment of taxes.

5. Therefore the state, from inception, necessarily spends first, after which tax payments are made and state securities paid for.
6. The public debt is nothing more than the funds spend by the state that have yet to be used for tax payment, and remains outstanding as the 'net money supply' in the form of cash, balances in reserve accounts at the Fed, and balances in securities accounts at the Fed until used to pay taxes.
Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

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