New Economic Perspectives

By J.D. ALT The last two and a half months I’ve been at work on a new book. As it evolved, I found I was approaching MMT from a new direction—one which made an explanation of MMT much less counter-intuitive and, perhaps, less controversial. The approach is relatively simple and straight-forward: follow what I began calling “standard money theory” step by step until one reaches a perspective that has, almost seamlessly, become “modern money theory.” The book first considers why the...

Thornton Parker       In the first part of this series, we explained why MMT should be seen as a political problem rather than just an educational one.  In this concluding part, we will discuss where MMT promotion is most likely to fail or have good chances of success.  First, consider some poor prospects.          All readers of NEP know how Social Security works and it seems like a natural for MMT.  But is it?  Wall Street sees the program as a leak from what should be their profitable...

Thornton Parker       In the first part of this series, we explained why MMT should be seen as a political problem rather than just an educational one.  In this concluding part, we will discuss where MMT promotion is most likely to fail or have good chances of success.  First, consider some poor prospects.          All readers of NEP know how Social Security works and it seems like a natural for MMT.  But is it?  Wall Street sees the program as a leak from what should be their profitable...

Thornton Parker       In the first part of this series, we explained why MMT should be seen as a political problem rather than just an educational one.  In this concluding part, we will discuss where MMT promotion is most likely to fail or have good chances of success.  First, consider some poor prospects.          All readers of NEP know how Social Security works and it seems like a natural for MMT.  But is it?  Wall Street sees the program as a leak from what should be their profitable...

By Thornton Parker        The way a problem is seen can determine how or even if it gets solved.  When the French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, was picked to build the Panama Canal, he saw it as another excavation problem as his Suez Canal had been.  But Egypt was flat and Panama had a mountain.  When the United States took over the job, John Stevens, who was put in charge, saw it as a railroad problem.  The biggest task was to move ninety-six million cubic yards of rock and earth, as...

By Thornton Parker        The way a problem is seen can determine how or even if it gets solved.  When the French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, was picked to build the Panama Canal, he saw it as another excavation problem as his Suez Canal had been.  But Egypt was flat and Panama had a mountain.  When the United States took over the job, John Stevens, who was put in charge, saw it as a railroad problem.  The biggest task was to move ninety-six million cubic yards of rock and earth, as...

By Thornton Parker        The way a problem is seen can determine how or even if it gets solved.  When the French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, was picked to build the Panama Canal, he saw it as another excavation problem as his Suez Canal had been.  But Egypt was flat and Panama had a mountain.  When the United States took over the job, John Stevens, who was put in charge, saw it as a railroad problem.  The biggest task was to move ninety-six million cubic yards of rock and earth, as...

By Thornton Parker   The way a problem is seen may determine how or even if it gets solved.  Global warming (GW) and climate change (CC) are going to scramble many ideas about how developed economies work.  At root, GW and CC must be seen as money problems, and modern money (MM) is the key to solving them.         Energy companies spend money to find, extract, and market fossil fuels.  Other companies use money to create products and services that consume fossil fuel energy.  Money...

By Thornton Parker   The way a problem is seen may determine how or even if it gets solved.  Global warming (GW) and climate change (CC) are going to scramble many ideas about how developed economies work.  At root, GW and CC must be seen as money problems, and modern money (MM) is the key to solving them.         Energy companies spend money to find, extract, and market fossil fuels.  Other companies use money to create products and services that consume fossil fuel energy.  Money...

By Thornton Parker   The way a problem is seen may determine how or even if it gets solved.  Global warming (GW) and climate change (CC) are going to scramble many ideas about how developed economies work.  At root, GW and CC must be seen as money problems, and modern money (MM) is the key to solving them.         Energy companies spend money to find, extract, and market fossil fuels.  Other companies use money to create products and services that consume fossil fuel energy.  Money...