Lars P. Syll

Does MMT — really — ignore expectations? In his latest diatribe against MMT, Thomas Palley argues that there is an “inflationary bias” in MMT, that its framework “is static and has little to say about how policy affects expectations of the future,” “is silent on asset price formation,” and “ignores expectations and treats private markets​ as irrelevant.” Hmmm … Yours truly has to confess it is extremely difficult to recognize that description. Given its...

Canticle​ of the Trinity  [embedded content]

MMT and trade deficits Unlike government deficits, which all countries in the world can run simultaneously, a trade deficit for one country necessarily means an equivalent trade surplus for the rest of the world. If there are countries deliberately running trade deficits, then they are forcing others to run trade surpluses. Since on this MMT argument, the trade deficit countries are the winners and the trade surplus countries are the losers, the former are...

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Interview mit Stephanie Kelton Kelton: Die Vorstellung, dass Staaten nur eine begrenzte Menge an Geld zur Verfügung hätten, kommt aus einer Zeit, in der die Währung in den meisten Ländern in der einen oder anderen Form an Edelmetalle wie Gold oder Silber gekoppelt war. Heute ist das nicht mehr so. Geld wird einfach gedruckt – genauer gesagt: im Computer erzeugt. Es lässt sich beliebig vermehren. ZEIT: Das klingt jetzt so, als würden Sie einem Kind sagen:...

Thomas Palley claims MMT fails to provide plausible macroeconomics​ Modern Money Theory (MMT) asserts society can enjoy a range of large government programs for free via money financed deficits, all without inflation … Recently, progressive Democrats have called for a range of programs … All of them can reasonably be argued for. However, there is also the question of how they will be financed. Proponents of MMT assert that is a non-problem and the programs...

John Maynard Keynes — an introduction  [embedded content]

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Poem of the atoms  [embedded content]

Debunking the balanced budget superstition  [embedded content] I think there is an element of truth in the view that the superstition that the budget must be balanced at all times [is necessary]. Once it is debunked, [it] takes away one of the bulwarks that every society must have against expenditure out of control. There must be discipline in the allocation of resources or you will have anarchistic chaos and inefficiency. And one of the functions of old...