Mike Norman Economics

I am in London today (Monday) and have two events. First, I am doing a ‘Train the Trainers’ workshop for – The Gower Initiative for Modern Monetary Studies – where we will work through some techniques and concepts to help activists educate others about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Second, I am meeting with some Labour Party Members of Parliament who are keen to learn more about MMT and incorporate its insights into their political work. Get the drift? People wanting to learn and setting up...

Another emotional over-reaction just like Q4 2018.

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the official launch of the Our Money Campaign, an issue-based advocacy campaign that seeks to mainstream the academic insights of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) to solve some of our nation's greatest social and economic challenges. According to campaign Founder and Organizer Rev. Delman Coates, "We seek to build a diverse, grassroots, bi-partisan movement that endeavors to address poverty, wealth concentration, unemployment, affordable...

Distinguishing currency acceptance from currency value therefore carries a social significance. So long as a sovereign government’s currency is accepted, neither the currency nor society is ultimately beholden to the law of value. Since a currency can be made viable irrespective of (marxist) value considerations, a currency-issuing government can override the law of value whenever this is the political will. This opens the way for an extension of not-for-profit activity and, if desired, a...

Good "debate." Lays important issues on the table. Short read.TRNNThe MMT Debate With Dean Baker & Randall Wray

Bill Totten resurrects Randy Wray's remark on what MMT economists do and why some of the criticism directed at them is poorly aimed. Timely, now that MMT has gone mainstream and is getting a lot of criticism.Bill Totten's WeblogWray: MMT Primer – Blog #1 Responses (June 8, 2011) Bill Totten

Ralph makes some good points.RalphonomicsArticle in the Frankfurter Allgemeine by Dirk Ehnts on MMT. Ralph Musgrave

Dirk Ehnts asks, what zero lower bound.econoblog 101Monetary policy and the zero lower … oh, wait!Dirk Ehnts | Lecturer at Bard College Berlin

The looming debate. The American public overwhelming wants changes. Now the debate begins in earnest (again) over how to structure this reform. While this article takes a negative angle, it lays out some of the key issues that will be prominent in the ensuing debate. What MMT has to contribute is understanding of how real resources economically and competing interests politically are the actual issue, whereas the financial issue of affordability is a non-issue for a government that funds...

Anyone who has followed the nuts and bolts of the Chinese miracle launched by Little Helmsman Deng Xiaoping in 1978 knows that Beijing is essentially exporting the mechanism that led China’s own 800 million citizens to, in a flash, become members of a global middle class. As much as the Trump administration may bet on “maximum pressure” to restrict or even block Chinese access to whole sectors of the US market, what really matters is BRI’s advance will be able to generate multiple, extra...