Mike Norman Economics

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.... New Economic PerspectivesMMT is a Political Problem: Part 2 Thorton Parker

Some people in Boris Johnson’s government think it will be too expensive and disruptive to contain the virus, so best to let it do its worse and get it over and done with, they say, except millions could die instead of thousands.If you search on the web for the term ‘coronavirus bloodbath’, you’ll notice that the headlines are not about the mass deaths of vulnerable people that are inevitable on the sort of bungling business-as-usual trajectory adopted by the likes of President Donald Trump...

This is funny... if you want to lower the banks minimum capital ratios to help them then why add the trillions of Reserves Assets to their balance sheets in the first place and then call that "easing!" ?!?!?!LOL!!!!These people are sooooooooooooooo f-cking stupid.....The European Central Bank plans to let banks run lower capital ratios to deal with fallout from the coronavirus, according to people familiar with the matter https://t.co/4xwkQtaNZc— Bloomberg (@business) March 12, 2020

Treasury working to keep its account at the Fed as high and stable as practical, to reduce Reserve Assets at Depositories: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated the U.S. will keep issuing debt at a steady pace as he seeks to fund a possible extension of the tax filing deadline https://t.co/P4Fh34GLAn — Bloomberg (@business) March 11, 2020 While the Fed is working to increase Reserve Assets at Depositories: BREAKING: Fed boosts money it's providing to banks in overnight repo lending...

I've run across yet more lazy critiques of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), arguing that "MMT says governments should just print money to stop the virus!", or similar nonsense. I may only be speaking for myself, my reading of MMT would lead to cautiousness with respect to the limits of fiscal policy at present. Given that we face considerable constraints on output capacity, we can see theoretical inflationary risks if fiscal policy was too active. (My base case view is in line with the...

Yesterday in my blog post – The coronavirus crisis – a particular type of shock – Part 1 (March 10, 2020) – I discussed some of the considerations that governments need to take into account when dealing with the economic damage that will result from the coronavirus crisis. I did not consider the health issues because I am unqualified to assess those other than to take into consideration what the health professionals are now saying as they gain more knowledge of the particular disease. In...

Russia rejected its OPEC+ partners' request late last week to further curtail its oil production next month because it understood that doing so would make its American shale rivals more competitive, which would in turn empower the US to continue weaponizing energy for geostrategic ends, thus eventually leading to a dangerous scenario that Moscow might have been powerless to reverse if it didn't act when it finally did.... One WorldRussia's Rejection Of OPEC+ Was The Result Of Cold...

"Loanable funds." "Hyperinflation." "No such thing as a free lunch." You get the idea.The SAIS ObserverModern Monetary Theory – What do SAIS faculty make of it? Lief Olson

Today’s blog post is shorter than usual but you do get to access a hour-long video where I talk with Indigenous leader and activist Noel Pearson about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), how it impacts on his perceptions of options to improve indigenous well-being in Australia, and how it informs a new collaborative venture we are in the process of putting together – JUST2030 – as a response to the socio-ecological crisis that three decades of neoliberalism and the fiscal obsession with surpluses...

Cascading closures, event shutdowns. Trade and invest using the concepts and understandings of MMT. https://www.pitbulleconomics.com/mmt-trader/?s2-ssl=yes/