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Zero Hedge — Even Bernie Sanders Thinks “Medicare For All” Would Bankrupt America

Summary:
This is an illustration of the political cost of Bernie not understanding and embracing MMT. He should have paid closer attention to MMT economist Stephanie Kelton when she was his economic adviser. 1. A currency sovereign cannot "go bankrupt." A currency issuer can always issue currency to cover its obligations in the currency of issue. In this case, default is a political choice rather than a financial necessity. 2. The only actual constraint on a currency soveriegn is the availability of real resources. This implies a financial constraint if effective demand created exceeds the capacity to supply real resources to meet it. Then accelerating inflation could result. 3. The United States government is a currency soveriegn. Affordability is never an issue. 4. A sovereign

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This is an illustration of the political cost of Bernie not understanding and embracing MMT. He should have paid closer attention to MMT economist Stephanie Kelton when she was his economic adviser.

1. A currency sovereign cannot "go bankrupt." A currency issuer can always issue currency to cover its obligations in the currency of issue. In this case, default is a political choice rather than a financial necessity.

2. The only actual constraint on a currency soveriegn is the availability of real resources. This implies a financial constraint if effective demand created exceeds the capacity to supply real resources to meet it. Then accelerating inflation could result.

3. The United States government is a currency soveriegn. Affordability is never an issue.

4. A sovereign currency issuer has a monopoly on the issuance of the currency and can exercise this monopoloy by setting the prices the government will pay, including the interest rate.

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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