Tag Archives: deficit

Below are the slides from my presentation at Beyond Covid on 12th June. The whole webinar can ve viewed here.The pandemic seems to me to resemble the "nuclear disaster" scenarios of my youth: hide in the bunker, then creep out when the immediate danger is over, only to find a world that is still dangerous and has fundamentally changed in unforeseeable ways. Rabbits hiding from a hawk is perhaps a kinder image, though hawks don't usually leave devastation in their wake. And I like rabbits. So...

Below are the slides from my presentation at Beyond Covid on 12th June. The whole webinar can ve viewed here.The pandemic seems to me to resemble the "nuclear disaster" scenarios of my youth: hide in the bunker, then creep out when the immediate danger is over, only to find a world that is still dangerous and has fundamentally changed in unforeseeable ways. Rabbits hiding from a hawk is perhaps a kinder image, though hawks don't usually leave devastation in their wake. And I like rabbits. So...

Mnuchin says the U.S. government must cut spending and reduce the deficit. This will absolutely guarantee a recession.It's amazing that these views still prevail. Complete and total ignorance.

The deficit has just surpassed $1 trillion. Actually, $1.033T as of September 5.This is the largest deficit in 7 years and the largest as a percentage of GDP in 7 years as well. (4.8% of GDP.)The deficit has experienced a rapid escalation in the past 2 years.I don't hear any cheering from the MMT gods about this.And Mosler is still bearish.

The deficit as of August 15, was $931 bln. That's the highest in 7 years. And as a percentage of GDP it's now at 4.4%, the highest in 6 years. So why are all the prominent MMTers silent about this?Nothing from Kelton. Mosler continues to put out bearish forecasts. (Going on 5 years now!)They only talk about deficits when it's convenient for them?They say they're not political, but it seems to me that not mentioning the deficit is a way of not giving credit to Trump, even...

On a trip back to Toronto this week I attended the launch of a new report commissioned by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, and written by Aimee McArthur-Gupta from the Conference Board of Canada. The report presents some estimates of the economic, fiscal and social benefits of public education programs. The full report is here. It is a useful resource for all those campaigning against conservative cutbacks to school budgets (such as those in Ontario, Alberta, and...

On a trip back to Toronto this week I attended the launch of a new report commissioned by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, and written by Aimee McArthur-Gupta from the Conference Board of Canada. The report presents some estimates of the economic, fiscal and social benefits of public education programs. The full report is here. It is a useful resource for all those campaigning against conservative cutbacks to school budgets (such as those in Ontario, Alberta, and...

Guggeheim Partners' Scott Minerd says the stock market is like "the Titanic heading for an iceberg."Look... “Just as an iceberg loomed in the distant darkness to be struck by the Titanic under full steam, so the US economy approaches the distant fiscal drag of 2020 under the full steam of rate increases to contain inflation and an overheating labor market...” He's got a flowery way with words.Fiscal drag? What fiscal drag is he talking about? The government is operating with record...

A giant end-of-month spending spree in August has ballooned the Federal defiicit to $980 bln and 4.8% of GDP.This is the largest nominal deficit since 2009 and the largest as a percentage of GDP since 2012.The MMT gods should be cheering this. They're not. Weird.

On the evening of Friday, September 22nd, the credit ratings agency Moody's downgraded the UK's credit rating. Admittedly, it was only by one notch. But coming as it did hard on the heels of Theresa May's grand speechin Florence, it was a shattering blow.  Credit ratings agencies lost much of their lustre in the financial crisis of 2008, when they were revealed to have been complicit in the mispricing of complex financial derivatives – the “toxic waste” that brought down some of the...