Tag Archives: deficit hysteria

Stony Brook University economist Stephanie Kelton is a proponent of something called modern monetary theory (MMT), a new school of economics that argues that as long as a country is in charge of issuing its own sovereign currency, it can't "run out of money." According to MMT, if Greece were still using its own currency, the drachma, instead of the euro, then it could have printed more money to pay off its debts, especially if inflation was low to begin with. Instead, as part of the...

“Fiscally responsible” is one of the more Orwellian phrases in American politics. Lawmakers earn that coveted title by affirming the three tenets of the Beltway’s official budgetary orthodoxy: (1) Deficits are inherently undesirable, (2) all new spending (on things that cannot be used to kill foreigners) should be fully offset by new taxes, and (3) reducing America’s existing national debt should be a top-tier policy priority. But these premises are rooted less in economic science than...

Book review. Many MMT points.Brave New EuropeThe Debt Delusion by John WeeksMathew D. Rose

Keeper quote by William Vickrey. Lars P. Syll’s BlogVickrey on deficits and obfuscatory financial rectitudeLars P. Syll | Professor, Malmo University

"We knew it all along."Project SyndicateDebt Derangement Syndrome Brad DeLong | Professor of Economics, UCAL Berkeley

In German debt and guilt are the same word: Schuld. So, in Germany, debt has a morally negative connotation. Further, the state budget is referred to as “Haushalt”, which is the word for household. Germans equate state finances with those of personal finances, a concept that is reinforced by German political parties across the whole of the political spectrum. Flassbeck EconomicsThe debtor is always guilty Heiner Flassbeck

Apparently the president doesn't get the connection between deficit spending and stimulus.Business InsiderTrump is suddenly obsessed with the ballooning federal deficit after his signature legislative victories caused it to explode Bob Bryan

The debt limit in the United States is currently not an object of worry, but it represents one possible avenue to default. From the perspective of a non-American, it is rather difficult to understand how such a strange custom could arise. This article outlines very briefly the history of the debt limit, and then moves to discuss the risks associated with it. This issue underlines the argument that default risk in floating currency sovereigns is political risk, not financial.... Bond...

On Stephanie Kelton and MMT.econintersect.comDocumentary Of The Week: But How Will We Pay For It? John LounsburySee also at econintersectEven The Statisticians Are Highly Dubious Of Applying Their Methods In Economics!Philip Pilkington

Stephanie and Noah debate.Bloomberg OpinionJust When Should We Start Worrying About Deficits? Stephanie Kelton and Noah Smith