Thornton Parker 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. All readers of NEP know how Social Security works and it seems like a natural for MMT. But is it? Wall Street sees the program as a leak from what should be their profitable...
Read More »MMT is a Political Problem: Part 2
Thornton Parker 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. All readers of NEP know how Social Security works and it seems like a natural for MMT. But is it? Wall Street sees the program as a leak from what should be their profitable...
Read More »MMT is a Political Problem: Part 2
Thornton Parker 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. All readers of NEP know how Social Security works and it seems like a natural for MMT. But is it? Wall Street sees the program as a leak from what should be their profitable...
Read More »MMT is a Political Problem: Part 1
By Thornton Parker The way a problem is seen can determine how or even if it gets solved. When the French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, was picked to build the Panama Canal, he saw it as another excavation problem as his Suez Canal had been. But Egypt was flat and Panama had a mountain. When the United States took over the job, John Stevens, who was put in charge, saw it as a railroad problem. The biggest task was to move ninety-six million cubic yards of rock and earth, as...
Read More »MMT is a Political Problem: Part 1
By Thornton Parker The way a problem is seen can determine how or even if it gets solved. When the French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, was picked to build the Panama Canal, he saw it as another excavation problem as his Suez Canal had been. But Egypt was flat and Panama had a mountain. When the United States took over the job, John Stevens, who was put in charge, saw it as a railroad problem. The biggest task was to move ninety-six million cubic yards of rock and earth, as...
Read More »MMT is a Political Problem: Part 1
By Thornton Parker The way a problem is seen can determine how or even if it gets solved. When the French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, was picked to build the Panama Canal, he saw it as another excavation problem as his Suez Canal had been. But Egypt was flat and Panama had a mountain. When the United States took over the job, John Stevens, who was put in charge, saw it as a railroad problem. The biggest task was to move ninety-six million cubic yards of rock and earth, as...
Read More »GW, CC, and MM
By Thornton Parker The way a problem is seen may determine how or even if it gets solved. Global warming (GW) and climate change (CC) are going to scramble many ideas about how developed economies work. At root, GW and CC must be seen as money problems, and modern money (MM) is the key to solving them. Energy companies spend money to find, extract, and market fossil fuels. Other companies use money to create products and services that consume fossil fuel energy. Money...
Read More »GW, CC, and MM
By Thornton Parker The way a problem is seen may determine how or even if it gets solved. Global warming (GW) and climate change (CC) are going to scramble many ideas about how developed economies work. At root, GW and CC must be seen as money problems, and modern money (MM) is the key to solving them. Energy companies spend money to find, extract, and market fossil fuels. Other companies use money to create products and services that consume fossil fuel energy. Money...
Read More »GW, CC, and MM
By Thornton Parker The way a problem is seen may determine how or even if it gets solved. Global warming (GW) and climate change (CC) are going to scramble many ideas about how developed economies work. At root, GW and CC must be seen as money problems, and modern money (MM) is the key to solving them. Energy companies spend money to find, extract, and market fossil fuels. Other companies use money to create products and services that consume fossil fuel energy. Money...
Read More »How Far Can We Push This Thing? Some Optimistic Reflections on the Potential For Economic Experimentation
Crossposted from Phil Pilkington’s Blog – Fixing the Economists. Readers are probably aware that there is quite a lot of discussion of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and the potential for fiscal experimentation batting around at the moment. Others have weighed in on this already, and I have little to add. It is striking, however, that most of the push-back — where there is push-back — is not focused on trying to discredit the idea that we should engage in fiscal experimentation. Indeed,...
Read More »