A look at MMT as a social and political phenomenon that is growing. MMT is no longer "just" an macroeconomic theory as the basis for policy formulation. The ball is rolling.The New RepublicSpreading the Gospel of Modern Monetary Theory Osita Nwanevu
Read More »Bill Mitchell— Leading indicators are suggesting recession
In the last two days, some major leading indicators have been released for the US and Europe, which have suggested the world is heading rather quickly for recession. It seems that the disruptions to global trade arising from the tariff war is impacting on US export orders rather significantly. The so-called ISM New Export Orders Index fell by 2.3 percentage points in September to a low of 41 per cent. The ISM reported that “The index had its lowest reading since March 2009 (39.4 percent)”....
Read More »3rd International MMT Conference panel videos now available
https://www.mmtconference.org
Read More »Bill Mitchell — Japan about to walk the plank – again
Japan is about to walk the plank again when it follows through on a previous government decision to increase the consumption tax by a further 2 per cent on October 1, 2019. That means it rises from 8 per cent to 10 per cent. The latest fiscal documents suggest the government is hyper-sensitive to the historical experience, which tells us that each time they have fallen prey to the deficit terrorists who have bullied them into believing that their fiscal position is about to collapse,...
Read More »Modern Money Theory (MMT) in the Tropics
Paper has been published as a PERI Working Paper.From the abstract: Functional finance is only one of the elements of Modern Money Theory (MMT). Chartal money, endogenous money and an Employer of Last Resort Program (ELR) or Job Guarantee (JG) are often the other elements. We are here interested fundamentally with the functional finance aspects which are central for any discussion of fiscal policy and have received more attention recently. We discuss both the limitations of functional...
Read More »Zero Hedge — Hedge Fund CIO: “Generational Conflict Will Be The Top Theme Of The Coming Decades: Enter MMT”
And so, if the youth care more for the environment than they do about money, and if ageing parents care about their money more than they do about their children, then generational looms. However, one possible way to defer this clash involves the oldest trick in the book. And that is more money for everyone; for the GND, for Medicare, Medicaid, Soc Sec, tax cuts. Enter MMT.... Zero HedgeHedge Fund CIO: "Generational Conflict Will Be The Top Theme Of The Coming Decades: Enter MMT"Tyler Durden
Read More »Bill Mitchell — Is the British Labour Party aboard the fiscal dominance train – Part 1?
As I type this (Sunday), I am heading to Brighton, England from Edinburgh. We had two sessions in Edinburgh yesterday (Saturday) and it was great to share ideas with some really committed people. We had to dodge a Hollywood closure of the streets (‘Fast and Furious 9 had commandeered the inner city to film a car or two swerving out of control or whatever, and I hope the city received heaps for the inconvenience to its citizens. But, with the direction now south, and tomorrow’s two events...
Read More »Two-Cent Message
By J.D. ALT Elizabeth Warren has succeeded, I think, in framing an argument as close as anyone is going to get (in the present election cycle) to the progressive position of MMT. Warren acknowledges that she’s proposing goals and undertakings that will “cost” a lot of money. She further acknowledges that everyone asks: “How are you going to pay for it?” And she gives a very specific and simple answer: an “ultra-millionaire tax”—which she details as “two-cents on every dollar of income...
Read More »Personality, Progress And Promise In Japanese Leadership — Wisdom Tree
At least to this observer, Europe and the U.S. bring to mind the fumbling and growing desperation that Japan went through during the long period of political instability before strongman Abe arrived. To turn modern monetary theory into practice, you need functioning and decisive fiscal coordination and plans that go beyond the expediencies of annual budget cycles or election cycle pork-barreling. No fiscal policy vision, no fiscal dominance... make no mistake! Abe-Aso-Kuroda do know what...
Read More »Money From Nothing: Democrats’ Socialism for Free — Richard Porter,
This is interesting from the point of view of evolution of MMT criticism.It's not the same old "printing money" argument but a refurbished one that at least attempts to get what MMT says, even though it fails. I think that it is more likely ill-informed rather than intentional caricature.But it does indicate that the opposition is realizing that it has to deal with MMT in a way that appears serious rather than back of the hand, just dismissing as "obvious" nonsense.So I would count this as...
Read More »