Tag Archives: MMT

This is Part 2 in my two-part series analysing the 354-page report from the Scottish Growth Commission – Scotland – the new case for optimism: A strategy for inter-generational economic renaissance (released May 25, 2018). In Part 1, I considered their approach to fiscal rules and concluded, that in replicating the rules that the European Commission oversees as part of the Stability and Growth Pact, the newly independent Scotland would be biasing its policy settings towards austerity and...

Some history of economics in light of economic history.  The basis of MMT in accounting and balance sheets is not new, not is its operational approach to money. What is new is that those writing previous to the collapse of Bretton Woods when Nixon shut the gold window for settlement of international trade were dealing not dealing with the current monetary system.  FDR had taken the dollar off gold decades earlier. MMT is an upgrade to previous thinking that is based on the new...

This is the second in a series of blog posts on financing infrastructure assets. Multiplier EffectBanks, Capital Markets, and Institutional Investors as Providers of Long-Term Finance Felipe Rezende | Director, Economics and Finance Program, Bard College and Research Fellow, The Levy Economics Institute

The Job Guarantee is finally getting the public debate it deserves and criticism is expected. Building on several decades of research, the Levy Institute’s latest proposal analyzes the program’s economic impact and advances a blueprint for its implementation. Critics have taken note and are (thus far) restating the usual concerns, but with a notably alarmist tone.... The usual shills for capital contra labor. Multiplier EffectThe Job Guarantee and the Economics of Fear: A Response to Robert...

This is Part 3 (and final) of my mini-series analysing some of the challenges that the newly elected majority government in Timor-Leste faces. In Part 2, I discussed the progress of the Strategic Development Plan and the challenges ahead in terms of poverty, unemployment, and other indicators relating to the development process. In Part 2, I focused more on the currency debate – documenting how the IMF and World Bank had infused its ideological stance into the currency arrangements that...

Bill clarifies the MMT position on trade for those who haven't gotten it yet. It is very clear and concise. Anyone that still doesn't get it after reading this doesn't want to get it.Must-read — and study. It's the MMT elevator speech on trade.Bill Mitchell – billy blogA surplus of trade discussions Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, AustraliaSee alsoBond EconomicsOn The "Everyone Cannot...

I had an impromptu debate with Warren Mosler, the founder and still one of the leading figures of "Modern Monetary Theory" recently. We disagreed on the role of trade deficits, and this has led another MMT luminary, Bill Mitchell, to write two commentaries critiquing my position (see "Trade and external finance mysteries – Part 1" and "Trade and finance mysteries – Part 2". This is my partial reply to Mitchell—there are more issues that I want to take up when I have time to do so.......

Must-read.  Its' a very positive article, but unfortunately, the job guarantee is not presented in terms of the basic issue — the choice between a buffer stock of employed or buffer stock of unemployed, and how the former is superior using efficiency and effectiveness as criteria. The other key issue is how the JG is an integral aspect of policy formulation that promises to reconcile the trifecta of growth, employment and price stability, previous thought to be impossible without...

About what one would expect from Bloomberg.BloombergLeading Democrats Are Backing One of the Most Radical Economic Plans in Years Katia Dmitrieva with assistance by Sahil Kapur, and Jordan Yadoo

I was going to write about the situation in Timor-Leste after its national elections were held on Saturday. But I will hold that over for another day as I get some more information. So today, I think we can learn a lot from an issue raised in the Bloomberg article (May 14, 2018) – Kuroda’s Stimulus Saves Japan $45 Billion, Easing Debt Pressures – which discusses the QE program in Japan and introduces several of the basic errors that mainstream financial commentators make when discussing...