Tag Archives: MMT

By J.D. ALT Italy is experimenting with giving tax-cuts to its citizens in exchange for public services―such as pulling weeds and cutting grass. Wow. What an amazing idea! The government issues a tax credit, and uses it to pay a citizen in exchange for the citizen’s services to the government. The government could even make this arrangement more formal by printing the tax credits on pieces of paper called “LIRIES” (or something like that) and paying for the weed-whacking services with...

Under a job guarantee, there would be a standing job offer at a living wage for anyone who wanted such a position. Anyone without employment in the broader economy, or unhappy with their present employment, could opt for a position in the job-guarantee program. Similarly, anyone with less hours of employment than desired could top up their hours by working part-time in the job-guarantee program. In principle, the program might be locally or centrally administered. But, irrespective of...

I should write something up soon, but as a spoiler, I think the outlook for MMT is good. The new textbook (April 2018 was the projected publication date) will greatly help to build up MMT's credibility amongst those (like myself) who lack access to a research library and journal publications. Bond Economics Conference Presentation Brian Romanchuk

UMKC MMT conference going on now.Program ScheduleLivestream linksVideo uploads coming. TBA later.

What is the most appropriate entry point to the study of a monetary economy in which government is currency issuer? Is it “the market”? Is it the definition: total spending equals total income? Is it real exchange? Real production? Is it total output? Total employment? Total value? Distribution of income? The origin of profit? Price formation? Competition?I would answer “no” to all these suggestions. They are all important aspects of the subject, but they are all embedded in something else....

This is an illustration of the political cost of Bernie not understanding and embracing MMT. He should have paid closer attention to MMT economist Stephanie Kelton when she was his economic adviser. 1. A currency sovereign cannot "go bankrupt." A currency issuer can always issue currency to cover its obligations in the currency of issue. In this case, default is a political choice rather than a financial necessity. 2. The only actual constraint on a currency soveriegn is the...

In The role of literary fiction in perpetuating neo-liberal economic myths – Part 1, I noted introduced the idea that fictional literature plays a significant role in framing false economic concepts and, thus, can promotes neo-liberal biases among the readership, even when the plot of the narrative is ostensibly about something other than economics. In other words, what parades as fiction becomes a powerful tool for spreading ideological propaganda, often in a very subliminal or subtle way....

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog – Reflections on a visit to New Zealand – which began by summarising some research I am working on which will be presented (with Dr Louisa Connors) at the upcoming MMT conference in Kansas City. This specific paper will be examining the role that fictional literature plays in framing false economic concepts and, thus, promoting neo-liberal biases among the readership, even when the plot of the narrative is ostensibly about something other than economics. We...

MMT itself is just a description of how the monetary system works in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, the EMU – everywhere there is a monetary economy. I dislike quibbling, but MMT is prefaced by an operational description of how monetary systems work, paying particular attention to the existing monetary system. This analysis reveals the policy space associated with policy choice regarding the monetary system and monetary operations. MMT is based on this analysis of policy space....

MMT, SFC, NIPA, FFA, etc. Must-read. Longish and detailed. Weekend reading.Angry BearWhy Economists Don’t Know How to Think about Wealth (or Profits) Steve Roth originally published at Evonomics 2016