Today’s jobs report was lousy. Employers added just 169,000 jobs to non-farm payrolls in August, and downward revisions to June and July payroll numbers erased 74,000 jobs from the record. Lots of people are saying that the this weakness means that the Fed cannot, must not, dare not Septaper. Others have said what a bad time it would be to let a debt ceiling fight force a government shutdown. I’ve only seen one person zero in on the fundamental problem with our economy — the government’s deficit has gotten too small. Kudos to Ezra Klein for connecting the dots and to Carolyn McClanahan for immediately recognizing this as a key MMT insight
If I had to choose between between being a Krugmanian or a Stiglitzian, I’d be the latter. At least Stiglitz cares about poverty. Yeah, I said it.
“Krugman shares … all the central assumptions of the neo-liberal creed that has governed the … world … for the past generation and driven much of the world deeper, ever deeper into extreme distress.” – Alexander Cockburn
“deficit has gotten too small”
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Good luck selling that wonky stuff to Joe Sixpack and Wanda Walmart Shopper.
Salesmanship is not what’s needed nearly as much as a concrete demonstration. That’s what Joe Firestone has proposed with Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS).