Monthly Archives: October 2013

Rationalization and Obligation, Part V: Differences Are Everything

By Joe Firestone

This is Part V of a six part series replying to a claim by the President at his recent White House News Conference. Part I covered the News Conference and the first two (the selective default, and the exploding option) of seven options the President might use to try save the US from defaulting in the face of continued deadlock in the Congress on raising the debt limit or repealing the law enabling it in its entirety. Part II discussed Platinum Coin Seigniorage, invoking the 14th amendment to justify continuing to issue conventional Treasury debt instruments, and consols. Part III discussed premium bonds, and Treasury sales of the Government’s material and cultural assets to the Federal Reserve. Part IV, then evaluated all seven options in light of variations among them in likely degree of legal difficulties they might face, and also the likely impact of each on confidence in the bond markets, if used.

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MINSKY DOES RIO: Notes from a Conference

By L. Randall Wray

I recently returned from conference in Brazil jointly sponsored by the Levy Economics Institute, the Ford Foundation, and the Brazilian research group MINDS. It is part of a bigger project to take Hyman P. Minsky global. In my view, Minsky was hands-down the greatest economist of the second half of the twentieth century and he deserves the attention he’s getting. Watch for an upcoming film by Monty Python’s Terry Jones that will feature Minsky and his work. Minsky will even make an appearance—or, more accurately, a bigger-than-life Minsky puppet will be in the film. (Steve Keen and I were also interviewed.)

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Rationalization and Obligation, Part IV: Differences Among Options

In Part I, Part II, and Part III, I listed and analyzed seven options, analyzed them and also pointed out that the President’s 14th amendment option, actually makes turning to the 14th as a justification for continuing to issue debt beyond the ceiling, a last resort, and also places an obligation on the President to exhaust other available options, whose legality is probable, but not finally determined by the Supreme Court. But, in his recent Press Conference, the President also failed to recognize any differences among the options in relation to his main point: that loss of public confidence caused by legal challenges would affect sales of debt instruments and other options including Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS).

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Arnold Kling’s Cunning Hairdresser Theory of the Financial Crisis

By William K. Black

Arnold Kling is a libertarian economist who once worked for Freddie Mac.  This article discusses a blog and an article he wrote about the causes of the crisis.  Both (unintentionally) illustrate key theoclassical economic positions critical to understanding the origins of the crisis.  Kling’s blog was in response to a January 29, 2013 post by Thomas J. Sugrue.  Sugrue provided data demonstrating that blacks and Latino homeowners suffered far greater wealth losses in the crisis than did whites.  This upset Kling, who responded:

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NEP’s Pavlina Tcherneva appears on Ian Masters’ Background Briefing

Pavlina appeared on Background Briefing with Ian Masters on October 10. One topic is the new Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen, the first woman to hold what is considered the second most powerful position in the world. Discussion includes the good news at the Fed and the continuing bad news from the capitol where the Republicans are offering a truce until November 22 before they resume their threat to default.

You can listen to the interview here.

Or visit the site here.

Rationalization and Obligation, Part III: Premium Bonds, and Asset Sales

By Joe Firestone

In Part I of this six-part series I presented the President’s explanation of why he can’t use alternative options for coping with the default threat arising out of refusal to raise the debt ceiling, a summary of the kinds of difficulties characterizing it, and discussed two of seven options, selective default, and the exploding option, the President has to deal with it, apart from the way he seems to have chosen. In Part II I discussed the next three options, platinum coins, 14th amendment, and consols, and commented on the legal issues related to them. Here, in Part III, I’ll cover two options which have started getting attention most recently.

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Rationalization and Obligation, Part II: Coins, the 14th, and Consols

By Joe Firestone

This six-part series is a reply to the President’s glossing over the options open to him apart from playing “chicken” with the Republicans over the debt ceiling. Part I, presented the President’s explanation, a summary of the kinds of difficulties characterizing it, and discussed two of seven options, selective default, and the exploding option, the President has to deal with it, apart from the way he seems to have chosen. Part II will discuss his platinum coin, 14th amendment, and consols.

Platinum Coins, the 14th amendment, and Consols

3. Using the authority of a 1996 law to mint proof platinum coins with arbitrary face values in the trillions of dollars to fill the Treasury General Account (TGA) with enough money to cease issuing debt instruments, and even enough to pay off the existing debt. This option, originating with beowulf (Carlos Mucha)in its Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC) form has gotten a lot of attention. But a variation of it in its High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage (HVPCS) form, requiring a coin with face value of $60 Trillion for example, has received much less attention, except in my own writing.

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Rationalization, Obligation, Part I: No Magic Bullets?

By Joe Firestone

The media and politicians in both parties are still largely echoing the Administration’s framing of the fiscal situation and absolving the President of his share of the blame for the debt limit crisis. They’re reinforcing his message They’re also preparing the way for a compromise, that will, almost certainly, result in hurtful cuts to Government spending including renewed consideration of “the Great Betrayal,” also known as “the Grand Bargain,” including passage of the chained CPI cuts to Social Security over the objections of a large majority of the American people.

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Yellen Needs to Tell the Politicians to Stop Failing

By Dan Kervick

Evan Soltas is hoping that President Obama’s appointment of  Janet Yellen signifies a new administration commitment to jobs and economic growth.  Unfortunately, Soltas seems to be one of those folks who is convinced that our failures over the past five years have much to do with a monetary policy that has been insufficiently “accommodative”, and he strongly suggests that the national plague of mass joblessness and stagnation could be alleviated if the Fed would only do more aggressive quantitative easing without political pressure to taper prematurely.

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Marianna Mazzucato’s Rethinking the State Video Project

The 2 videos below are from Marianna’s project. The first features Pavlina Tcherneva discussing employment and labor market issues. The second features L. Randal Wray discussing money and reforming the monetary and financial system.

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