Author Archives: Devin Smith

Why Is Homeownership Among Blacks Lower Than Ever?

Posted on July 19, 2019 | 2 comments

Segregation and housing discrimination are affecting Black homeownership today as much as in the days before the 1964 Civil Rights Act. What happened and how can this be reversed? NEP’s Bill Black appears on The Real News Network and discusses this. You can view here with transcript.

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Posted in William K. Black

Facebook’s Libra Currency Monetizes Identity and Threatens Privacy

Posted on July 8, 2019 | Comments Off on Facebook’s Libra Currency Monetizes Identity and Threatens Privacy

NEP’s Bill Black appears on The Real News Network and discusses Feacebook’s new proposed crypto-currency, called “Libra.” Facebook could use this technology to standardize identity and create a world of ultimate surveillance, and then profit from it. You can view here with a transcript.

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Posted in William K. Black

Billions Stolen From Black Families by Predatory Lending

Posted on June 24, 2019 | 2 comments

NEP’s Bill Black appears on The Real News Network and analyzes the new study, “The Plunder of Black Wealth in Chicago,” opening the way for a fruitful conversation about reparations and our future. You can view here with a transcript.

*Edit: 2019/06/25 added missing link for transcript.

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United Technologies – Raytheon Merger Is the Definition of Crony Capitalism

Posted on June 17, 2019 | Comments Off on United Technologies – Raytheon Merger Is the Definition of Crony Capitalism

Trump opposes the merger of these two arms manufacturers, which would create the world’s largest such corporation, but why? NEP’s Bill Black appears on the Real News Network and gives us the interesting answer as well as explores why these mergers are dangerous and on the rise. You can view here with a transcript.

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How to Pay for the Green New Deal – Levy Institute

Posted on May 30, 2019 | 5 comments

L. Randall Wray

How to Pay for the Green New Deal
WORKING PAPER NO. 931 | May 2019

This paper follows the methodology developed by J. M. Keynes in his How to Pay for the War pamphlet to estimate the “costs” of the Green New Deal (GND) in terms of resource requirements. Instead of simply adding up estimates of the government spending that would be required, we assess resource availability that can be devoted to implementing GND projects. This includes mobilizing unutilized and underutilized resources, as well as shifting resources from current destructive and inefficient uses to GND projects. We argue that financial affordability cannot be an issue for the sovereign US government. Rather, the problem will be inflation if sufficient resources cannot be diverted to the GND. And if inflation is likely, we need to put in place anti-inflationary measures, such as well-targeted taxes, wage and price controls, rationing, and voluntary saving. Following Keynes, we recommend deferred consumption as our first choice should inflation pressures arise. We conclude that it is likely that the GND can be phased in without inflation, but if price pressures do appear, deferring a small amount of consumption will be sufficient to attenuate them

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ZEN and the Art of Modern Money—Part 3

Posted on May 13, 2019 | 2 comments

MMT for People in a Hurry

By J.D. ALT

POST #3  (Post #1, Post #2)

OPERATION #2—The federal government buys something big for the collective good.

NOTE: A much appreciated comment at Naked Capitalism re: Post#1 suggested that the term “Combustion Chamber” was misleading since the “fuel” (money) put into the chamber is not burned as in a motorcycle engine but is redistributed to other accounts. I was planning to point this out further into the narrative but the comment showed that would be too late. So, beginning now, I’ve changed the name “Combustion Chamber” to “Production/Consumption (P/C) Chamber,” of which we have two: a Public P/C Chamber and a Private P/C Chamber.

OPERATION #1 looked at a transaction in private commerce—an exchange of money occurring in the Private P/C Chamber of our diagram-machine. OPERATION #2 will observe a transaction in the Public P/C Chamber. Before we start, this is a good time to address a question you may already have asked: Why does our diagram-machine have two Production/Combustion Chambers? Why can’t all the Production and Consumption that American citizens need take place in just one?

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Trump and Mnuchin Break the Law By Refusing to Release President’s Tax Records

Posted on May 9, 2019 | Comments Off on Trump and Mnuchin Break the Law By Refusing to Release President’s Tax Records

NEP’s Bill Black appears on The Real News Network and explains how the administration’s stance on Trump’’ taxes is illegal and what the possible consequences could be—or should be. You can view with transcript here.

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Posted in William K. Black

Thousands Die, Millions Injured on the Job, and No Businesses Prosecuted

Posted on May 2, 2019 | 2 comments

NEP’s Bill Black appears on The Real News Network and describes how OSHA’s few underfunded inspectors can’t do their jobs, and prosecutors don’t prosecute businesses for non-compliance. You can view here with a transcript.

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How Far Can We Push This Thing? Some Optimistic Reflections on the Potential For Economic Experimentation

Posted on April 29, 2019 | Comments Off on How Far Can We Push This Thing? Some Optimistic Reflections on the Potential For Economic Experimentation

Crossposted from Phil Pilkington’s Blog – Fixing the Economists.

Readers are probably aware that there is quite a lot of discussion of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and the potential for fiscal experimentation batting around at the moment. Others have weighed in on this already, and I have little to add.

It is striking, however, that most of the push-back — where there is push-back — is not focused on trying to discredit the idea that we should engage in fiscal experimentation. Indeed, the notion that we should engage in fiscal experimentation seems to be, if not mainstream, at the very least part of the discussion.

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If Current Laws Prosecuting Bankers Aren’t Used, What Can Warren Change?

Posted on April 29, 2019 | 2 comments

NEP’s Bill Black appears on The Real News Network and demolishes the notion that we can’t prosecute banksters with the laws we now have in place. You can view here with transcript.

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Posted in William K. Black