Author Archives: Devin Smith

Modern Money and Public Purpose

Posted on September 14, 2012 | Comments Off

Randall Wray and Michael Hudson both presented at the inaugural session of Modern Money and Public Purpose. This seminar series is held at Columbia University’s Law School and is organized by the Workers’ Rights Student Coalition. Over the coming months, several MMT proponents will be presenting as part of the series including Stephanie Kelton and Warren Mosler on September 25th. Continue reading →

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged MMT, Modern Money and Public Purpose

Has ‘Super Mario’ Really Saved the Euro?

Posted on September 13, 2012 | 2 comments

By Marshall Auerback

Germany’s Constitutional Court gave a green light on Wednesday for the country to ratify Europe’s new bailout fund, boosting hopes that the single currency bloc is finally putting in place the tools to resolve its three-year old debt crisis.

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Posted in Marshall Auerback

Tagged Draghi, ESM, euro, euro crisis, european bailout

Beyond the Morality of Spending and Saving (Money) – Part 2

Posted on September 13, 2012 | 6 comments

By Michael Hoexter

Ethics, Moral Advocacy and Economics (con’t)

If we look at the structure of the discourse produced by academic economists after Smith whether in print or in media appearances, moral frameworks provide a structuring role that often outweighs the technical aspect of the content which is presented. Well-known among MMT-oriented and post-Keynesian economists are the arguments of austerity advocates, who ignore the analytically obvious monetary and economic consequences of austerity in pursuit of the seeming virtue of every economic actor becoming a “saver” of money. Continue reading →

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Posted in Michael Hoexter

Tagged austerity, neoliberalism, spending, TINA

Effectiveness of Mortgage Fraud Task Force

Posted on September 12, 2012 | 1 comment

RT America discusses with William Black just how aggressive the investigation by the President’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force has actually been.

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Posted in William K. Black

Tagged banksters, Financial crisis, jail the banksters, liar loans, mortgage fraud

No Plan B?

Posted on September 12, 2012 | 11 comments

By Joe Firestone

Bob Woodward’s releasing a new book, so we are now seeing articles based on it. A few days back, The Washington Post published the “Inside story of Obama’s struggle to keep Congress from controlling outcome of debt ceiling crisis.” This account is a pretty downbeat one of how our political leaders and President Obama handled the debt ceiling crisis of the summer of 2011. I want to comment on what for me was the most salient point: that during the crisis, the President had no “Plan B” to get around the debt ceiling beyond negotiating a deal with Congress.

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Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged 14th Amendment, Bob Woodward, CNN, debt ceiling crisis, deficit reduction, deficits, entitlements, grand bargain, Jack Balkin, MMT, modern money theory, national debt, paul jay, PPCS, President Obama, Proof Platinum Coin Seigniorage, Social Security, Trillion Dollar Coin, Yves Smith

Beyond the Morality of Spending and Saving (Money) – Part 1

Posted on September 12, 2012 | 9 comments

By Michael Hoexter

Readers of this blog will know that the austerity drive is based on faulty macroeconomics and austerity itself is a self-defeating economic strategy. Austerity relies and capitalizes on critical misunderstandings within economics, misunderstandings that were not conclusively and clearly enough debunked by John Maynard Keynes and others 75 years ago and in subsequent years. Continue reading →

9 Comments

Posted in Michael Hoexter

Tagged austerity, neoliberalism, spending, TINA

Florida A&M and the Death of Accountability and Caring

Posted on September 12, 2012 | 5 comments

By William K. Black

Florida A&M (FAMU) has just filed a legal pleading that exemplifies the moral bankruptcy and the shirking of accountability by elites that has become emblematic of the last ten years. The headline of the LA Times article says it all: “Robert Champion was to blame for his own hazing death, FAMU says.” The context is FAMU’s motion to dismiss the Champion’s parents’ “wrongful death” suit against FAMU. Continue reading →

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Posted in William K. Black

Tagged accountability, moral bankruptcy

William Black appears on The People & Power show

Posted on September 11, 2012 | 2 comments

William Black appears on The People & Power in segment titled “Prosecuting Wall Street”. The episode concerns failure in the U.S. to prosecute in relation to the financial crisis. It airs beginning on 9/12 on Al Jazeera English (Time Warner channel 92 in NY and Comcast channel 275 in D.C.).

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Posted in William K. Black

The Unanimous Declaration of the Keynesian Coalition

Posted on September 11, 2012 | 13 comments

By Tyler Healey

IN AMERICA, September, 2012

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one school of economic thought to dissolve the bands which have connected it with others, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and superior station to which the Laws of Science entitle it, a decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that the members of their school should declare the causes which impel the separation.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged keynesians

Washington Post and the AIG Bailout

Posted on September 10, 2012 | Comments Off

The Washington Post (9/10) published an article on the the “success” of the AIG bailout. NEP’s William Black explains the issue of perverse incentives created by the successful bailout.