Category Archives: Joe Firestone

Framing Platinum Coin Seigniorage: Part Six, More Political/Economic Objections

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Devin Smith | 11 comments

This series provides a framing document for Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS). In the five previous parts of the series, I pointed out that there are three classes of opponents of High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage (HVPCS, $30 T and above). The first and largest group opposes all Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS) of whatever type. The second, opposes HVPCS, but favors using the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC) for the limited purpose of avoiding the debt ceiling. The third, opposes HVPCS, and doesn’t really favor using the TDC either, except, perhaps, as a last resort to avoid the debt ceiling. It favors an incremental approach to PCS beginning perhaps in the millions or billions in face value, and over a long period of time, after giving people years to adjust to Treasury using platinum coins with unusual, and unprecedented, face values, eventually building up to a TDC. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged #PCS, #TDC, $60 T coin, beowulf, debt ceiling, Fiscal Policy, High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage, HVPCS, MMT, platinum coin seigniorage, Trillion Dollar Coin

Framing Platinum Coin Seigniorage: Part Five, Institutional Objections

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Devin Smith | 8 comments

By Joe Firestone

This series provides a framing document for Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS). In the four previous parts of the series, I pointed out that there are three classes of opponents of High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage (HVPCS, $30 T and above). The first and largest group opposes all Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS) of whatever type. The second, opposes HVPCS, but favors using the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC) for the limited purpose of avoiding the debt ceiling. The third, opposes HVPCS, and doesn’t really favor using the TDC either, except, perhaps, as a last resort to avoid the debt ceiling. It favors an incremental approach to PCS beginning perhaps in the millions or billions in face value, and over a long period of time, after giving people years to adjust to Treasury using platinum coins with unusual, and unprecedented, face values, eventually building up to a TDC.

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged #PCS, #TDC, $60 T coin, beowulf, debt ceiling, Ezra Klein, Fiscal Policy, High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage, HVPCS, John Lounsbury, MMT, platinum coin seigniorage, Trillion Dollar Coin, warren mosler

Framing Platinum Coin Seigniorage: Part Four, Political/Economic Objections

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Devin Smith | 13 comments

By Joe Firestone

This series provides a framing document for Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS). In the three previous parts of the series, I pointed out that there are three classes of opponents of High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage (HVPCS, $30 T and above). The first and largest group opposes all Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS) of whatever type. The second, opposes HVPCS, but favors using the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC) for the limited purpose of avoiding the debt ceiling. The third, opposes HVPCS, and doesn’t really favor using the TDC either, except, perhaps, as a last resort to avoid the debt ceiling. It favors an incremental approach to PCS beginning perhaps in the millions or billions in face value, and over a long period of time, after giving people years to adjust to Treasury using platinum coins with unusual, and unprecedented, face values, eventually building up to a TDC.

Continue reading →

13 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged #PCS, #TDC, $60 T coin, beowulf, Black Swans, debt ceiling, Fiscal Policy, High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage, HVPCS, MMT, modern money theory, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, platinum coin seigniorage, Trillion Dollar Coin

Framing Platinum Coin Seigniorage: Part Three, Political Objections

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Devin Smith | 5 comments

By Joe Firestone

As I pointed out in Part Two of this series, there are three classes of opponents of High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage (HVPCS, $30 T and above). The first and largest group opposes all Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS) of whatever type. The second, opposes HVPCS, but favors using the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC) for the limited purpose of avoiding the debt ceiling. The third, opposes HVPCS, and doesn’t really favor using the TDC either, except, perhaps, as a last resort. It favors an incremental approach to PCS beginning perhaps in the millions or billions in face value, and over a long period of time eventually building up to a TDC.

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged #PCS, #TDC, $60 T coin, beowulf, debt ceiling, Ezra kelin, Fiscal Policy, High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage, HVPCS, MMT, modern money theory, platinum coin seigniorage, Trillion Dollar Coin

Framing Platinum Coin Seigniorage: Part Two, Legal Objections

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Devin Smith | 8 comments

By Joe Firestone

There are three classes of opponents of High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage (HVPCS, $30 T and above). The first and largest group opposes all PCS of whatever type. The second, opposes HVPCS, but favors using the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC) for the limited purpose of avoiding the debt ceiling. The third, opposes HVPCS, and doesn’t really favor using the TDC either, except, perhaps, as a last resort.

Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged #PCS, #TDC, $60 T coin, beowulf, debt ceiling, Dorf On Law, Fiscal Policy, High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage, HVPCS, MMT, modern money theory, Philip Diehl, platinum coin seigniorage, Trillion Dollar Coin

Framing Platinum Coin Seigniorage: Part One, Basics

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Devin Smith | 58 comments

By Joe Firestone

How many times have you heard that the Government can only spend money after it raises revenue by either taxing or borrowing? Nearly every time someone talks or writes about the US’s public deficit/debt problem? How come nobody asks why, since Congress has the unlimited authority to create coins and currency, it doesn’t just create money when it deficit spends? The short answer is that Congress in 1913, constrained the Executive Branch from creating currency or bank reserves, delegated its power to do that to the Federal Reserve System, and never looked back when we went off the gold standard in 1971, even though this removed the danger of money-creation outrunning gold reserves, and also created a new monetary system based on fiat currency.

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58 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged #PCS, #TDC, $60 T coin, austerity, Cullen Roche, debt ceiling, Fiscal Policy, game-changing PCS, High Value Platinum Coin Seigniorage, HVPCS, MMT, modern money theory, platinum coin seigniorage, Trillion Dollar Coin

Can the Federal Reserve Really Refuse To Accept and To Credit A Platinum Coin Deposited By the US Mint?

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Devin Smith | 28 comments

By Joe Firestone

The issue of whether the Fed can really refuse to accept and credit a deposit of a platinum coin with its face value, is being raised frequently on blog posts about Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS) and the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC). In the past, I’ve argued that the Fed cannot; and the final decision on taking the TDC off the table was actually made by the President, and not by Chairman Bernanke.

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28 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged beowulf, Ellen Brown, Federal Reserve, Fiscal Policy, MMT, Modern Monetary Theory, Philip Diehl, platinum coin seigniorage, Secretary of the Treasury, Trillion Dollar Coin, web of debt

Downsides to the Platinum Coin; or Just Defense of the Status Quo?

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Devin Smith | 34 comments

By Joe Firestone

As part of a wonderful discussion thread on the legal basis for using Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS), following a post by beowulf (Carlos Mucha), the first to propose the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC). Michael Sankowski, one of the founders of the Monetary Realism approach to economics offered a very long reply directed at High Value Platinum Coin Seignorage (HVPCS), and the TDC itself. Mike’s reply is a good example of the many misgivings people have about using PCS with face values in the trillions. Since Mike is a supporter, rather than opponent of PCS and believes that PCS is legal, I thought it would be worthwhile to deconstruct his long comment and show that his downsides are pretty speculative and don’t provide good grounds for supporting incrementalism is using PCS.

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34 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged $60 T coin, austerity, Fiscal Policy, HVPCS, incrementalism, Mike Sankowski, MMT, Modern Monetary Theory, Monetary Realism, platinum coin seigniorage, Trillion Dollar Coin

Beowulf and Diehl Embrace Trillion Dollar Coin Incrementalism!

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Devin Smith | 30 comments

By Joe Firestone

A wonderful discussion thread has been going on at Monetary Realism (MR) after a very good new post by beowulf (Carlos Mucha), who first brought forward the proposal for the Executive Branch to use the authority provided in the 1996 Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS) legislation to fill the public purse, on whether the Fed had a legal basis for turning down PCS in the form of the Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC). I’ll leave the legal discussion for another blog post, since I agree with beo on these, and also need to review some legal arguments against the TDC by some George Washington University Professors. Here I want to write about some of the MR discussion relating to PCS options.

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30 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged $60 T coin, austerity, beowulf, Carlos Mucha, Fiscal Policy, HVCS, HVPCS, incrementalism, MMT, Modern Monetary Theory, Philip Diehl, platinum coin seigniorage, Trillion Dollar Coin

Good Luck Stopping Austerity With Incremental Platinum Coin Seigniorage!

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Devin Smith | 144 comments

By Joe Firestone

Some have responded to the recent boomlet for using Platinum Coin Seigniorage (PCS) as a solution to the debt ceiling problem, by reacting to the ridicule visited upon PCS advocates by know-nothings like Heidi Moore of the Guardian and Matt O’Brien of the Atlantic, by proposing “smaller ball” PCS than the clearly inadequate Trillion Dollar Coin (TDC) itself. This post will focus on J. D. Alt’s interesting post which makes five points about the TDC debate as it was addressed on a recent Chris Hayes show.

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