Category Archives: L. Randall Wray

WHY ARE WE GATHERED HERE? Remarks Made at the 13th International Post Keynesian Conference

Posted on September 21, 2016 by L. Randall Wray | 16 comments

L. Randall Wray

The following text reproduces my notes for my talk on the final night of the conference; I think there is a video of the entire panel that will be posted up on the conference site later

This conference is dedicated to the memory of Landon Rowland, a local Renaissance man. You have heard both Robert Skidelsky and Chancellor Leo Morton speak of his accomplishments.

Over the years, Landon regularly invited Bill Black and me to lunch to discuss our view of the state of the world. We’d meet at a local restaurant where all the wait-staff knew Mr. Rowland by name, and knew where he wanted to sit and what he liked to eat.

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The Radical Imagination: Imagining Economics in an Age of Stein, Clinton, Trump or Johnson

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Devin Smith | 13 comments

NEP’s Randy Wray appears on The Radical Imagination with host Jim Vrettos. Topic of discussion is the science of economics and what a U.S. economy will look like under the administration of Stein, Clinton, Trump or Johnson.

View directly on vimeo here.

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TRUMPBUSTERS: WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

Posted on August 4, 2016 by L. Randall Wray | 16 comments

Randall Wray, Bard College

For months now, the Hillary campaign has vigorously argued that Bernie supporters have to fall in line to support the Democratic National Committee’s favorite candidate. Anyone not willing to jump to Hillary is a “Bernie Bro”—not willing to vote for anyone but Bernie. Why? Because, Trump. Forget the will of the people, the democratic process, or “voting one’s conscience”—Trump trumps all hesitation. We simply cannot afford to give Trump any chance of winning.

We need a Trumpbuster. Who you gonna call?

Hillary Clinton or Jill Stein?

Before reading any further, please first watch (or read) this debate between Bob Reich and Chris Hedges:

Who Should Bernie Voters Support Now? Democracy Now! 27 July 16

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Tagged bernie sanders, hillary, Hillary Clinton, trump

Progressives Don’t Let Friends Vote Neocon

Posted on May 1, 2016 by L. Randall Wray | 28 comments

By L. Randall Wray

The drumbeat is quickening as Hillary’s surrogates insist that Bernie’s supporters fall in line. Bernie’s chances are said to be hopeless. Continuing to run only plays into the hands of truly despicable Republicans.

And forget about trying to pressure the Democratic Party’s establishment to let Bernie play a role in formulating the convention’s platform. That also would just play into the hands of the Republicans.

Time to unite behind Hillary, and let her move further to the right. No more talk of revolution, of trillions of dollars of new spending, of significant increases to the minimum wage. Let’s talk about Hillary’s issues: regime change abroad, downsizing dreams at home, and protecting Wall Street from the pitchforks.

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Tagged clinton, neocon, neoconservative, progressive, trump

CAN BERNIE DO IT? The View of a Non-Establishment Economist

Posted on April 17, 2016 by L. Randall Wray | 15 comments

By L. Randall Wray

Bernie Sanders has an ambitious agenda. Too ambitious, insist his critics (including, especially, surrogates of Hillary Clinton). He would break up the big banks, reverse the redistribution of income and wealth to the top (that accelerated under the triple whammy of the Bush-Clinton-Bush administrations), restore and improve our nation’s infrastructure, and provide employment and better wages at the bottom. The critics proclaim that his programs cannot “pay for themselves”.

Using conventional macro models, Professor Gerald Friedman at UMass showed that they would. He was then attacked for using the conventional models that all conventional economists use. Apparently, these models are fine when they support austerity, but are out-of-bounds for use when they support progressive policy. Adam Davidson (of NPR’s “Planet Money”) has noted that in spite of the empirical results, even Friedman admits that perhaps only 4% of economists believe that Bernie’s programs can pay for themselves.

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Tagged bernie sanders, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton

Why Minsky Matters Events

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Devin Smith | Comments Off

This weekend: March 11th – 15th 2016, there are events taking place at the Village East Cinemas in New York including a book signing by Randy Wray on the 15th as well as screening of the movie. You can get all the details and list of guest appearances from Village East Cinema’s website here. Flyer for the book signing is after the jump.

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Posted in L. Randall Wray

Tagged minsky

DEBT-FREE MONEY PART 4: AMERICAN COLONIAL CURRENCY

Posted on February 15, 2016 by L. Randall Wray | 16 comments

By L. Randall Wray

In Part Three I argued that the government issues currency as its liability and imposes tax liabilities on its subjects/citizens that can be paid in that currency. When taxes are paid, both the government and its taxpayers are “redeemed”. I cited Innes’s argument that the universal law of credit is that the issuer of a debt must take it back. This is the fundamental notion behind redemption of debts.

To be sure, debt is much older than money. No human has ever escaped debt. At birth, you are indebted to your parents, your kin, and your gods. You spend your lifetime incurring new debts and repaying old debts and accumulating credits that are the debts of others. If you earn enough credits, you join the Redeemer and make it to the Promised Land after death; if you don’t you join Satan—the original tax collector–in hell.

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Tagged debt-free money, MMT, Modern Monetary Theory

THE VALUE OF REDEMPTION: DEBT-FREE MONEY PART 3

Posted on February 14, 2016 by L. Randall Wray | 29 comments

Sorry that it has taken me a while to get back to my multi-part series on debt-free money. This is the third part of the current series, although I had previously written several other blogs on the related topics of debt-free money, positive money, and 100% money. See links at the bottom.

This post will focus on the concept of “redemption” as the most fundamental requirement of indebtedness. This seems to confuse readers. For example, Eric Lonergan calls this a “fantastic linguistic contortion”, a “pure semantic confusion”, a “hidden definition slipped in between dashes”.

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Tagged debt-free money, MMT, Modern Monetary Theory

Time to Jail the Bankers and Take Back Control over Money

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Devin Smith | 10 comments

Randy Wray and Bill Black appear on “Clearing the Fog.” You can listen to the podcast here. Bill, of the newly formed Bank Whistleblowers United, speaks about the plan they have outlined to instill the rule of law on Wall Street and end fraud with the hope of mitigating the effects of the next financial crisis. Randy, an expert in financial instability and macroeconomics, speaks about alternatives to the current financial system that would bring greater stability.