Stephanie Kelton appears on Majority Report

Stephanie appeared on Majority Report with Sam Seder on 11/20/2012. The image as well as this link will take you to the Majority Report web site.

The podcast can be downloaded or listened to by clicking this link (opens in new window).

Radio-Collar for a Dollar

By J. D. Alt

You know those radio collars they put on grizzly bears, so they can track where they go through the bushes and forests? Well, I’m pleased to announce they’ve developed a radio collar that fits on a U.S. Dollar. (This was a particular accomplishment since most U.S. Dollars now are electronic, the essence of their existence coded on magnetic discs, the embodied code appearing and disappearing, disc to disc, not unlike the quarks and neutrinos of quantum mechanics.) Without going into how they did it, then, we can simply announce that now we can track a U.S. Dollar through the bushes and forests of our economy and, hopefully, on this episode of NATURE, discover the roots and results of wasteful government spending. Continue reading

William Black’s Comment to Krugman’s Twinkie Manifesto

NEP’s William Black posted the following comment in response to Krugman’s Twinkie Manifesto post: Continue reading

The Republican Campaign to Convince Missouri to Join in a Fiscal Suicide Pact with Kansas

By William K. Black
(Cross-posted at Benzinga.com and Huffington Post)

I have written previously to describe Kansas Republicans’ unholy war against moderate conservatives of their own Party.  Governor Brownback and Secretary of State Kobach led the successful purge in the primary elections of any Republican official who did not back dramatic changes in taxation and measures against “undocumented workers” or “illegal immigrants.”  The Kansas fiscal plan will end most income taxes, adopt highly regressive taxes that will not provide equivalent revenue, and sharply cut social programs such as education. Continue reading

Trigger Mechanisms To Avoid the Fiscal Cliff? You’re Kidding, Right?

By Joe Firestone

Robert Reich has been writing a series on “the Grand Bargain” and the “fiscal cliff.” In this post, I’ll do a commentary on his “The President’s Opening Bid on a Grand Bargain (II): Put a Trigger Mechanism in the Legislation”, because I think it’s a good example of self-defeating progressivism or “loser liberalism”. Take your choice of epithet.

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Will the Real Alan Greenspan Please Stand Up (for America)

By Stephanie Kelton

What’s gotten into Alan Greenspan?  Is he schizophrenic?  Has he gone senile?  Or is he simply shilling for Wall Street?  Whatever the explanation, something doesn’t add up.  What happened to this guy, who boldly declared that the US government can always pay its debt?

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Ecuadorian Banking Crisis

William Black, by invitation of the President of Ecuador’s National Assembly, will present to the Standing Specialized Committee of Economic and Tax Regime in Quito, Ecuador on the banking crisis in that country.

Professor Black’s experience in financial regulation and his involvement in the US Savings and Loan Crisis puts him in a position to assist the Ecuadorians with their banking crisis.

Details are available in the following spanish language article.

Marshall Auerback appears on BNN discussing the Grand Bargain and other issues

Marshall Auerback’s appearance on BNN’s Business Day, November 15, 2012. Topics of discussion include impacts of a Grand Bargain. Click the image or here to watch on BNN’s site.

 

Dear Mr. Obama, the “Grand Bargain” is neither Grand…nor a Bargain

By Michael Hoexter

Dear Barack,

Congratulations on your recent electoral victory and the hard work that you and your team put into that effort.  You defeated an opponent, formidable not so much from the point of view of his political skills but more in the masses of “dark money” that were thrown against you and other Democratic candidates. You and your advisors ran a sophisticated tactical campaign that will be emulated by many in the years to come.  Still, from my point of view, these tactical skills will only get the American people so far in our pursuit of happiness.

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The Fiscal “Cliff” and the Real Problem

By Joe Firestone

Like many others, I’m not worried about the so-called fiscal “cliff,” and the ravages to the economy that are likely to occur if Congress doesn’t do something about it before the end of the year. That’s because a lot of the impact can be cushioned in the short run by Executive Branch manipulations while negotiations continue to go on. But if measures aren’t taken to reverse the contractionary effect of the sequestration-induced changes, we’re looking at deficit cuts of $487 Billion over 9 months of the fiscal year. Continue reading