Tag Archives: MMT

Real Fiscal Responsibility 5; Carter: Environmental Degradation

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Joe Firestone | 5 comments

This, the fifth post in a series evaluating the fiscal responsibility/irresponsibility of the Governments of the United States (mostly the Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Federal Reserve) by Administration periods, beginning in 1977 to 1981 with the Jimmy Carter period, will cover the performance of the Government on the environment and climate change aspect of “public purpose.” Posts 1, 2, 3, and 4, discussed some basic definitions and assumptions of the series and evaluated Government performance relating to economic stagnation, living wage full employment, price stability/inflation, implementing universal health care, and educational reform.

I’ve explained why fiscal responsibility is closely connected to the idea of public purpose, in this post prior to beginning the series. You’ll want to read it, if you want to know what I mean by “public purpose,” and see what else that pregnant term includes, apart from enhancing the environment.

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Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged Austerians, austerity, Carter Administration, debt and deficits, Energy, environmental degradation, EPA, expanded policy space, Interior, MMT, modern money theory, pollution, public purpose, REAL fiscal responsibility

Framing MMT – Modern Money Network

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Devin Smith | 1 comment

A Modern Money Network contributor – Jason Kessler put together this beautiful graphic based on Randy Wray’s Meme for Money series that appeared here on NEP.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged MMT, Modern Monetary Theory

Real Fiscal Responsibility 4; Carter: Education Reform

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Joe Firestone | 2 comments

If you’re reading this you’ve landed near but not at the beginning of my very lengthy series evaluating the fiscal responsibility/irresponsibility of the Governments of the United States (mostly the Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Federal Reserve) by Administration periods, beginning in 1977 – 1981 with the Jimmy Carter period. My first post explained why I chose to start my evaluation with the Carter period, and also laid out my related definitions of fiscal sustainability, and fiscal responsibility.

It explained why fiscal responsibility is closely connected to the idea of public purpose, which I laid out in this post prior to beginning the series. You may want to consult that post, if you want to know what I mean by “public purpose.” I also claimed that the Government of the United States has been fiscally irresponsible in every Administration period since 1977.

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Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged Austerians, austerity, Carter Administration, debt and deficits, Department of Education, Education Reform, expanded policy space, MMT, modern money theory, public purpose, REAL fiscal responsibility

Real Fiscal Responsibility 3; Carter: Inflation and Health Care

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Joe Firestone | 14 comments

By Joe Firestone

Here’s the third post in my series evaluating the fiscal responsibility/irresponsibility of the Governments of the United States (mostly the Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Federal Reserve) by Administration periods beginning in 1977 with the Jimmy Carter period. My first post explained why I chose to start my evaluation with the Carter period, and also laid out my related definitions of fiscal sustainability, and fiscal responsibility.

It explained why fiscal responsibility is closely connected to the idea of public purpose, which I’ve laid out here. I also claimed that the Government of the United States has been fiscally irresponsible in every Administration period since 1977.

In my second post, I began by examining the problems of ending economic stagnation, and providing full employment at a living wage, and, I hope, by showing that the Government, during the Carter period, failed to solve either problem because of its commitment to deficit reduction, and budget balancing, in the service of hoped for inflation moderation. The remaining posts in this series will continue to document the claim that all the US Governments since 1977 have been fiscally irresponsible. This, one, the third in the series, will examine how the US Government failed in its efforts to create and maintain price stability, and also failed to provide a solution to the problem of providing the right of receiving health care to every American in need. Continue reading →

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Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged Austerians, austerity, Carter Administration, debt and deficits, expanded policy space, Health Care, inflation, medicare for all, MMT, modern money theory, public purpose, REAL fiscal responsibility

Real Fiscal Responsibility 2; Carter: Stagnation and Unemployment

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Joe Firestone | 15 comments

By Joe Firestone

This post continues my series evaluating the fiscal responsibility/irresponsibility of the Governments of the United States (mostly the Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Federal Reserve) by Administration periods beginning in 1977 with the Jimmy Carter period. My first post explained why I chose to start my evaluation with the Carter period, and also laid out my related definitions of fiscal sustainability, and fiscal responsibility.

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15 Comments

Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged Austerians, austerity, Carter Administration, debt and deficits, expanded policy space, MMT, modern money theory, Paul Volcker, public purpose, REAL fiscal responsibility

Real Fiscal Responsibility I: Preliminaries

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Joe Firestone | 16 comments

By Joe Firestone

This is the first in a lengthy blog series that will evaluate the US Government’s record on Real Fiscal Responsibility, Administration period by Administration period, since the Administration of Jimmy Carter in 1977. In evaluating the US Government’s record, it’s important to state clearly that I will be evaluating more than just each Administration and its activities.

The record of fiscal responsibility is not the product of the Executive Branch alone. It is the outcome of the interaction of the Executive with the two Houses of Congress and the Federal Reserve System, even on occasion the interaction of one or more of these with the Supreme Court. All bear joint, though not equal responsibility for the record of Government fiscal responsibility or fiscal irresponsibility, as the case may be, during each Administration period.

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Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged Austerians, austerity, debt and deficits, expanded policy space, MMT, modern money theory, public purpose, REAL fiscal responsibility

The Real Fiscal Responsibility Talk Show Pilot Project

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Joe Firestone | 21 comments

By Joe Firestone

This pilot project and the radio/video shows it will produce and place on the web is for everyone tired of hearing economic commentary from those who got everything wrong. For decades, the doctrine of “Fiscal Responsibility” interpreted as long-term deficit reduction and Government austerity has had a secure place in American politics. This doctrine is the economic equivalent of the medieval notion that patients must be bled to cure them of disease. And this truth is reflected in the economic history of the United States at least since 1976, when we first began to practice ideology-based austerity in its modern form by planning for deficit reduction and balanced budgets in order to decrease the debt-to-GDP ratio.

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Posted in Joe Firestone

Tagged Austerians, austerity, debt and deficits, expanded policy space, MMT, modern money theory, public purpose, REAL fiscal responsibility

Why Money Matters

Posted on August 7, 2014 by L. Randall Wray | 25 comments

By L. Randall Wray*

Our Mission Oriented Finance conference explores how to direct funding toward what Hyman Minsky called “the capital development of the economy”, broadly defined to include private investment, public infrastructure, and human development. (See more here.)

But to understand how, we need to understand what money is and why it matters. After all, finance is the process of getting money into the hands of those who will spend it.

The dominant narrative is that money “greases” the wheels of commerce. Sure, you could run the commercial machine without money, but it runs better with lubricant.

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25 Comments

Posted in L. Randall Wray

Tagged MMT, Modern Monetary Theory

Krugman Gives DeGrauwe 2011 Credit for What MMT Has Argued for 15+ Years

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Scott Fullwiler | 14 comments

By Scott Fullwiler

In the comments section of my last post, Neil Wilson linked to this piece by Paul Krugman from last fall. It’s a useful lecture in that it shows mainstream economists are beginning to understand that currency issuers under flexible exchange rates (a term he actually uses) are not generally subject to bond vigilantes, a condition that applies only to nations without their own currencies, debt in other currencies, and/or fixed exchange rates.

In the paper, as he’s done before, he cites DeGrauwe 2011 as the “seminal” paper demonstrating that Eurozone nations are subject to bond vigilantes while others like the US, Japan, and the UK would not be. I’ve got nothing against DeGrauwe 2011 aside from his own failure to cite heterodox literature that preceded him by decades in some cases. Ok, so I do have something against it, but not in terms of content (though I haven’t read closely so perhaps I’d find something). And in fairness Krugman’s suggestion that DeGrauwe 2011 is “seminal” could be due to the fact that the latter provides a model (though the Kelton/Henry paper I cite below does, too; though it’s quite different, it would not be difficult to build on in the direction DeGrauwe 2011 moves)—and we all know that neoclassicals have difficulties discussing anything outside the context of a formal model (not that models aren’t extremely useful for many things, but they should not be the tail that wags the dog, and for neoclassicals they are essentially that).

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Posted in Scott Fullwiler

Tagged MMT, Modern Monetary Theory, paul krugman

National Retirement Infrastructure – Part 3

Posted on July 10, 2014 by J.D. Alt | 3 comments

By J.D. Alt

1. Why we can afford it—2. Why we need it—3. How we can build it

3. How we can build it.

Cohousing, as briefly explained in Part 1, offers a uniquely supportive context for retired living. Cohousing communities consist of between 10 and 30 privately occupied and maintained dwelling units which share certain common facilities, amenities and, in some cases, social responsibilities and activities. It is this “commons” sharing that can potentially provide a retired person with benefits they otherwise could not afford to have, or have easily. For example, the shared facility might include an apartment for a live-in nurse-assistant/care giver who would provide assistance, in each of the private dwellings, as needed. Or, the “commons” might include a small exercise pool that individual retirees can utilize for a daily work-out. “Traditional” cohousing projects typically include a common cooking and dining facility where at least one meal a week is a shared community event—(individual dwellings have their own small kitchens as well.) In general, the goal is to create a comfortable balance between private autonomy and community activities.

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