Tag Archives: public purpose

Who Needs Balanced Trade? Who Needs Balance Budgets: A New Book on Trade and Fiscal Policy

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Joe Firestone | 3 comments

The intensity of the conflict over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has died down since last June, after the Administration won its victory in getting Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) through Congress. During the Intervening months, the efforts of the Special Trade Representative (STR) to complete TPP negotiations have continued. At the end of June, the goal was to complete negotiations by August so that the Administration could send the Agreement to Congress in enough time to start the clock on the 90-day countdown period Congress has to vote on an agreement negotiated under the TPA, and to schedule a ratification vote on it before the end of 2015.

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Tagged A Holistic Approach to Trade and Fiscal Policy, Balanced Budget Fiscal Policy, balanced trade, Budgeting for Public Purpose Fiscal Policy, Deficit Neutrality in the Long Run Fiscal Policy, fair trade, free trade, Impact Assessment for Trade Policy, MMT, modern money theory, public purpose, TISA, TPP, Trade for Public Purpose, TTIP

Real Fiscal Responsibility: What Chris Hayes Said

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Joe Firestone | 3 comments

I’m interrupting my series on US Government Real Fiscal Responsibility since the Carter Administration to write about something Chris Hayes said relating to Real Fiscal Responsibility. Back in February of 2014, he tweeted:

“If you can run a deficit to go to war, you can run a deficit to take care of veterans.” – @chrislhayes #inners

— All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) March 1, 2014

Recently, that tweet along with an image has been making the rounds on Facebook as an Alternet photo. The sound bite in the tweet looks great, after the manner of a logical truism.

But, logically, it doesn’t follow, because one can easily say that as long as the Government implicit in the statement isn’t a currency issuer, but a currency user who must acquire its funds by taxing or borrowing alone, that Government can involuntarily run out of funds. And it is conceivable that funds might be raised to fund a war, while that same Government might not have the funds available to take care of the people who fought for the nation, without defaulting on its obligations. Continue reading →

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

Real Fiscal Responsibility 5; Carter: Environmental Degradation

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

By Joe Firestone

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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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

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

Taxes and the Public Purpose

Posted on May 29, 2014 by L. Randall Wray | 17 comments

By L. Randall Wray

In previous instalments we have established that “taxes drive money”. What we mean by that is that sovereign government chooses a money of account (Dollar in the USA), imposes obligations in that unit (taxes, fees, fines, tithes, tolls, or tribute), and issues the currency that can be used to “redeem” oneself in payments to the government. Currency is like the “Get Out of Jail Free” card in the game of Monopoly.

Taxes create a demand for “that which is necessary to pay taxes” (and other obligations to the state), which allows the government to purchase resources to pursue the public purpose by spending the currency.

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Posted in L. Randall Wray

Tagged MMT, Modern Monetary Theory, predistribution, public purpose, redistribution, Taxes

Let the Palmer House (not Fiscal House) be our Guide

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Mitch Green | 8 comments

By Mitch Green

Readers of this blog familiar with my previous posts know that I love trains. Sure, they’re slow. And after about twelve hours the coach cars start to get a little, well, worn. But, as a mode of conveyance they offer one time to reflect, and if you are lucky a little time to explore a new city.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Travelling from Kansas City to NYC via Chicago, I had the pleasure of visiting the Palmer House – a fine example of the workmanship of a bygone era. Upon entering the great hall I was immediately struck by the grandeur of its ceiling. I have had the privilege to experience similar wonder and amazement in travels elsewhere, and as far as ornate ceilings this was not my first time at the rodeo – I’ve been to the Sistine Chapel, after all. What struck me the most about that moment in the Palmer House was not driven by my taste for architecture or the fine arts (which is probably ‘vulgar’ by any convention), but that it serves as a lasting example of what society is capable of achieving. Continue reading →