Feb 17, 2023
Part 5: Patricia and Christian continue their conversation about Stephanie Kelton’s best-seller The Deficit Myth.
In this episode: what does it mean for a nation to “win” or “lose” at trade?
As the global 99% are pitted against each other in an increasingly gigified international job market, who’s “we” and what is “winning”?
In an effort to dodge their responsibility for domestic unemployment, politicians have become very adept at mesmerising electorates with trade three-card Monte - focusing our attention on jobs and potential income flowing overseas, when a focus on real goods and services flowing *in* from the rest of the world reveals that trade deficits actually *improve* living standards for importing nations in real terms.
Nevertheless, in pursuit of political “wins”, leaders squander actual wins in pursuit of arbitrary economic indicators with the only economic management tool they think they have: unemployment.
Understanding modern money shows how we can truly succeed without sacrificing people or the planet.
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Please help sustain this podcast!
Patrons get early access to all episodes and patron-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/MMTpodcast
For an intro to MMT:
Our first three episodes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41742417
Episode 126 - Dirk Ehnts: How Banks Create Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62603318
Our “Unpacking The Deficit Myth” series: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47191289
All our episodes in chronological order: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43111643
Relevant to this episode:
Shop to Win! Warren Mosler on Trump Tariffs: https://moslereconomics.com/2018/03/02/light-vehicle-sales-trump-tariffs/
Pavlina Tcherneva lays out why the Job Guarantee is core to Modern Monetary Theory in Episode 148: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73211346?pr=true
Fadhel Kaboub defines monetary sovereignty in Episode 12 - Monetary Sovereignty, Colonialism and Independence: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41790149
Dirk Ehnts lays out a plan for a Eurozone-wide Job Guarantee in Episode 155: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38252014
Paper on the above proposal - “Completing The Euro: The Euro Treasury And The Job Guarantee” by Esteban Cruz Hidalgo, Dirk H. Ehnts & Pavlina R. Tcherneva: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334226761_Completing_the_Euro_The_Euro_Treasury_and_the_Job_Guarantee
Warren Mosler and Damiano B. Silipo’s Job Guarantee proposal for the eurozone is within this paper - “Maximizing Price Stability in a Monetary Economy”: https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_864.pdf
For more on the Job Guarantee as a “labour standard” (as opposed to a gold standard) to achieve superior price stability to our current system, listen to our episode 125 - Sam Levey: Monopoly, Monopsony, And What To Do About Them: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61954971
Quick MMT reads:
Warren’s Mosler’s MMT white paper: http://moslereconomics.com/mmt-white-paper/
Steven Hail’s quick MMT explainer: https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-modern-monetary-theory-72095
On government debt: “Some Numbers Are Big. Let Me Help You Get Over It”: https://christreilly.com/2020/02/17/some-numbers-are-big-let-me-help-you-get-over-it/
For a short, non-technical, free ebook explaining MMT, download MMT founder Warren Mosler’s “7 Deadly Innocent Frauds Of Economic Policy” here: http://moslereconomics.com/wp-content/powerpoints/7DIF.pdf
Order “The Deficit Myth” by Stephanie Kelton: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081JVRT57/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
Order the Gower Initiative’s “Modern Monetary Theory - Key Insights, Leading Thinkers” (2023): https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/modern-monetary-theory-9781802208085.html
Order L Randall Wray’s latest book, “Making Money Work for Us” (2022): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BDCS46BG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
Episodes on monetary operations:
Episode 20 - Warren Mosler: The MMT Money Story (part 1): https://www.patreon.com/posts/28004824
Episode 126 - Dirk Ehnts: How Banks Create Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62603318
Episode 13 - Steven Hail: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Banking, But Were Afraid To Ask: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41790887
Episode 43 - Sam Levey: Understanding Endogenous Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35073683
Episode 84 - Andrew Berkeley, Richard Tye & Neil Wilson: An Accounting Model Of The UK Exchequer (Part 1): https://www.patreon.com/posts/46352183
Episode 86 - Andrew Berkeley, Richard Tye & Neil Wilson: An Accounting Model Of The UK Exchequer (Part 2): https://www.patreon.com/posts/46865929
Episodes on inflation:
Episode 7: Steven Hail: Inflation, Price Shocks and Other Misunderstandings: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41780508
Episode 65 - Phil Armstrong: Understanding Inflation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40672678
Episode 104 - John T Harvey: Inflation, Stagflation & Healing The Nation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/52207835
Episode 123 - Warren Mosler: Understanding The Price Level And Inflation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/59856379
Episode 128 - L. Randall Wray & Yeva Nersisyan: What’s Causing Accelerating Inflation? Pandemic Or Policy Response?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63776558
More on government bonds (and “vigilantes”):
Episode 30 - Steven Hail: Understanding Government Bonds (Part 1):https://www.patreon.com/posts/29621245
Episode 31 - Steven Hail: Understanding Government Bonds (Part 2): https://www.patreon.com/posts/29829500
Episode 143 - Paul Sheard: What Is Quantitative Easing?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71589989?pr=true
Episode 147 - Dirk Ehnts: Do Markets Control Our Politics?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-147-dirk-72906421
Episode 144 - Warren Mosler: The Natural Rate Of Interest Is Zero: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71966513
Episode 145 - John T Harvey: What Determines Currency Prices?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72283811?pr=true
Job Guarantee episodes:
Episode 4 - Fadhel Kaboub: What is the Job Guarantee?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41742701
Episode 47 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Building Resilience - The Case For A Job Guarantee: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36034543
Episode 148 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Why The Job Guarantee Is Core To Modern Monetary Theory: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-148-why-73211346
Pavlina Tcherneva’s Job Guarantee FAQ page: https://pavlina-tcherneva.net/job-guarantee-faq/
MMT Events And Courses In 2023
Apply for Professor Bill Mitchell’s short, free online course in Modern Monetary Theory (February 15th - March 14th) here: https://www.edx.org/course/modern-monetary-theory-economics-for-the-21st-century
More information about Professor Mitchell’s MMTed project (free public online courses in MMT) here: http://www.mmted.org/
Tickets to the very first Scotonomics festival (online or in-person, Dundee, Scotland 24th-26th March) are available here: https://scotonomics.scot/live-events/
Apply for Dr Dirk Ehnts’ Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics course at Maastricht University (July 31st - August 4th) here: https://maastricht.dreamapply.com/courses/course/183-modern-monetary-theory-and-european-macroeconomics
Details of Modern Money Lab’s online graduate and postgraduate courses in MMT are here: https://modernmoneylab.org.au/
Extensive list of MMT scholarship compiled by New Economic Perspectives: http://neweconomicperspectives.org/mmt-scholarship
MMT Academic Resources compiled by The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies: https://www.zotero.org/groups/2251544/mmt_academic_resources_-_compiled_by_the_gower_initiative_for_modern_money_studies
A list of MMT-informed campaigns and organisations worldwide: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47900757
We are working towards full transcripts, but in the meantime, closed captions for all episodes are available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEp_nGVTuMfBun2wiG-c0Ew/videos
Show notes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78800108?pr=true