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MMT Isn’t All That New
Modern Monetary Theory, MMT, is still considered a heterodox theory and a bit outside the mainstream. That’s largely because of two factors. First, graduate economics education in money is largely...
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The Misunderstood National Debt
A colleague asked for my thoughts on this article/column by Michael Manning in the State News, the Michigan State student newspaper, so I thought I’d post it for all. Basically Mr. Manning reaches the...
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Krugman on MMT
Paul Krugman comments today on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Unfortunately, he gets it wrong. For example, he says: Right now, deficits don’t matter — a point borne out by all the evidence. But...
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Krugman Is Still Wrong About MMT – and with it still wrong on deficit
On Friday Paul Krugman posted the first of what has become 2-3 posts on his blog wherein he claims that MMT is “just wrong”. As I noted Friday here, I commented on his blog to point out how his post...
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Debt Ceiling: Kabuki Theater of the Absurd
Tuesday evening the House of Representatives voted on whether to raise the so-called “debt ceiling”. It was pure charade. No, it’s worse. It’s kabuki theater of the absurd. First off, the House...
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Private Debt vs. Government Debt
The Great Recession of 2007-2009, which has been morphing into a Depression, has been different from most recessions of the post-World War II era. It has been what economists call a “balance-sheet”...
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Government Bonds are Just Like Government Money
Government debt is not like private debt. Government debt, government bonds, are really just another form of the government-issued fiat money obligations – just like paper money. There really is...
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But What About National Debt-to-GDP Ratio? Not a Problem, Really
In the comments to my post on the extraordinarily weak 2nd qtr 2011 GDP numbers a reader asks for my thoughts about debt-to-GDP ratio and “how can we afford more stimulus”? Since my response will be a...
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What a Liquidity Trap Looks Like in Pictures
I want to follow up a little on my discussion of the liquidity trap that we are have been in. Brad Delong has an excellent post today called “Four Years After the Wakeup Call”. In it he shows some...
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Rhetoric Is A Powerful Tool To Advance Moneyed Interests
Money is essential to a successful economy. But it’s money in circulation that’s useful. Money that’s locked up in storage in vaults and savings doesn’t help. The early economists understood this...
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