Democracy & Profligacy: Will MMT Destroy the World? Part I of III on the Government Spending→Inflation Myth

Prologue The worry about a "danger" from understanding how government actually functions/spends was already famously stated by Paul Samuelson decades ago: I think there is an element of truth in the view that the superstition that the budget must be balanced at all times...Once it is debunked, [it] takes away one of the bulwarks that … Continue reading Democracy & Profligacy: Will MMT Destroy the World? Part I of III on the Government Spending→Inflation Myth →

The “MMT & Developing Countries” Criticism

We have to think not just of the goods, but also think of "productive capacity" & "varied economy" as "real resources" when we make society-wide import/export calculations

A (very) oblique history of MMT, Part III: (Blogs, Mitchell etc.)

"What happened to get the ideas out was the development of blogs.So Bill developed a blog...This is how the ideas got out. It wasn't through academics. It wasn't through the conferences—those are almost a complete bust. It was the blogs.L. Randall Wray (11 min mark generally, 14 min mark for these qts) A (Very) Oblique … Continue reading A (very) oblique history of MMT, Part III: (Blogs, Mitchell etc.) →

The Myth of Hyperinflation

[Image: Charge of German infantry against the Russian fortress of Novogeorgievk, 1915. Germans sieging Russians in Poland in other words, soon all to have their currencies collapse.]

A (very) oblique history of MMT, Part II: (Co-Authors, Mosler etc)

Thinking about it – it is nothing short of astounding that three scholars almost single-handedly (triple-handedly?) eventually upended the massive “Great Vampire Squid” (to steal Taibbi's line) that is neoclassical economics in our universities, central banks, and government.

How the euro illustrates an important point on the origins of “money”

This simple fact in no way contradicts chartalism nor credit-concepts of money. It augments them

Commodity exchange units-of-account almost certainly predate 3500 BC temple state-money. Neoclassical Econ is still nonsense.

It is not only perfectly possible for there to be a role for early exchange for understanding the origins of currency systems. It is almost surely necessary.

A (Very) Oblique History of MMT (Wray, Institutional Econ, & other ramblings): Part I

As MMT has “taken off” its founders and others have begun to preserve and reflect on its history (1). That history will be well covered as it will prove to be central to (genuine) macroeconomic history one day. Leaving that to others, I enjoy thinking about subtle influences, intellectual links and lineages, that go less … Continue reading A (Very) Oblique History of MMT (Wray, Institutional Econ, & other ramblings): Part I →

Do Economists Dream of Electric Gödel Machines?

"Show me your model [’s non-banal output useful for policy, prediction, or at least understanding the real world better than verbal/visual methods; granted toy models are useful for teaching some classroom concepts] !!!" It is well known that mainstream DSGE economic modeling is hopelessly flawed (e.g., here, here, here [discussed here], here, here, here, here, here, … Continue reading Do Economists Dream of Electric Gödel Machines? →

Airplane crashes aren’t “hyperlandings”: Notes on Zimbabwe

“IF THERE IS FIRST NO COLLAPSE IN PRODUCTION, NO ELITE MINORITY, AND/OR NO FOREIGN DENOMINATED DEBT, YOU GET NO HYPERINFLATION. JUST SOME OTHER TYPE OF TRANSITION OR STATE FAILURE.”