Modern Monetary Theory

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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby Elvis » Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:23 am

Take this MMT class!—taught by Bill Mitchell, one of the founders and leading exponents of MMT. It's out of Newcastle University in Australia where Mitchell is a professor. And it's free—or you can pay $49 to be tested and "certified" if that'd be useful for your career, appeal to your own authority etc.

Starts March 3.

https://www.edx.org/course/modern-monet ... st-century

Catalog

Economics & Finance Courses

Modern Monetary Theory: Economics for the 21st Century

Demystify macroeconomic principles and terminology and discover how Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) provides explanations for some of the world's most troubling financial concerns.

About this course

- Thinking in a macroeconomic way. What should macroeconomic theory be able to explain? Measurement frameworks.
- What is Modern Monetary Theory and what are its implications? Why is it the future of macroeconomics?
- The role of fiscal policy. The path to full employment and price stability. Case studies in unemployment and hyperinflation.
- Monetary policy design and the role of central banks. How does the banking system operate?
- Exchange rate systems and international trade. Global financial markets and the State - who is in charge?
- Policy setting in crises: the challenges of climate change and the pandemic.


What you'll learn

- An entry level understanding of the way modern monetary systems operate.
- An enhanced understanding of the fiscal and monetary policy options available to governments.
- An awareness of why the standard economic statements in the media about government deficits and debt distort our understanding of the actual constraints that government spending faces.
- Ways to assess government policy options, for example, in dealing with the pandemic.
- An appreciation of the issues involved in balancing demands for growth and environmental constraints.



See you in class! :wink

(It's not a 'Zoom" course apparently, you do the work on your own.)
“The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.” ― Joan Robinson
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby Agent Orange Cooper » Thu Jan 28, 2021 6:08 pm

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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby Elvis » Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:38 pm

^^^^ I love that. :mrgreen:


money brrr.jpg


money brrr lol.jpg
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby Elvis » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:10 pm

US House Rep.Pressley has authored a Resolution for a Federal Job Guarantee. :praybow

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pznu8b ... wzeFI/view

JOB GUARANTEE RESOLUTION

Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Federal Job Guarantee.

---The Historical Struggle for a Job Guarantee---

(1) Whereas Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes that “everyone has
the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to
protection against unemployment;”

(2) Whereas a Job Guarantee was a central demand and unfinished legacy of the Civil Rights
Movement, such that:

(A) At the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr. joined A.
Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin in demanding a job guarantee;
(B) In the subsequent decade, Coretta Scott King led a grassroots movement to enact a job
guarantee;
(C) These leaders all built on and advanced the work of earlier pioneers like Sadie Alexander, the
nation’s first Black economist, who advocated a job guarantee to address racial discrimination
against Black workers, while improving labor market conditions for all workers in the 1940s;
and
(D)Throughout the past one-hundred years, activists and intellectuals like Ella Baker and the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party have all seen a federal job guarantee as a key element of
racial justice;

(3) Whereas the right to a “useful and remunerative” job was the first and most fundamental right in
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposed Economic Bill of Rights and is a core plank of the Green
New Deal Movement and the People’s Justice Guarantee;

(4) Whereas a Job Guarantee is essential to any effort to close the racial and gender income and wealth
gap;

(5) Whereas the United States has, on multiple occasions, including 1945-46 and 1977, and more
recently introduced legislation in an attempt to establish a full employment economy;

(6) Whereas the commitment to full employment has been embraced by Congress and is part of the
statutory mandate of the Federal Reserve System;

---Historical Economic Trends Necessitating a Job Guarantee---

(7) Whereas the United States has experienced decades of increasing inequality, racial economic
exclusion and inequity, stagnant wages, declining union membership, and deteriorating workplace
protections and conditions;

(8) Whereas the United States has experienced decades of chronic under-investment in its communities,
workforce, infrastructure, public services, agricultural and industrial heartland, and natural
environment;

(9) Whereas the United States has, for decades, perpetuated a punitive, racist, ineffective criminal legal
system that has systematically excluded millions of individuals from the workforce, failed to
effectively promote reentry for previously incarcerated individuals, and forced incarcerated individuals
to work in oppressive and exploitative conditions for effectively no pay;

---Current Systemic Problems---

(9) Whereas the United States is experiencing a long-term economic crisis in which many workers are
overworked, underpaid, and experience job and economic insecurity, with at least 100 million
Americans living in or near poverty, and 28 percent of full-time workers earning less than $15/hour
according to the National Equity Atlas;

(10) Whereas the United States is facing a weak economy and sluggish facing a grossly unequal
recovery in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis that has benefited few at the expense of many;

(11) Whereas the United States presently fails to recognize, support, or adequately remunerate the
household and care work of millions of women, parents, and familial caregivers;

(12) Whereas economic prosperity in the United States has been highly unequal since its founding,
largely falling on racial lines, with black and indigenous Americans consistently earning less, owning
less, and experiencing greater rates of economic precarity and poverty than white Americans;

(12) Whereas the United States has not increased the minimum wage for years, and maintains sub-
minimum wage carve-outs for incarcerated people, people with disabilities, and tipped workers;

(13) Whereas the United States presently exploits millions of undocumented workers, by forcing them
to work in substandard conditions and below prevailing wages

(14) Whereas the United States is presently experiencing a generational crisis, as millions of younger
and older workers face structural barriers to meaningful participation in the workforce;

(15) Whereas the United States is under-investing in creative, cultural, scientific and knowledge
industries, including higher education, libraries, public art, and journalism;

---Unfolding Problems---

(15) Whereas the United States is facing four overlapping and compounding crises - the COVID-19
pandemic, climate change, systemic racism, and extreme economic inequality - that together require a
large-scale mobilization on the scale of World War II to address;

(16) Whereas the United States is experiencing a sustained economic depression, in which low-wage
workers, Black, Latinx, Native American, and other communities of color, as well as women, have
suffered disproportionate employment and income losses and face mounting debts.

(17) Whereas the United States is facing growing demand for care work and social services as the Baby
Boomer generation retires from the workforce and the senior population is expected to nearly double
between 2018 and 2060;

(18) Whereas the United States is facing new workforce challenges relating to privacy, worker
autonomy, data-gathering and surveillance, and automation, as a result of new technologies and the
rapidly changing nature of industry, and which has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic;

---The Harms of Unemployment---

(19) Whereas the United States currently suffers from high levels of underemployment, persistent
joblessness among marginalized populations and the growth of primarily low-quality/level jobs,
resulting in:
(A) the loss of millions of hours of potential output, as well as deterioration of skills and
productive capacity;
(B) lower community living standards, increased levels of working poverty and homelessness,
and higher rates of individual and family suffering, including physical and mental health
problems;
(C) higher rates of workplace discrimination, harassment, and a “last hired, first fired” approach
that disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including Black workers, women,
LGTBQIA workers, workers with disabilities, formerly incarcerated workers, and young and
elderly workers;
(D) an effective minimum wage of zero for those who cannot obtain employment;
(E) an increasing fraction of the workforce forced to undertake multiple jobs, or engage in
dangerous work with insufficient labor protections;

---Federal Fiscal Authorities As Uniquely Positioned to Guarantee Jobs---

(19) Whereas reliance on private investment alone has never historically succeeded in establishing a
true full employment economy, in which every individual wishing to undertake paid work can do so;

(20) Whereas reliance on education, skill development, job training, and other “indirect” policies alone
have never historically succeeded in establishing a true full employment economy, in which every
individual wishing to undertake paid work can do so;

(21) Whereas untargeted, demand-increasing stimulus alone has never historically succeeded in
establishing a true full employment economy, in which every individual wishing to undertake paid
work can do so;

(22) Whereas the Federal Government has the unique legal and financial capacity, relative to the local
and state governments and the private sector, to credibly commit to funding the programs and
institutions necessary to establish a true full employment economy, in which every individual wishing
to undertake paid work can do so;

(23) Whereas the Federal Reserve, on its own, has never historically succeeded in establishing a true
full employment economy, in which every individual wishing to undertake paid work can do so, and by
its own admission, lacks the necessary tools and capacity to do so;

(24) Whereas Congress and the Treasury have a demonstrated track record of successfully funding and
administering direct job creation programs, including the Works Progress Administration and Civilian
Conservation Corps during the New Deal, which created over six million jobs in less than a year;

(25) Whereas Congress and the Treasury have a demonstrated track record of mass-scale mobilization
of the economy, including during World War II, when the United States maintained an average
unemployment rate of under two percent, and successfully doubled real output of the entire economy in
under six years in the face of an unprecedented existential threat;
Resolved, that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that –

(1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a Federal Job Guarantee

(A) to finally eliminate the moral and economic scourge of involuntary unemployment;
(B) to establish a true full employment society, in which anyone who wants to undertake paid work in
the service of the community and/or the environment has ample opportunities to do so;
(C) to collectively achieve the greatest possible level of socially and ecologically sustainable
prosperity, and share the fruits of that prosperity equitably among all people;
(D) to empower the working class by offering every worker, regardless of their background, capacity,
or status, the opportunity to earn a fair, living wage, and to organize with fellow workers to advocate
for common interests;
(E) to ensure every person in America has genuine and meaningful opportunities for education,
training, career advancement, and choice with respect to workforce participation;
(F) to update and expand our understanding of socially necessary and/or useful work to include
historically under-recognized and uncompensated labor, including domestic and social care, ecological
preservation, and cultural, scientific, and creative work;
(G) to promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future, and repairing historic
oppression and discrimination of indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities,
deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women,
the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth (referred to in this resolution as “frontline
and vulnerable communities”);
(H) to complete the unfinished legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and the New Deal, and meet the
contemporary environmental challenges identified in the Green New Deal Resolution;
(I) to meet the broader social and economic challenges of the 21st Century through appropriate public
investment, socially coordinated planning, and industrial cooperation;

(2) The goals described in subparagraphs (A) through (I) of paragraph (1) (the “Job Guarantee goals”)
should be accomplished through an immediate national mobilization:

(A) to establish and honor a legally enforceable right to fair, dignified, and decently remunerated
employment for all eligible individuals living in the United States (hereafter “Right to Employment”);
(B) to establish and honor a Bill of Worker’s Rights, as a complement to the Right to Employment, that
addresses issues related to worker exploitation, discrimination, harassment, compensation, privacy,
autonomy, choice of employment, working conditions, the right to organize and collectively bargain,
suitable accommodation for people with disabilities, protection and expansion of existing safety net
programs, and other related concerns (hereafter “Worker Bill of Rights”);
(C) to establish, implement, and administer a comprehensive and diverse range of socially necessary
and/or useful public projects, reflective of community and regional needs, including direct public job-
creation programs, and to support related education, training, credentialing, and career development
programs, to ensure workers enjoy meaningful choice and appropriate opportunities for growth and
advancement in their chosen area of employment (hereafter “Enabling Programs”);
(D) to design and implement the Right to Employment, Worker Bill of Rights, and Enabling Programs
through transparent and inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership with frontline and
vulnerable communities, labor unions, worker cooperatives, civil society groups, state and local
governments, academia, and businesses;
(E) to take ecological and equitable concerns into consideration when designing and implementing the
Right to Employment, Worker Bill of Rights, and Enabling Programs, as well as any other related
infrastructural and administrative institutions and procedures;
(F) to take any and all necessary steps to ensure, wherever possible, that all benefit from the collective
prosperity resulting from the establishment of the Right to Employment, Worker Bill of Rights, and
Enabling Programs
(G) to adequately and appropriately fund these efforts on a permanent, non-discretionary basis, using
Congress's power of the purse, through a combination of federal support to local and state
governments, and various direct federal grant and investment programs;

(3) The national mobilization towards a Federal Job Guarantee would include projects that:

(A) strengthen communities, retool our economy, achieve inclusive prosperity, and leave no one
behind;
(B) address national priorities as well as those put forward by local governments and community
organizations – with the participation of communities impacted by structural racism, oppression, and
disinvestment in the selection of projects;
(C) create net new jobs, without displacing existing public sector workers; and
(D) prioritize racial equity and environmental sustainability.

(4) Job Guarantee workers would be employed in a range of ways, including but not limited to:

(A) Ensuring the delivery of high-quality, professional care to children, seniors, and others in need of
long-term support in family based, informal, and formal settings;
(B) Augmenting the staffing of public education and early childhood learning, including Head Start and
preschool;
(C) Strengthening public afterschool programs, libraries, and recreational programs to provide lifelong
learning and enrichment for people of all ages;
(D) Implementing community infrastructure and improvement projects that revitalize neighborhoods,
including
(i) Vacant and abandoned property cleanup; street and sidewalk repair; remodeling and
modernization of schools and other public community-serving facilities; and maintenance and
renovation of parks, playgrounds, and public spaces;
(E) Expanding emergency preparedness, and relief and recovery from natural and community disasters,
including public health, natural disasters, and environmental emergencies
(F) Producing works of public art and documentation of American history akin to the WPA’s Federal
Arts Project;
(G) Implementing environmental conservation, remediation, and sustainability initiatives and
increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and our housing stock to address climate change;
(H) Rehabilitating and retrofitting our existing affordable housing stock to ensure safe, affordable,
quality homes, and supporting the development of new affordable housing and social housing to
address the nation’s housing crisis;
(I) Producing creative, scientific, artistic, or cultural works, which would then be made open and
available for public use; and
(J) Other projects that address public needs and can be implemented quickly.

(5) Job Guarantee jobs would pay no less than $15 per hour, adjusted on a regular basis to ensure a
rising standard of living, and would not replace any existing safety net programs or benefits, including
unemployment insurance.

(6) Job Guarantee jobs would also offer benefits including:

(A) health insurance consistent with that provided to existing federal government employees;
(B) paid sick days and family leave;
(C) retirement benefits; and
(D) paid vacation.

(7) Job Guarantee workers would:

(A) be able to join public sector unions and bargain collectively for better working conditions and
compensation; and
(B) be protected against discrimination and harassment by federal labor laws;
(C) have their data protected and their privacy respected; and
(D) be empowered to develop lasting skills through on-the-job training, as well as paid apprenticeships,
credentialing, and other career-building opportunities.

(8) Job Guarantee work would:

(A) Be made available -
(i) On a full-time basis for adult residents age 18 and over, including those with involvement in
the criminal legal system; and
(ii) On a part-time basis for young people ages 16 and 17,
(iii) For short or long-term periods, depending on worker needs; and
(iv) To all people on a non-discriminatory basis, including people with disabilities;

(B) Include outreach and recruitment, conducted in multiple languages;
(C) provide workers and aspiring workers with support services, such as childcare and transportation
assistance, and specific accommodations, as needed to access jobs and fulfill job responsibilities; and
(D) Meaningfully expand our social safety net and would not replace any existing safety net programs
or benefits, including unemployment insurance.

(9) The Job Guarantee program would be administered by the Department of Labor and overseen by
the Secretary of Labor in coordination with the Treasury Secretary, who would be responsible for
dispersing funding. In particular:

(A) The Secretary of Labor would direct Treasury funds to local Employment Offices to manage job
guarantee projects and match job seekers to projects, as well as cover any related capital and
administrative costs, with funds targeted during the initial three-year start-up period to areas of greatest
employment need; and
(B) State, county, and local governments, as well as Tribal Nations, would help administer the
program, engaging residents in community assessments and participatory processes to identify job
guarantee projects to go into a Community Job Bank.
“The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.” ― Joan Robinson
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GDP is not Economy, Redux No. XX-23

Postby JackRiddler » Sat Apr 17, 2021 11:04 am

JackRiddler » Sat Apr 17, 2021 9:44 am wrote:
dada » Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:56 pm wrote:The $88 Trillion World Economy in One Chart

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-88-trillion-world-economy-in-one-chart/

Could be trillions in sectors of the economy that prefer to remain unreported, as well. Total wealth of billionaires as of current estimates is thirteen trillion. Even a big piece of the pie is meagre in relation to the pie factory. And they need the pie factory, depend on it for survival. So it controls their lives. They are at the mercy of its rhythms, do whatever it demands, their wish is its command.


Corrected Title: "A Graphical Depiction of Econometric Measurements of GDP by Nation-State, 2019, in U.S. Dollars."

That would be correct and also neutral, so I left out "woefully incomplete" and "potentially misleading." (I'll see if I can get Twitter or FB to add a censorship panel to accompany postings of this graphic, with a warning and a link to a fact-checker correction written by Ivan Ilich and Michel Foucault.)

1. Many caveats apply to "GDP", how this composite stat and its "growth" are defined, instrumentalized, measured, and used, as well as to national differences in its measure, and the translation of national GDP statistics into one currency for comparison. (Though once you have them lined up in a table or on a pie it turns into a betting sheet for the world's biggest assholes, so it is a very consequential number.)

2. As for annual unreported income of all kinds in the monetized market-worlds, which you mention, a Bayesian guess may be a few trillion USD and other currencies. But you also need additional pies:

    A. One, an indeterminate bit smaller than the GDP pie, of known and hidden cash and liquid holdings, in which little islands suddenly loom larger than most countries and nationality is vague.
    B. A jumbo pie of indeterminable size, of known and hidden illiquid wealth holdings of both national-individuals and corps/institutions; as measured in currencies but not liquid; by market valuation and assessment, and thus potential, not actual.

3. And then we still have the non-monetized or unenclosed or 'externalized' or unacknowledged parts of the 'economy' as subset of culture, ecology, and biosphere-planetary base:

    - commons that are both local-regional and global, and in relation to the monetized/enclosed realms serve both as inputs and as dumping grounds (one word for you Benjamin, one word: air) ;

    - on the individual and group scales: gifts and non-monetary exchanges especially of services and difficult-to-pin-down emotional and abstract commodities;
    - and the non-monetized parts of culture and family-household and affinity-groups-networks, which still means the majority of reproductive activity and is large in all sectors.


All this is only conditionally quantifiable, where that is even relevant and responsible to attempt. More importantly it is under-theorized. There is not, and there may never be, and perhaps there should never be, a full and valid model of flows and dynamics and energies within an overall ecology in which the non-monetized and non-monetizable exists in interconnection and interdependence and conflict with the monetized activity.

Anyway this stuff is usually ignored or held in contempt by the likes of Visual Capitalists and other economic and social-science positivists and wonks, and speaks to many of them in a completely incomprehensible, alien language. Some think they see the world, and assume what is not measured is irrelevant or does not exist, even when it surrounds them and lives inside them and IS them.

But in short, this is not the World Economy in One Chart.

PS - I have seen factories. Only tours, of live ones and dead ones. Very memorable.

PPS - I know you know all this dada and that wasn't really a response to you per se but a pretext to get this thought-map written. (For the nth time, probably, in RI posts alone.)

PPPS - Will cross-post [to this, the MMT thread]. Why [were] we [t]here, locked down in the Interminable [Covid] Thread?

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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby dada » Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:50 pm

Very good. I was just using the 88 trillion dollars to present my overall argument.

So it was like, very expensive bunting. Anyway I don't really see anything in your map that disagrees with me, correct me if I'm wrong.
Both his words and manner of speech seemed at first totally unfamiliar to me, and yet somehow they stirred memories - as an actor might be stirred by the forgotten lines of some role he had played far away and long ago.
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby JackRiddler » Sat Apr 17, 2021 3:36 pm

dada » Sat Apr 17, 2021 1:50 pm wrote:Very good. I was just using the 88 trillion dollars to present my overall argument.

So it was like, very expensive bunting. Anyway I don't really see anything in your map that disagrees with me, correct me if I'm wrong.


Certainly not. I was just reassuring it.

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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby dada » Thu Apr 22, 2021 2:47 pm

Some thoughts on the nature of economy, figure they might as well go here on this thread.

I think the sense that economy is restriction may be grasped intuitively. What may not be so easily grasped is that the process of valorization is what creates it. This idea that creating value is by nature restrictive may appear counter-intuitive.

Maybe we could see the valorization as the act of assigning greater importance to one thing over another. What is considered important is extracted from the web of relations, everything considered unimportant is left behind, discarded. Assigning greater importance then is the process of commodification. Commodification of material restricts its use, resulting in a financial economy. Commodification of history restricts its use, giving us a cultural economy. Commodification of societies is political economy.

Maybe commodification of magic restricts its use as an art economy. Commodification of spirit results in economy of spirit. Extracting love from the web of relations and placing it above the rest creates the economy of love.

So the idea of economic restriction here isn't restricting financial flows, but the restriction of restriction, an economy of economy itself. The meaning of economic restriction in this theoretical framewok then, isn't a withholding in the name of prudent economy, but the prudent restriction of economy, an opening of the floodgates.
Both his words and manner of speech seemed at first totally unfamiliar to me, and yet somehow they stirred memories - as an actor might be stirred by the forgotten lines of some role he had played far away and long ago.
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby Elvis » Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:05 pm

"Truth is our most valuable commodity—let us economize it!"

—Mark Twain (possibly paraphrased)
“The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.” ― Joan Robinson
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby dada » Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:16 pm

Love it!
Both his words and manner of speech seemed at first totally unfamiliar to me, and yet somehow they stirred memories - as an actor might be stirred by the forgotten lines of some role he had played far away and long ago.
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby dada » Thu May 13, 2021 1:57 pm

Some more thoughts about the nature of economy, in general.

For mass production to grow, economy must always increase, as in the phrase, "the economy is behaving, on a steady pace," or an even keel. Economic contractions are like the gathering of mass leading to the next economic big bang.

So to actually slow mass production to zero economic increase, is a steady decline in the eyes of mass production culture. The argument being, an ever-increasing consumer base means that a steady increase in mass production is always necessary, or the new consumer will be forced to fight for the limited, and therefore more valuable production runs of mass product lines. Like the resource wars of mass production economy, itself.

Living bodies are not growed up feeding on a "balanced diet of mass product," though, they do by eating up foods and lives rich in all the simple vitamins and minerals. So mass production's need for ever-increasing economy is always offset by the living bodies both within and outside the consumer mass, anyway. Maybe then we could say mass production's stabilization at zero economic increase should be possible in theory, once "zero" is not understood to mean "decline."

Only in theory, though. For now, at least. Because the difference between consumers and living bodies is not made. Not like "zombie apocalypse," but "if you are reading this, you are both consumer and living body by virtue of receiving media and understanding it." The consumer accepts "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need," for the living body, it is always "to each according to their disability, from each according to their contentment."

The idea of "being content with your lot in life" is very misunderstood, and requires unpacking to give the wisdom of it it's full force of impact. I won't get into it here though, but on the free association thread pretty soon.
Both his words and manner of speech seemed at first totally unfamiliar to me, and yet somehow they stirred memories - as an actor might be stirred by the forgotten lines of some role he had played far away and long ago.
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby Elvis » Thu May 13, 2021 8:36 pm

dada wrote:Living bodies are not growed up feeding on a "balanced diet of mass product," though, they do by eating up foods and lives rich in all the simple vitamins and minerals. So mass production's need for ever-increasing economy is always offset by the living bodies both within and outside the consumer mass, anyway. Maybe then we could say mass production's stabilization at zero economic increase should be possible in theory, once "zero" is not understood to mean "decline."

Yeah I think we—in the US anyway—have way too much stuff, especially all the crap not made to last. The storage industry in the US is huge because people can't even fit all their crap into their homes. Years ago I worked for a mover friend, and many if not most household moves involved shuffling crap in & out of storage facilities. We moved one couple three times over the years, each time moving their same stored stuff that they never even looked at.

I'm reminded of the saying, "He who dies with the most toys...dies."


dada wrote:The idea of "being content with your lot in life" is very misunderstood, and requires unpacking to give the wisdom of it it's full force of impact. I won't get into it here though, but on the free association thread pretty soon.

I saw these on Twitter (and should credit the Tweeter, but I'll have to look up who it was):

wealth think about 1.jpg


wealth think about 2.jpg


wealth think about 3.jpg


wealth think about 4.jpg
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby dada » Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:43 pm

Looking at finance today as not "money in circulation," but money thrown down a bottomless well. Like, the only circular motion of it is a spiral down the drain. Financial reports and projections not as indicating profit and loss, but indicating what was and is the adequate financing for the continued expansion of mass production.

Saying the tens of trillions that move global economy, with the ten times that in reserve, and the hedges and corporate finance houses betting major sums on fractional changes day and night, adding up to more and more billions every day. All necessary to adequately finance the continued expansion of mass production.

So I guess just wondering about the usefulness of this idea of "money in circulation." Also gets me wondering about the question that keeps coming up on the digital currency subject, about how much power must be pulled off the grid to run the mining systems. Guess I don't feel like looking it up, but I wonder about studies of how much power it takes to run the systems of the global stock market network. The cubicle floors with banks of corporate finance computers, in cities all over the world. Not even including the warehouses of the defense industry network that keep the whole thing afloat. All day and night, seven days a week.

All the adequate means necessary for the continued expansion of mass production. Bet it pulls a good amount of power from the grid to run it. But then, we guess the power pull of the digital currency mining systems is looked upon by mass culture as novelty, hobby, and frivolous waste. But the power pull required for financing the daily mass production is necessary cost, and so we must take it for granted.
Both his words and manner of speech seemed at first totally unfamiliar to me, and yet somehow they stirred memories - as an actor might be stirred by the forgotten lines of some role he had played far away and long ago.
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby Elvis » Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:06 am

dada wrote:Looking at finance today as not "money in circulation," but money thrown down a bottomless well. Like, the only circular motion of it is a spiral down the drain.


Interesting metaphor, because "bathtub with a drain" is often used to illustrate money flows, inflation ("oveflow") etc. But let me say this about that:

The economy begins with spending. Somebody has to spend. Federal taxes are the drain hole.
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Re: Modern Monetary Theory

Postby Elvis » Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:27 am

The "bath tub" metaphor is limited and has been criticized by MMT guru Bill Mitchell here:

http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=44232

[...] I was asked by a student to comment on the so-called ‘bath tub’ analogy that was often used in mainstream macroeconomics textbooks and is still in vogue in some circles.

Within the core MMT group this analogy came up some years ago and my comment then was that it was not a valid representation of the concepts being discussed because it confused stocks with flows.


I suppose a network of pipes & hoses fitted with "drain" valves might more accurately describe the circulation part. I think circulating just means spending, i.e. "velocity" of money circulating.
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