Matt Solo Ep on the Welfare State & MMT
Added 2019-03-06 04:15:37 +0000 UTCPeople seem to like these. So here we go again. Matt discusses the mistake everyone makes about what the welfare state is for. Then he talks about the recent MMT punditry. In the middle is Jarrod's Corner.
Comments
The reason people like me don't understand the nature of the welfare state very well is you say things that no one would ever say in the mainstream. I never hear an open, honest discussion about these topics. Thanks for sharing and educating.
2019-03-10 22:43:11 +0000 UTCIs some of MMT motivated by being like "no sense doing austerity to yourself when you can control the currency / monetary policy" as opposed to what Greece was subjected to in recent years?
2019-03-09 00:41:47 +0000 UTCI never got the impression that it didn't require taxation, but if people are out there selling it way that is bad. The useful difference between MMT and Keynes, I think, is that Keynes says deficit spending is good sometimes even though it racks up debt, MMT says deficit spending isn't a thing and there is no reason to take on debt. MMT recognizes there is no special reason revenues ever need to match spending at all. You can spend more than you take in forever, if the economy keeps growing. And you never need to make big interest payments to bond holders. Even if people accept Keynesianism they still tend to have a hang up about deficits and debt because they liken it to household spending. MMT breaks that illusion by completely reconceptualizing what spending and what taxes are.
Zebulon
2019-03-07 19:05:08 +0000 UTCBut, as Matt argues, doesn't that just kick the can? Eventually, you have to tax people, especially rich people. Who's out here accepting MMT but not Keynes? I can't see any utility, theoretical nor rhetorical.
Adam Jacobs
2019-03-07 16:12:46 +0000 UTCLove these solocasts! I've always thought the main contribution of MMT was that deficits are meaningless and debt is an unnecessary giveaway to capitalists. Since those two rhetorical cudgels are so effectively employed by conservatives and have gotten inside the heads of many liberals I have found MMT a useful conceptual and rhetorical tool to straighten that out.
Zebulon
2019-03-07 14:15:21 +0000 UTC
