Come on, what’s going on? This should have happened already! Love not war. Cooperation not competition. Liberty, equality, fraternity. Too easy! What’s the hold up? Let’s go!
Let’s Go
May 14th, 2012Hierarchy of Orthodox Economists
May 9th, 2012I try not to notice what goes on in this redneck wonderland, but apparently the Federal Treasurer handed down his household budget last night. Suffice to say that if the Australian Labor Party is obliterated off the face of the arse end of the earth at the next election it will be too little too late. It would be good if they could take the bigoted morons of the Liberal and National Parties with them, but there is no chance of that. Bigotry and idiocy poll well down under, along of course with neo-liberalism.
Economic Orthodoxy = Intellectual Dishonesty
April 24th, 2012In a recent post, Tom Hickey (courtesy of Clonal Antibody) drew attention to a talk from a few years ago by Bernard Lietaer. It sheds light on the uphill battle involved in taking on the orthodoxy when it comes to money. It seems very clear that the orthodoxy do not believe their own nonsense. It is pure careerism, or worse, that motivates the likes of Krugman, for example, in his recent embarrassing (for him) joust with Steve Keen.
Reform or Revolution, MMT or Marx
April 22nd, 2012Marxists often point out that whereas Keynesian economists of all persuasions tend to advocate reformist policies to stabilize and manage capitalism, Marxists call for an end to the capitalist system itself. Reflecting on this specifically in relation to modern monetary theory (MMT), it occurs to me that taking a position on reform versus revolution is actually a separate question from that of accepting the MMT understanding of currency sovereignty, its possibilities and implications. For this reason, I think there is an analytical compatibility between MMT and Marxism (or for that matter between MMT and Post Keynesianism or Sraffianism) that is separate from the political position a person adopts.
Fuck Austerity, Time for a JIG
April 20th, 2012Whenever somebody on the street asks me for spare change, which seems to be happening a lot lately, it reminds me of the song Coin Laundry by Lisa Mitchell. Your mileage may vary, but I think it is beautiful.
Post Game Analysis
April 3rd, 2012Football season is under way in my part of the world. I usually like to follow some of the post game analysis, especially after a win. Philip Pilkington delivers the goods in a post at Naked Capitalism. I will add links to further analyses if and when they appear.
Keen / Krugman Dialogue on Minsky
March 29th, 2012Steve Keen has posted a good response to a couple of posts (here and here) by Paul Krugman, which were themselves in response to an earlier post by Keen.
Update: Links to subsequent contributions to the discussion are provided in the remainder of this post.
A Brief Overview of Some Aspects of Marx
March 23rd, 2012In starting heteconomist, my central purpose was simply to help, along with many others, to disseminate an understanding of the basics of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and its implications for current policy debates and the social potentialities of sovereign currency systems. This objective struck me as paramount in view of the pressing economic and political circumstances in which we live. Although MMT in itself is reformist in its policy prescriptions, some aspects of the understanding it makes possible seem significant whether the aim is social democratic reform or socialist revolution, defense of capitalism or radical opposition to it. One of my secondary purposes is to explore some of the connections between MMT and other heterodox approaches to economics. Of particular interest to me are connections, if any, between MMT and the so-called ‘temporal single-system interpretation’ (TSSI) of Marx. So far, although I have touched on Marx in numerous posts (for example, here, here, here, here and here), I have held off exploring possible connections with MMT other than in a cursory fashion. This post does not get to these connections either, but is a first, preliminary step toward redressing this shortcoming.
No Time for Defeatism
March 13th, 2012Last night I was watching an old episode of The Larry Sanders Show, which is one of my favorite shows of all time, along with Seinfeld and Arrested Development. The head writer up to that point, Jerry, is sacked and reacts quite violently – or, at least, erratically – to his misfortune. Prior to that he had been a good humored worker cooperating with the powers that be. It was only once sacked that his attitude changed.
Good Introduction to the Capital Debates
March 3rd, 2012Others, including Tom Hickey, Robert Vienneau and Lord Keynes, have already mentioned this, but Matias Vernengo has provided an educational post on the content and significance of the capital debates. For those who are unfamiliar with the debates or remain uncertain of what was involved, Vernengo’s post is well worth reading. It is both informative and accessible.