In an economic slump, it is misguided to cut public expenditure on services such as libraries, education, health care, and so on, as well as to remove welfare protections for the most vulnerable. In a modern monetary system – one…
The first part of this short two-part series addressed an article by John Kay in the Financial Times in which he characterizes Modern Monetary Theory and the chartal explanation of state money on which it is partially based as a…
There is an article in the Financial Times by John Kay who in attempting to disprove the chartalist explanation of state money by example gives an illustration fully consistent with it. The article is entitled “Money, like hat-wearing, depends on…
Recent posts have considered one or other of Kalecki, the job guarantee and the possibility of transitioning over time to socialism. There is a connection between these topics that has only been touched on in passing in earlier posts. The…
The previous post considered the question of how best to assist a transition to a society in which people can opt for more free time, if they wish. The likelihood of a high degree of mechanization in production in coming…
One issue that arises, when thinking about the possibility of a transition to a freer society, is the challenge of adjusting to a future in which there might be far less compulsion to work in the formal economy and an…
The focus of recent posts has been on the possibility that fiat money, especially sovereign currency, offers a path to a better society. In considering what kind of path this might be, the thought occurs that it might actually be…
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) sometimes receives criticism from the left. The following short online critique (link no longer available) is a case in point. It is in reaction to the idea that MMT, though in itself largely apolitical, suggests a…
While reading today, a couple of observations jumped off the page that relate to the social significance of sovereign currency (or ‘modern money’). One was contained in a passage of the The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi. The other was…
