Differences in interpreting Marx, as we have seen, tend to come down to three key questions. The first concerns how the value of labor power is understood. This will affect the treatment of variable capital. Is its value determined by…
So far, the intention has been to give a sense of the relevance and accessibility of Marx’s macroeconomic ideas. Rather than jump straight into his theory, with what might appear to be strangely named variables and foreign concepts, it seemed…
The first post in this series distinguished between three types of macro measures: ‘monetary’, ‘real use-value’ and ‘real labor-time’ magnitudes. Under simplifying assumptions, the post spelled out basic connections between these different kinds of variables. The same assumptions are retained…
I am interested in exploring what seems to be a basic compatibility between MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) and Marx. Compatibility of two theories, of course, does not require agreement, and there is no suggestion that either MMT proponents or Marxists…
Tom O’Brien conducted an excellent interview with Mathew Forstater in November 2012 on the topic of Marx and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). The first half of the interview focuses on Marx, particularly in relation to primitive accumulation and fiat currency…
One way to conceive of money is as an IOU (“I owe you”) that is denominated in a nation’s unit of account and deemed acceptable by somebody other than its issuer. Anyone can attempt to issue an IOU. The difficulty,…
A monetary economy needs spending for production and employment to occur. This is a truism. Spending equals income, by definition. One person’s purchase of a good or service is another person’s income. But it is also clear that causation, ultimately,…
Warren Mosler (for example, here) has explained very clearly and succinctly the key steps involved in effectively introducing a currency such as the drachma. (See, also, Bill Mitchell’s recent post, ‘
In a previous post, it was explained that enforcement of taxes (or some other financial obligation to the state) that can only be extinguished (i.e. finally settled) with money issued by the government is fundamental to the viability of a…
It seems to me that those, including New Keynesians, who support the maintenance of a “balanced budget over the cycle” are either not recognizing or rejecting a number of points made by heterodox Keynesian (or Kaleckian) critics of such a…
