Critique of Riedl on Government Spending

The abstract to Brian Riedl’s Heritage Foundation paper, ‘Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth: Answering the Critics‘ reads: Despite decades of repeated failure, President Obama and Congress continue to promote the myth that government can spend its way…

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Hyperinflation

The MMT position on hyperinflation is that it is initiated by a sharp contraction in output and in the supply potential of the economy. Bill Mitchell provides an in-depth explanation in a recent post. Mitchell points out that in Weimar…

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Misplaced Faith in Quantitative Easing

A major component of the policy response to the economic crisis in the United States, Japan and Britain has been ‘quantitative easing’. The policy is having very little impact on the real sectors of the economies in question, which should…

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Government Deficits and Net Private Saving

The present is a time of deep private indebtedness, especially household indebtedness. A key question for macroeconomic policy is how this debt burden can be alleviated. Until excessive private debt is cleared away, the expenditures of households and firms will…

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Fiat Money and its Social Significance

A fiat currency has neither intrinsic value nor convertibility into a valuable commodity. This raises interesting questions about the nature of a currency, the role of taxation and public debt in relation to government spending, and the democratic potential of…

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Welcome to heteconomist: MMT and the Crisis

The global economic crisis and government policy responses to it have sparked controversy and debate. Many claim that the deficit expenditures undertaken in countries such as the US and Japan will necessitate higher tax rates and interest rates on future…

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