Randy Wray — An Alternative Meme For Money, Part 7: Framing Deficits

Deficits and Debt are probably the most terrifying topic that MMT addresses. We need to be careful. We are treading on moral (or religious) grounds. We know that one should not be a debtor (or, a creditor)—most religions tell us so. One who proclaims that deficits and debts are OK is automatically engaged in blasphemy of various sorts, not least of which is a crime against morality. Let’s try to frame the discussion.
When government spends more than it taxes, we not only get the services and infrastructure that we need but we also get to accumulate net financial wealth. We are richer in both real terms and financial terms. Government also offers to pay us interest on that financial wealth if we prefer to hold treasuries rather than HPM.
Government spending greater than taxing should not be called a “deficit”, rather, it is government’s contribution to our saving; government bonds are not “debt”, they are our net financial wealth.
Deficits and debts are bad framing; saving and wealth are good framing.

New Economic Perspectives
An Alternative Meme For Money, Part 7: Framing Deficits
L. Randall Wray | Professor of Economics, UMKC

The Aftermath of Preparing People and Groups Improperly

commentary by Roger Erickson

Design is Dead!

Much of the military discussion that proceeds in this particular essay reminds me of the unnecessary battle between operations and theory in economic policy formation. Just think of theory as "process design," and operations as "adjustable personal/group habits."

Given those analogies, would it be simpler to say the following?

Dealing with distributed, initially uncertain options requires adequately distributed initiative, communications, flexibility and imagination? That's how groups discover and select successful patterns of behavior.
[To be specific, by "flexibility," I mean degrees of freedom, to act in any way demanded by context.]

The sack of molecules we call an amoeba can do this. Obviously, human networks can do amazing things ... if we let them practice beforehand.

Why on earth waste time arguing over what might or might not occur, in situations where we have zero predictive power, i.e. uncertainty? Why not just find out, ASAP, by practicing use of our impressive selective power?