Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Bill Black — Jared Bernstein Shows the Costs of Not Understanding Sovereign Currencies

Bernstein knows that federal tax revenues do not fund federal expenditures. His column shows that he is worried solely about realpolitik rather than real economics, conceding that “deficits don’t seem to hurt the economy.”
New Economic Perspectives
Jared Bernstein Shows the Costs of Not Understanding Sovereign Currencies
William K. Black | Associate Professor of Economics and Law, UMKC

21 comments:

Matt Franko said...

"Bernstein knows that federal tax revenues do not fund federal expenditures."

More arguing using facts not in evidence... not even lawyering 101 ....

Six said...

"More arguing using facts not in evidence... not even lawyering 101 ...."

Huh?

Matt Franko said...

There is no evidence Bernstein has that knowledge...

Six said...

Okay, I agree. I thought you were making a different point.

Matt Franko said...

I don't know why the MMT elites think it a good idea to credit these people with knowledge they obviously don't have....

Maybe Black is doing a Trump and "talking past the sale" in what he thinks may be some form of persuasion with Bernstein... hard to understand...

MRW said...

Matt,

”There is no evidence Bernstein has that knowledge…”

Just like there is no evidence you’ve done your homework?

From 5 1/2 years ago on Jared Bernstein’s blog: “"MMT in the Headlines".
http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/mmt-in-the-headlines/

Bernstein has been a long-term supporter of MMT, but not in 100% agreement all the time.

Six said...

MMT Elites" is a figure of speech. I don't know what it means. Bill Black's essay is brutally on point, though, excepting the point that none of us really know what Bernstein does or doesn't know.

MRW said...

I seem to remember that it was Stephanie Kelton who schooled Bernstein but don't hold me to it.

Matt Franko said...

MRW just because he posts some links doesn't mean he understands it... he might think MMT is just interesting,.. MMT as food for thought..

You guys are all politically biased as Bernstein is a Democrat so therefore he is supposed to know everything.... he obviously doesn't...


Six that is not a figure of speech... if I said "the MMT poobahs" or something like that it would be a figure of speech ...

Bill Black is a top person in the academe of MMT... highly looked upon ....

Ryan Harris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matt Franko said...

Ryan, I've met Warren, Bill, haven't met Tom in the flesh (on my "to do"!list) but I've had some nice phonecons with him..

Look, they and the others are ALL reeeeaally, really good people Ryan.... really good people ... not ordinary...

But being good doesn't necessarily cut it materially.... and this whole brouhaha is about material...

Tom Hickey said...

It's about social, political, economic and material coming together. This requires different inputs and a lot of coordination to apply.

The first hurdle is getting a convincing act together and taking it on the road. The MMT conference was a good step forward.

The second is winning some political victories, first, influencing policy, and then getting some policy makers in positions of power. A lot of things have to come together. Even when in power, it is still difficult to pass a comprehensive program that deals effectively with all the issues in terms of the material. The best material people available can't do much without the resources. Getting those resources and implementing the plan are political challenges.

And this going to be difficult to pull off without an influx of $$$ to support it.

A huge amount of opposition can be expected, too. We aren't even significant enough for "them" to be attacking us yet. when that happens it signals you are actually making progress by making waves.

There's hardly a ripple at this point.

Matt Franko said...

need $200M...

MRW said...

Matt,

MRW just because he posts some links doesn't mean he understands it... he might think MMT is just interesting,.. MMT as food for thought..

He might this. He might that. (Pulled it out of your ass.?)

Bill Black is actually trashing Bernstein, if you’d read the article.

You guys are all politically biased as Bernstein is a Democrat so therefore he is supposed to know everything.... he obviously doesn't...

Hunh? You assume I think Democrats know everything? Or that I am a Democrat?

Tom Hickey said...

need $200M...

At least, but not all at once. But once the ball gets rolling, there needs to be some deep funding. Hopefully, the message and its promise will attract it.

I kind of suspect that it won't be the US that is first to pick it up though.

Ignacio said...

You guys are all politically biased as Bernstein is a Democrat so therefore he is supposed to know everything.... he obviously doesn't...

This is one of the most anti-Democrat/Republican I read on the net I don't understand how can you think like that after so many years.

On the other side I agree with you on "they don't really understand it", we also have observed this fact over the years.

It can get past their thick skulls, IMO very very few people are equipped to understand MMT at a fundamental level, not because is complicated, because there is so much bamboozle around the monetary system on a daily basis is very hard to overcome the cognitive walls built up to understand it.

Really smart people refuse to acknowledge it and come with non-sequitur because it would be too disruptive of their world view.

Ignacio said...

It *can -> can't

Matt Franko said...

"It's about social, political, economic and material coming together. "

No its not Tom... its material/technical period... we have a bunch of unqualified non-technical people involved and its all f-ed up ofc...


The social and political are already there they are fine ... the extreme libertarians, as irritating as they are, are just a small minority...

Matt Franko said...

"He might this. He might that. (Pulled it out of your ass.?)"

Uh... no... here are his words right in the NYT article HELLLOOOOO read the f-ing article:

"America really doesn’t need a tax cut — demographic pressures alone suggest the need for more, not less, future revenues ".... "global financial flows have accelerated in recent years, and the United States has been a prime destination for that money. That’s increased the supply of loanable funds " ... "they reveal that we’re unwilling to raise the necessary revenues to support the government we want and need. " ... "We need a functional government that raises ample revenues to meet the challenges we face, "

Yeah this guy is Mr. Expert... yeah he is really smart... yes he knows all about this.... go Bernstein!....

Tom Hickey said...

"It's about social, political, economic and material coming together."

No its not Tom... its material/technical period... we have a bunch of unqualified non-technical people involved and its all f-ed up ofc...


The social and political are already there they are fine ... the extreme libertarians, as irritating as they are, are just a small minority...


Matt, you are a perfect example of why most people are terrified of technocrats. :)

Matt Franko said...

They are not terrified they dont understand anything via technical methods... they've never been trained to.... the training is too hard/challenging and they drop out....