Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Bill Mitchell — Limits to government spending are not determined by private bond markets

The article had a picture of the latest progressive political star – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with the caption that she:
... backs the view that restraints on a government’s spending are primarily set by the amount it can borrow without fuelling inflation.
Progressive types then thought it was useful to retweet this incessantly for a few days.
My response – I certainly hope that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not back that construction of the limits on spending for a currency-issuing government.
And I certainly hope that progressives do not embrace it either.
Why?
It is fundamentally incorrect and just reframes the way neoliberals think and uses their sort of language....
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Limits to government spending are not determined by private bond markets
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

2 comments:

Konrad said...

Corrected web link:

http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=39856

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“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backs the view that restraints on a government’s spending are primarily set by the amount it can borrow without fueling inflation.” ~ Financial Times

I don’t know if Ocasio-Cortez believes that, but to repeat once again, monetarily sovereign governments create their spending money (in their own currency) out of thin air. They do not borrow it from anyone.

As always, the Financial Times is full of Scheiße.

Tom Hickey said...

Thanks, Konrad. Link fixed.