Friday, February 1, 2019

Stephanie Kelton — The Wealthy Are Victims of Their Own Propaganda–To escape higher taxes, they must embrace deficits.


Grow the pie within public investment for public purpose rather than shrinking it through austerity or dividing the size of the pieces it differently through redistribution. Having your cake and eating it too.

I would add that it is still necessary to address economic rent and its social and political effects. The reason this is so hard to do is that America is a plutocracy. The institutions are rigged.

Bloomberg Opinion
The Wealthy Are Victims of Their Own Propaganda–To escape higher taxes, they must embrace deficits.
Stephanie Kelton | Professor of Public Policy and Economics at Stony Brook University, formerly Democrats' chief economist on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, and an economic adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders

10 comments:

Konrad said...

Corrected link

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-02-01/rich-must-embrace-deficits-to-escape-taxes

Noah Way said...

Disingenuous title for the article that invites immediate dismissal.

Andrew Anderson said...

Except the economy runs off bank deposits, not fiat, and the government-privileged banks can create new deposits ("Bank loans create bank deposits") for the private welfare of themselves and the rich in quantities to rival sovereign spending for the general welfare.

Thus if we wish to maximize sovereign spending for the general welfare then all citizens must be allowed to use fiat in convenient account form at the Central Bank or Treasury itself and all other privileges for private bank deposits abolished.

Andrew Anderson said...

I would add that it is still necessary to address economic rent ... Tom Hickey

And government privileges for "the banks" so MMT is just 1/3 of a proper solution.

Andrew Anderson said...

Not that a JG is a necessary part of MMT since a Citizen's Dividend is a necessary part of bank reform to preclude high interest rates.

Unknown said...

IMO, Obtion B is the best option. Kelton is just looking at the macroeconomic aspects. However, there are psychological aspects of Option B that she does not cover.

When the marginal tax rate is high enough, and there are deductions for charitable giving, Charitable giving rises enormously. The heyday of the charitable foundations was when the top marginal rate was over 80% this was at levels in today's dollars at ~$3,000,000 per annum.

However, there is another aspect to it that is not often talked about - that is the psychology "If I can't keep it" then I will be a hero to my employees and pay them more. This was indeed the case in the 1950's to the 1970's when the ratio of CEO compensation to the minimum compensation in a corporation was at its lowest.

Ralph Musgrave said...

Kelton's article is rubbish. She claims the US can spend billions (or is it hundreds of billions - she doesn't say) simply by printing money when the economy is either at or near capacity. The latter "print and spend" idea works at the height of a recession (as Keynes pointed out) but not when the economy is near capacity. But she shows NO INTEREST in just how near the economy is to capacity.

She's made MMTers look idiots. Maybe Bloomberg deliberately set her up to do that just when the MMT conference in Berlin is on???? If so, they've suckered her good and proper.

AXEC / E.K-H said...

Stephanie Kelton and the self-destructive stupidity of the super-rich
Comment on Stephanie Kelton on ‘The Wealthy Are Victims of Their Own Propaganda ― To escape higher taxes, they must embrace deficits.’

Stephanie Kelton is desperate:
• For years now, MMTers propose deficit-spending/money-creation as the key policy instrument for the solution of any social/economic problem
• Because of the macroeconomic Profit Law, it holds Public Deficit = Private Profit#1
• Clearly, MMT policy is a permanent free lunch for the Oligarchy
• The fabulous wealth of the Oligarchy is the mirror image of the fabulous public debt ($21.5 trillion).#2
• Part of the free-lunch profit is invested in government bonds and generates ultra-safe interest income, which is taxed from WeThePeople, for an indefinite time
• MMTers argue consistently against taxing the rich#3
• MMTers deceive WeThePeople about the distributional effects of MMT policy#4
• MMT academics corrupt science on a daily basis by violating well-defined standards.#5

No one has done more for the super-rich than MMTers. But then comes a super-rich imbecile and ruins everything: “To be blunt, the super-rich have become victims of their own successful marketing campaign. Conservative billionaires like Pete Peterson spent decades complaining about debt and deficits, putting enormous sums of money into a PR campaign to turn politicians and the public against deficit spending.”#6

What a big letdown for Stephanie Kelton who has worked so hard for the benefit of the Oligarchy and against the cause of the WeThePeople.#7

Egmont Kakarot-Handtke

#1 What is wrong with MMT? and What is wrong with Brad DeLong?
https://axecorg.blogspot.com/2019/01/what-is-wrong-with-mmt-and-what-is.html

#2 Stephanie Kelton on how to become fabulously wealthy
https://axecorg.blogspot.com/2019/01/stephanie-kelton-on-how-to-become.html

#3 MMT: academic snake oil for the people
https://axecorg.blogspot.com/2018/02/mmt-academic-snake-oil-for-people.html

#4 Stephanie Kelton’s legendary Plain-Sight-Ink-Trick
https://axecorg.blogspot.com/2019/01/stephanie-keltons-legendary-plain-sight.html

#5 MMT: The fusion of Wall Street and Academia
https://axecorg.blogspot.com/2018/12/mmt-fusion-of-wall-street-and-academia.html

#6 Austerity: Who takes the little man for a ride?
https://axecorg.blogspot.com/2017/08/austerity-who-takes-little-man-for-ride.html

#7 MMT Progressives: The knife in the back of WeThePeople
https://axecorg.blogspot.com/2018/12/mmt-progressives-knife-in-back-of.html

Noah Way said...

Don't feed the troll.

Ralph Musgrave said...

It's Rod Bobbis here. I'd just like to say:

Funny money, funny money, funny money.

End of message.