Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Ramanan — Some Extreme Reactionary Views Of The Neochartalists


MMT is taking flak not only from the right over abandoning "sound finance," but also from the left for apparently advocating reduction in the welfare state through a job guarantee and opposing the attempt to reduce inequality through progressive taxation.

What we are seeing now is the transition from MMT as a macroeconomic theory based on institutional analysis to MMT as a policy science advocating for a specific angle on policy formulation that appears to be centrist.

First, is this a fair characterization and appraisal of the MMT position? If so, is there a political faction in the US to support this?

The Case for Concerted Action
Some Extreme Reactionary Views Of The Neochartalists
V. Ramanan

3 comments:

Brian Romanchuk said...

Gosh, I read on te internets that MMT were a bunch of jive pinko commies. I’m so confused!

Magpie said...

This reminds me of an old joke about the Nazi. It's set in Nazi Germany.

Two brothers, Hans and Fritz, were having some beers.

Hans tells Fritz -- the rich brother -- all the things he, as a worker, had learned from the Nazi: the Jews were the capitalists exploiting ruthlessly German workers.

"Ah, those bastards!" -- both men say.

Fritz, not to be outdone, tells Hans -- the poor brother -- all the things he, as a capitalist, had learned from the Nazi: the Jews were all Bolsheviks intent on stealing the businesses of honest German entrepreneurs.

"Sons of bitches!" -- they exclaim.

"Wait a minute", said Hans. "How can they be ...?"

Both men stopped to think for a moment, as if in doubt. Something didn't seem to make sense.

"Fuck it! That goes to show the Jews are really evil!" -- they said in unison.

Senexx said...

I would argue its an enhancement to the welfare state or a part of the welfare state, not a reduction.