Bill Mitchell — How to discuss MMT without discussing it – BIS style

On October 13, 2019, the Bank of International Settlements published a paper – Exiting low inflation traps by “consensus”: nominal wages and price stability – (which was based on a speech one of the authors was to make in late November at a conference in Colombia). The reason I cite this paper is because it talks about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) – in pejorative terms, without really knowing what MMT is. But the most interesting aspect of it was the admission that the mainstream theory that they use to set up the ‘straw person’ they tear down cannot explain real world events. The BIS unwittingly admits that the mainstream macroeconomics really is adrift and the analytical frameworks that arise from it (DSGE etc) are incapable of explaining real world developments. So I thought that was worth documenting....

Bill Mitchell – billy blog
How to discuss MMT without discussing it – BIS style
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, AustraliaBill Mitchell – billy blog

Randy Wray — MMT: REPORT FROM THE FRONT (PART 3)

In this part, I’ll resume with comments on the critical contributions to the special issue of rwer. We finished Part 2 with a discussion of the shocking lack of citations to MMT literature in the critiques—especially the dearth of citations to the more academic contributions (as opposed to the summaries of MMT written for undergrads and the general public). Let me return to the oversight of contributions made by scholars such as Fullwiler and Tymoigne—who have mostly written academic pieces....

New Economic Perspectives

MMT: REPORT FROM THE FRONT (PART 3)
L. Randall Wray | Professor of Economics, Bard College

Bill Mitchell — When the Left disgraces itself

In Monte Python’s Life of Brian we were introduced to the “People’s Front of Judea”, which was “one of many fractious and bickering independence movements, who spend more time fighting each other than the Romans”. The segments featuring the Front were very amusing. It was humour but redolent of the sort of historical struggles that have divided the Left over the centuries. In Australia, the history of the Communist Party, for example, is one of many factions, splintering into new parties and leaderships after disputes about Bolshevism, then the Communist International and Stalinism, then the so-called “imperialist” war by the Allies against Nazism, then Krushchev’s revelations about the crimes of Stalin, then the Soviet invasion of Hungary, then the split between the Soviet Union and China and the rise of Mao, then the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and so on. This sort of division is mirrored around the world on the Left side of politics and struggle. I have been reminded of this history in recent weeks as the ‘war’ against Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has been ramped up from so-called progressives. However, this ‘war’ seems different to the sort of internicine struggles that have historically bedevilled the Left. We now have all manner of strategies emerging, ranging from classic Association fallacies to ridiculous claims that MMTers perpetuate ‘anti semitic tropes’, and on to plain invention, a.k.a. straight out fabrications or lying. There is no real attempt to embrace the body of work we have created over the last 25 years. Quite the opposite – the ‘critics’ haven’t an original thing to say about the substance of MMT. They have instead decided to smear us with increasingly hysterical assertions. Which raises the interesting question for me – what is driving this aberrant behaviour? Fear, a sense of irrelevance, jealousy, Brexit, spite, … what? I have conjectures but no real answers....

I would agree that criticism of MMT is mostly memes and tropes with very little substance, as if the developers and proponents of MMT were simpletons that had not thought things through and were just spouting bromides or selling snake oil. The number of serious critiques of MMT are few and far between and well-informed one are even rarer. In fact, I can't recall even one that demonstrated familiarity with the body of MMT literature. Sad state of affairs.

Bill Mitchell – billy blog
When the Left disgraces itself
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Is Japan a "model" for modern monetary theory? — Shuji Noguchi

Neutral to slightly positive for MMT.

NKH News (Japan)
Is Japan a "model" for modern monetary theory?
Shuji Noguchi | Senior Correspondent, NHK General Bureau for America

Milton Ezrati — What Is Modern Monetary Theory?

Positive and accurate. The scope is brief but Milton Ezrati uses it his limited space to show how most negative criticism of MMT fails to take into consideration what Stephanie Kelton, the public face of MMT in the US, actually says.

Forbes
What Is Modern Monetary Theory?
Milton Ezrati |senior economist for the NY communications firm, Vested

Daniel Herborn — Gates takes issue with Ocasio-Cortez's plans to raise income tax on the super-wealthy

The iconic business magnate and philanthropist also dismissed “modern monetary theory” as “crazy talk”. The theory has been embraced by progressive US politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, and, curiously, President Donald Trump. It dictates that governments should not be concerned about deficits because they control the printing of their own currency. This leads to the conclusion that inflation should instead be managed with interest rates.

Does Bill Gates implicitly advance the r > g argument without naming it?

Bill Gates seems to dissociate himself from "sound finance" as "expansionary austerity," not being concerned with a manageable level of debt or requiring budget balance. But apparently he still identifies with neoclassical monetarism in terms of managing r > g through monetary policy, or limiting spending/increasing taxes.

It seems to me from what I am aware Gates said is that he is suggesting the later.

CEO Magazine
Gates takes issue with Ocasio-Cortez's plans to raise income tax on the super-wealthy

Daniel Herborn