#158 “Winning” At Trade - Unpacking The Deficit Myth Part 5

Part 5: Patricia and Christian continue their conversation about Stephanie Kelton’s best-seller The Deficit Myth.

 

In this episode: what does it mean for a nation to “win” or “lose” at trade?

 

As the global 99% are pitted against each other in an increasingly gigified international job market, who’s “we” and what is “winning”?

 

In an effort to dodge their responsibility for domestic unemployment, politicians have become very adept at mesmerising electorates with trade three-card Monte - focusing our attention on jobs and potential income flowing overseas, when a focus on real goods and services flowing *in* from the rest of the world reveals that trade deficits actually *improve* living standards for importing nations in real terms.

 

Nevertheless, in pursuit of political “wins”, leaders squander actual wins in pursuit of arbitrary economic indicators with the only economic management tool they think they have: unemployment.

 

Understanding modern money shows how we can truly succeed without sacrificing people or the planet.

 

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Please help sustain this podcast!

Patrons get early access to all episodes and patron-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/MMTpodcast

 

 

 

For an intro to MMT:

Our first three episodes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41742417

Episode 126 - Dirk Ehnts: How Banks Create Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62603318

 

Our “Unpacking The Deficit Myth” series: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47191289

 

All our episodes in chronological order: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43111643

 

Relevant to this episode:

Shop to Win! Warren Mosler on Trump Tariffs: https://moslereconomics.com/2018/03/02/light-vehicle-sales-trump-tariffs/

Pavlina Tcherneva lays out why the Job Guarantee is core to Modern Monetary Theory in Episode 148: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73211346?pr=true

Fadhel Kaboub defines monetary sovereignty in Episode 12 - Monetary Sovereignty, Colonialism and Independence: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41790149

Dirk Ehnts lays out a plan for a Eurozone-wide Job Guarantee in Episode 155: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38252014

Paper on the above proposal - “Completing The Euro: The Euro Treasury And The Job Guarantee” by Esteban Cruz Hidalgo, Dirk H. Ehnts & Pavlina R. Tcherneva: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334226761_Completing_the_Euro_The_Euro_Treasury_and_the_Job_Guarantee

Warren Mosler and Damiano B. Silipo’s Job Guarantee proposal for the eurozone is within this paper - “Maximizing Price Stability in a Monetary Economy”: https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_864.pdf

For more on the Job Guarantee as a “labour standard” (as opposed to a gold standard) to achieve superior price stability to our current system, listen to our episode 125 - Sam Levey: Monopoly, Monopsony, And What To Do About Them: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61954971

 

 

 

Quick MMT reads:

Warren’s Mosler’s MMT white paper: http://moslereconomics.com/mmt-white-paper/

Steven Hail’s quick MMT explainer: https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-modern-monetary-theory-72095

On government debt: “Some Numbers Are Big. Let Me Help You Get Over It”: https://christreilly.com/2020/02/17/some-numbers-are-big-let-me-help-you-get-over-it/

 

For a short, non-technical, free ebook explaining MMT, download MMT founder Warren Mosler’s “7 Deadly Innocent Frauds Of Economic Policy” here: http://moslereconomics.com/wp-content/powerpoints/7DIF.pdf

 

Order “The Deficit Myth” by Stephanie Kelton: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081JVRT57/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

 

Order the Gower Initiative’s “Modern Monetary Theory - Key Insights, Leading Thinkers” (2023): https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/modern-monetary-theory-9781802208085.html

 

Order L Randall Wray’s latest book, “Making Money Work for Us” (2022): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BDCS46BG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

 

 

 

Episodes on monetary operations:

Episode 20 - Warren Mosler: The MMT Money Story (part 1): https://www.patreon.com/posts/28004824

Episode 126 - Dirk Ehnts: How Banks Create Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62603318

Episode 13 - Steven Hail: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Banking, But Were Afraid To Ask: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41790887

Episode 43 - Sam Levey: Understanding Endogenous Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35073683

Episode 84 - Andrew Berkeley, Richard Tye & Neil Wilson: An Accounting Model Of The UK Exchequer (Part 1): https://www.patreon.com/posts/46352183

Episode 86 - Andrew Berkeley, Richard Tye & Neil Wilson: An Accounting Model Of The UK Exchequer (Part 2): https://www.patreon.com/posts/46865929 

 

Episodes on inflation:

Episode 7: Steven Hail: Inflation, Price Shocks and Other Misunderstandings: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41780508

Episode 65 - Phil Armstrong: Understanding Inflation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40672678

Episode 104 - John T Harvey: Inflation, Stagflation & Healing The Nation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/52207835

Episode 123 - Warren Mosler: Understanding The Price Level And Inflation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/59856379

Episode 128 - L. Randall Wray & Yeva Nersisyan: What’s Causing Accelerating Inflation? Pandemic Or Policy Response?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63776558

 

More on government bonds (and “vigilantes”):

Episode 30 - Steven Hail: Understanding Government Bonds (Part 1):https://www.patreon.com/posts/29621245

Episode 31 - Steven Hail: Understanding Government Bonds (Part 2): https://www.patreon.com/posts/29829500

Episode 143 - Paul Sheard: What Is Quantitative Easing?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71589989?pr=true

Episode 147 - Dirk Ehnts: Do Markets Control Our Politics?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-147-dirk-72906421

Episode 144 - Warren Mosler: The Natural Rate Of Interest Is Zero: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71966513

Episode 145 - John T Harvey: What Determines Currency Prices?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72283811?pr=true

 

Job Guarantee episodes:

Episode 4 - Fadhel Kaboub: What is the Job Guarantee?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41742701

Episode 47 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Building Resilience - The Case For A Job Guarantee: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36034543

Episode 148 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Why The Job Guarantee Is Core To Modern Monetary Theory: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-148-why-73211346

 

Pavlina Tcherneva’s Job Guarantee FAQ page: https://pavlina-tcherneva.net/job-guarantee-faq/

 

MMT Events And Courses In 2023

Apply for Professor Bill Mitchell’s short, free online course in Modern Monetary Theory (February 15th - March 14th) here: https://www.edx.org/course/modern-monetary-theory-economics-for-the-21st-century

More information about Professor Mitchell’s MMTed project (free public online courses in MMT) here: http://www.mmted.org/

Tickets to the very first Scotonomics festival (online or in-person, Dundee, Scotland 24th-26th March) are available here: https://scotonomics.scot/live-events/

Apply for Dr Dirk Ehnts’ Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics course at Maastricht University (July 31st - August 4th) here: https://maastricht.dreamapply.com/courses/course/183-modern-monetary-theory-and-european-macroeconomics

Details of Modern Money Lab’s online graduate and postgraduate courses in MMT are here: https://modernmoneylab.org.au/

 

 

Extensive list of MMT scholarship compiled by New Economic Perspectives: http://neweconomicperspectives.org/mmt-scholarship

 

MMT Academic Resources compiled by The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies: https://www.zotero.org/groups/2251544/mmt_academic_resources_-_compiled_by_the_gower_initiative_for_modern_money_studies

 

 

 

A list of MMT-informed campaigns and organisations worldwide: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47900757

 

We are working towards full transcripts, but in the meantime, closed captions for all episodes are available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEp_nGVTuMfBun2wiG-c0Ew/videos

 

Show notes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78800108?pr=true