#185 Dirk Ehnts: The public debt is what we own, not what we owe

Mar 29, 2024

01:02:08

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Patricia and Christian talk to Dr Dirk Ehnts about the origins and nature of money, and what it means for tackling our various planetary emergencies.

Please help sustain this podcast!

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

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

LIVE EVENTS!

June 17-21 Bard College Sumer Workshop in Public Finance and Economic Policy (online) applications close 30th April: https://edi.bard.edu/programs/osun-summer-workshop/
July 15-17 Inaugural UK Modern Monetary Theory Conference (Leeds, UK): https://gimms.org.uk/2024/03/04/final-call-for-papers-uk-mmt-conference-deadline-extended/
August 19th - 23rd Dirk Ehnts’ Maastricht University Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics course: https://maastricht.dreamapply.com/courses/course/183-modern-monetary-theory-and-european-macroeconomics
August 27-29 MMT Summer school (Poznan, Poland) - no details published yet, but updates will be here: https://fundacjalipinskiego.pl/
August 30 - September 2nd, 4th European MMT Conference (Berlin, Germany) no details published yet, but updates will be here: https://www.pufendorf-gesellschaft.org/
Updates on worldwide screenings of the documentary “Finding The Money” can be found here: https://findingmoneyfilm.com/where-to-watch/
To arrange a screening of “Finding The Money”, apply here: https://findingmoneyfilm.com/host-a-screening/

STUDY THE ECONOMICS OF SUSTAINABILITY!

Details of Modern Money Lab’s online graduate, postgraduate and short, standalone courses in economics: https://modernmoneylab.org.au/

Relevant to this episode:

“Modern Money Theory: A Simple Guide to the Monetary System (Professional Practice in Governance and Public Organizations)” by Dirk Ehnts (Released 5th May 2024): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Money-Theory-Professional-Organizations/dp/3031535367/
“Revisiting MMT, Sovereign Currencies and the Eurozone: A Reply to Marc Lavoie” by Dirk Ehnts & L. Randall Wray: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09538259.2023.2298448

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

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
Quick explanation of government debt and deficit: “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 Warren Mosler’s “7 Deadly Innocent Frauds Of Economic Policy” here: http://moslereconomics.com/wp-content/powerpoints/7DIF.pdf

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

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

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