RABBITHOLE

Doug Henwood, creator of the Left Business Observer newsletter and host of Behind The News, debates the core principles and criticisms of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). They explore the relationship between taxes, borrowing, and government spending, and discuss the impact of MMT on economics, the Green New Deal, and distributional conflicts. The speaker also critiques MMT for neglecting distributional issues and argues for the pursuit of socialist ideals.

Rohan Grey (@RohanGrey), president of the Modern Money Network and assistant professor at Willamette University College of Law, takes the boys into the nitty-gritty of falsifiable MMT propositions—who believes what, whether it's true, why it matters, and whether we should create a trillion-dollar coin. At the end, he offers his opinion on where exactly the boys are going wrong. This episode was originally published on March 30, 2021 on the Current Affairs podcast feed, and is being republished now as the Rabbithole podcast picks up the question of "is MMT real?" Please excuse any outdated references, and stay tuned as we continue our investigations down the rabbithole. "Modern Money & Public Purpose"Randy Wray's MMT Primer series This episode was edited by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn) of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA, and it features theme music by Danny Bradley. If you liked the podcast, please consider supporting our investigations on our Patreon. Find Pete on Twitter at @PeteDDavis and Sparky at @sparkyabraham 

The MMT adventure continues. This time, Sparky and Pete talk to Andrés Bernal (@andresintheory) about the practical aspects of designing MMT policies for AOC, NYC mayoral candidate Dianne Morales and more. The boys decide they have crossed a mental line. This episode was originally published on March 29, 2021 on the Current Affairs podcast feed, and is being republished now as the Rabbithole podcast picks up the question of "is MMT real?" Please excuse any outdated references, and stay tuned as we continue our investigations down the rabbithole. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn) of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA, and it features theme music by Danny Bradley. If you liked the podcast, please consider supporting our investigations on our Patreon. Find Pete on Twitter at @PeteDDavis and Sparky at @sparkyabraham

On this episode, Pete and Sparky have a discussion with Maxximilian Seijo (@MaxSeijo), co-host of the Money of the Left and Superstructure podcasts, and board member of the Modern Money Network. Maxximilian had some issues with how the previous episodes were presented, so in the spirit of the project, we had them on to explain their perspective. Pete and Sparky are joined on this episode by freelance writer Aisling McCrea. This episode was originally published on December 2, 2020 on the Current Affairs podcast feed, and is being republished now as the Rabbithole podcast picks up the question of "is MMT real?" Please excuse any outdated references, and stay tuned as we continue our investigations down the rabbithole. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn) of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA, and it features theme music by Danny Bradley. If you liked the podcast, please consider supporting our investigations on our Patreon. Find Pete on Twitter at @PeteDDavis and Sparky at @sparkyabraham

In the fifth episode of our in-depth MMT series, Pete and Sparky speak to autodidact macroeconomics guru, Nathan Tankus (@NathanTankus), research director of the Modern Money Network and editor of the beloved Substack newsletter Notes on the Crises. This episode was originally published on December 2, 2020 on the Current Affairs podcast feed, and is being republished now as the Rabbithole podcast picks up the question of "is MMT real?" Please excuse any outdated references, and stay tuned as we continue our investigations down the rabbithole. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn) of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA, and it features theme music by Danny Bradley. If you liked the podcast, please consider supporting our investigations on our Patreon. Find Pete on Twitter at @PeteDDavis and Sparky at @sparkyabraham

In the fourth episode of our in-depth MMT series, Pete and Sparky investigate inflation. To try and puzzle things out, they speak to J. W. Mason (@JWMason1), associate professor of economics at John Jay College, CUNY and specialist in macroeconomics. This episode was originally published on December 4, 2020 on the Current Affairs podcast feed, and is being republished now as the Rabbithole podcast picks up the question of "is MMT real?" Please excuse any outdated references, and stay tuned as we continue our investigations down the rabbithole. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn) of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA, and it features theme music by Danny Bradley. If you liked the podcast, please consider supporting our investigations on our Patreon. Find Pete on Twitter at @PeteDDavis and Sparky at @sparkyabraham

In this third episode of our in-depth MMT series, Pete and Sparky look for a dissenting view. They find one in People's Policy Project founder Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig). This episode was originally published on December 3, 2020 on the Current Affairs podcast feed, and is being republished now as the Rabbithole podcast picks up the question of "is MMT real?" Please excuse any outdated references, and stay tuned as we continue our investigations down the rabbithole. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn) of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA, and it features theme music by Danny Bradley. If you liked the podcast, please consider supporting our investigations on our Patreon. Find Pete on Twitter at @PeteDDavis and Sparky at @sparkyabraham 

In this second episode of our MMT series, Pete and Sparky gather their initial thoughts and move on to exploring an idea that is closely connected to MMT—the jobs guarantee. To help clarify how a jobs guarantee might work and how it connects to MMT, they speak to economist Pavlina Tcherneva (@ptcherneva), Associate Professor of Economics at Bard College and author of "The Case for a Job Guarantee." This episode was originally published on December 2, 2020 on the Current Affairs podcast feed, and is being republished now as the Rabbithole podcast picks up the question of "is MMT real?" Please excuse any outdated references, and stay tuned as we continue our investigations down the rabbithole. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn) of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA, and it features theme music by Danny Bradley. If you liked the podcast, please consider supporting our investigations on our Patreon. Find Pete on Twitter at @PeteDDavis and Sparky at @sparkyabraham

Modern Monetary Theory—three simple words that are tearing apart the left. Pete Davis and Sparky Abraham have spent the last few years feeling curious and confused about this highly contentious theory, which posits that the U.S. government can deficit spend much more than it currently believes it can. (Or maybe it doesn't posit that. We're not sure.) Together, they've decided to launch a new series, in which they will interview people across the spectrum of left economics, ask questions, admit what they don't know, and try and muddle through one of the most complex questions in the world of policy: is MMT real? In this episode, Sparky and Nathan J. Robinson (@NathanJRobinson) of Current Affairs magazine interview Stephanie Kelton (@StephanieKelton), professor at Stony Brook University, author of the book "The Deficit Myth," and advisor to Bernie Sanders' 2016 Presidential Campaign. One of the preeminent theorists of Modern Monetary Theory, Professor Kelton explains a basic overview of the theory and what it offers policymakers at the federal level. This episode was originally published on December 1, 2020 on the Current Affairs podcast feed, and is being republished now as the Rabbithole podcast picks up the question of "is MMT real?" Please excuse any outdated references, and stay tuned as we continue our investigations down the rabbithole. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn) of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA, and it features theme music by Danny Bradley (https://dannybradleymusic.com/). If you like the podcast, please consider supporting our investigations by becoming a patron. Find Pete on Twitter at @PeteDDavis and Sparky at @sparkyabraham

Welcome, dear listeners, down the Rabbithole: a new podcast where our intrepid hosts Sparky Abraham (@sparkyabraham), Vanessa A. Bee (@Vanessa_ABee), Pete Davis (@PeteDDavis), and Oren Nimni (@orennimni) plumb the depths of often-obscure debates that divide people along unexpected political lines, questioning fundamental assumptions about things like money, school, consent, and courts.  Your non-expert hosts will interview a series of actual experts to learn what is up for debate, and to try to come to some conclusions for ourselves. Follow us down these rabbit holes. It won't be graceful, but you might enjoy the trip.On this podcast, you'll hear Pete and Sparky continue, and conclude, their celebrated and controversial "Is MMT Real?" series which began on the Current Affairs podcast feed. Soon more duos of hosts will enter down the Rabbithole to discuss new topics.We are launching the podcast with all of the previously recorded "Is MMT Real?" episodes which were previously shared on Current Affairs magazine's Patreon feed. New episodes will be shared biweekly at first and will be made available to all free of charge.We plan to release all episodes for free, but if you like the podcast, we hope you will support us at patreon.com/rabbitholepodcast and help us keep episodes accessible to all listeners.This episode, like future episodes, was produced by Dan Thorn (@danieljtvthorn), and it features theme music by the inimitable Danny Bradley.