Our friend, MMT economist Yeva Nersisyan, joins Steve to discuss the struggle to communicate MMT’s core principles in a media landscape filled with misinformation, including from those who should know better. They call some of them out by name and express disappointment when natural allies on the left reject modern monetary theory.
“At this point, you cannot just be MMT curious. You have to make up your mind, do you want the ‘scarce money’ framework? Is that the way you’re going to view the world? Or do you view it through the MMT framework? Because there is no other option.”
Yeva and Steve agree that MMT is not a political ideology but a crucial lens for understanding that a monetarily sovereign government is the creator of currency, which means scarcity is serving another purpose – eg, supporting this economic system.
They talk about government spending during Covid as a missed opportunity to educate. They criticize so-called progressive politicians (hello Bernie!) who, despite likely understanding MMT, refuse to publicly champion its principles. This leads to self-sabotage (perhaps intentionally?) when they claim to argue for progressive policies within a conservative tax-and-spend agenda. Result? Austerity.
As we regularly try to stress, a correct understanding of MMT is no solution, but rather a tool in building a revolutionary class analysis.
Dr. Yeva Nersisyan is an associate professor of Economics and Department Chair at Franklin and Marshall College and a research scholar at Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. Professor Nersisyan has published more than 25 journal articles, book chapters, policy notes and policy briefs on the topics of Modern Monetary Theory, fiscal policy, the Green New Deal, and financial instability. She is the editor of the Elgar Companion to Modern Monetary Theory with L. Randall Wray, and her work has appeared in publications such as The Guardian and The Hill.
Find her work at https://www.levyinstitute.org/people/...
#LearnMMT #CulturalHegemony #politicaleconomy #classstruggle #covid #austerity #DeficitSpending
Chapters:
Intro & Setup
0:00 — Host introduces Yeva Nersisyan and the topic.
Post-Keynesians & MMT Misconceptions
0:45 — Discussion on economic schools of thought and misunderstandings.
Media Narratives & Public Understanding
4:27 — The impact of media and public narratives on economics.
Progressive Economics & Policy
6:00 — What it means to be progressive in economics.
Tax Cuts, Deficits, and Political Framing
7:34 — The politics of tax cuts and deficit spending.
Local vs. Federal Initiatives
20:57 — Challenges of local government spending and policy.
Cultural Hegemony & Economic Narratives
22:11 — Gramsci, Veblen, and the power of economic narratives.
Critiques from the Left & Right
27:35 — Why both left and right critique MMT.
MMT, Policy, and Ideology
36:03 — The relationship between MMT, policy, and political ideology.
Revolution, Reform, and Power
48:37 — Discussion on revolution, reform, and organizing for change.
Final Thoughts & Outro
1:07:12 — Final remarks, thanks, and outro.
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
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#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
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At Patreon
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https://realprogressives.org/macro-n-...
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
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