Activist #MMT - podcast

Here's the original video from where this audio came.

Here's a list of links to John reading every chapter (released so far) in his 2021 book Contending Perspectives.

I have edited both the video and audio to eliminate mistakes, coughs, interruptions, and etc.

• 1:58 - Methodological individualism, praxeology, and subjectivism
• 9:46 - Market process
• 12:24 - Austrian business cycle theory
• 16:27 - Method
• 17:28 - Views of human nature and justice
• 18:35 - Standards
• 20:46 - Contemporary activities
• 21:48 - Criticisms
• 23:51 - Final rejoinder
• 25:15 - Further reading

Here's the original video from where this audio came.

Here's a list of links to John reading every chapter (released so far) in his 2021 book Contending Perspectives.

I have edited both the video and audio to eliminate mistakes, coughs, interruptions, and etc.

Here's the original video from where this audio came.

Here's a list of links to John reading every chapter (released so far) in his 2021 book Contending Perspectives.

I have edited both the video and audio to eliminate obvious mistakes, coughs, interruptions, and etc.

Here's the original video from where this audio came.

Here's a list of links to John reading every chapter (released so far) in his 2021 book Contending Perspectives.

I have edited both the video and audio to eliminate obvious mistakes, coughs, interruptions, and etc.

Use the below timestamps to navigate to each major section and occurrence in this section:

• 1:35 - Page 8: Chapter 2: Economics as a scientific discipline
• 3:25 - Page 8: Section: What is science?
• 4:40 - Page 9
• 10:03 - Page 10: A realistic version of science
• 17:39 - Page 13
• 30:13 - Page 17: Economics: Training and apprenticeship
• 44:01 - Page 22
• 58:38 - Page 27: Economics: Schools of thought
• 1:06:32 - Page 30: Economics: Primary and secondary standards of behavior
• 1:09:30 - Summary of table 2.1 on 32 (then skipping page 31, paragraph 2 through page 34, paragraph 2 – all of which is covered in future chapters)
• 1:10:43 - Page 34, paragraph 2
• 1:13:10 - Page 35: Conclusions
• 1:14:55 - Final comments

Welcome to episode 152 of Activist #MMT. Today's part two of my conversation with five of my Torrens classmates, this time about the job guarantee, from a now-much more educated point of view, given our experience at Torrens. We are also joined by John's wife, Martha, who is highly educated on topics related to the job guarantee.

(Here's a link to part one.)

But for now, let's get right back to our conversation.

Welcome to episode 151 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with five of my Torrens classmates about our first year in the new graduate program – its importance, some fond memories, and a few improvements we hope to see. In part two we discuss the job guarantee from a now-much more educated point of view.

(Here's a link to part 2. A list of the audio chapters in this episode can be found right below.)

My guests are Gabie Bond who, along with Professor Steven Hail is the program's administrator, and all-around wonderful person. Susan Borden is the student-matriarch who is taking classes faster than anybody else, and may very well be the first graduate of the Master's program, in a class, literally, all by herself. Tom Foster is an insightful classmate who convinced me to change a major aspect of my view of the job guarantee, as discussed in part two. John Haly is a classmate and very good friend with whom, along with Susan, I've spent many a virtual hour talking and just quietly getting work done. Jackson Winter is a longtime collaborator on many different projects, from audio production to administering the primary private social platform (Discord) for our Torrens classmates, and creating major resources for current and future classmates to take advantage of. He's also a former guest on my podcast.

This episode was recorded in late July of last year. Its release was delayed by my taking a demanding course at Torrens, switching careers, and by having to prioritize the release of the Steve Keen and Maren Poitras episodes. Thanks to all my guests for their patience.

And now, onto our conversation.

• 2:40 - Hellos
• 5:38 - Susan first impressions
• 8:17 - What have you taken? What will you take? starting with Tom
• 11:35 - John
• 12:20 - Conflict between microeconomics and ecological economics
• 16:06 - John's classes
• 17:31 - Jackson classes
• 19:49 - Susan classes and response to John
• 23:18 - Susan and micro response, upcoming classes
• 23:57 - Steven and Gabie visiting the US
• 25:37 - Gabie's perspective of the first year as administrator.
• 28:17 - When will the final class of the initial set begin?
• 30:22 - Considering project-oriented electives
• 31:32 - The extra-curricular activities taken on by Torrens students (download directory, framing discussions)
• 37:27 - Framing discussions
• 38:42 - Between-trimester ideas
• 40:03 - Download directory, ramping-up advice, modern money lab resource repository
• 42:45 - Susan: Framing, messaging, and etc.
• 47:29 - Susan: Integrating Mazzucato's "Mission"
• 48:33 - Gregory Hayden's taxonomy
• 53:36 - Hayden's taxonomy final point
• 54:00 - Tom: more interactivity with classmates
• 55:34 - Final thoughts
• 57:09 - John: final thoughts
• 1:01:42 - Duplicate of introduction, with no background music (for those with sensitive ears)

THIS IS A BACKUP OF A GREAT INTERVIEW I DID IN 2019. IT TOUCHES ON MMT, BUT IS MOSTLY NON-MMT.

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A fascinating and insightful conversation on black history, music, religion, politics, economics, and more.

More here: https://citizensmedia.tv/2019/07/07/kem/

Welcome to episode 150 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with Maren Poitras, the creator and director of the MMT documentary, Finding the Money. I had the pleasure of seeing this film on October 1st, 2023, in New York City, with my Torrens professor Steven Hail, Torrens administrator Gabie Bond, and Torrens classmate Susan Borden. After the film, we all went to a nearby bar-restaurant, and I got to meet and speak with Maren at length.

(A list of the audio chapters in this episode can be found below.)

In today's episode, Maren and I talk about how she came to the film and how it's informed by her background in ecological economics. We talk about the trials and tribulations of film-making, including the tortures of creating the intricate and subtle graphics used in the film. We also talk about her interactions with the non-MMTers as seen in the film. At the end, she says what you as a supporter can do to help this film be seen by others.

In my view, the film is the most important milestone in the MMT movement since Stephanie Kelton's 2020 book The Deficit Myth (which was the most important milestone since US Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez said "MMT" out loud in 2018). The film has the power to change how we talk about some major concepts.

It will be available to stream in early May.

And now, on to my conversation with Maren Poitras. Enjoy.

• 3:35 - Hellos, European premiere
• 14:47 - When did the idea for the film happen and what is your background in film-making?
• 20:15 - MMT is the child in the Emperor's New Clothes. MMT forces people to question many deep fundamental assumptions about their lives.
• 38:59 - Printing fiasco
• 39:17 - Did feedback from the academics result in any major changes?
• 43:10 - Graphics (ripping open a wound)
• 47:46 - Non-MMTers in the film (attempts at critique)
• 55:35 - The film is unfortunately US-centric, due to time and resource constraints
• 57:18 - What can people do to help the film be seen?
• 1:01:00 - You never know where secret MMT people are lurking.
• 1:06:57 - Duplicate of introduction, but with no background music (for listeners with sensitive ears)

Here's a preview of my soon-to-be-released interview with Finding the Money director, Maren Poitras. It's a four-minute segment where Maren describes what YOU can do to help Finding the Money be seen by others.

The big launch is less than three weeks away. This means the most important thing is to get people to buy tickets for screenings. The documentary's website (findingmoneyfilm.com) is the best place to go for this, and especially the "where to watch" page.

Here are the major upcoming screenings:

• This Tuesday, April 16, is the New York City premiere with "DOC NYC" at IFC Center at 7 pm. Get your tickets here./
• New York City: May 3-9, each followed by a Q&A
• Washington, DC: May 9th at AFI Silver Theater, followed by a Q&A with Stephanie Kelton and Sara Nelson
• LA May 14-16 followed by a Q&A with Stephanie Kelton, Cory Doctorow, and Harry Shearer (Harry Shearer!)
• Other dates in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco are coming

The film will be available On Demand nationwide wherever you rent movies on May 3!

(I'm going to stream it with my family as soon as it's available. I'm pretty sure my boys, 14 and 17, will sit through the whole thing, but I have carrots (homemade popcorn) and sticks (threat of no bed to sleep in) at the ready.)

Welcome to episode 148 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with post-Keynesian economist Steve Keen about his decades-long fight against mainstream economics, what MMT convinced him of, and the couple parts of MMT he still disagrees with. This first part is a half-hour long audio interview, which will be followed next month by an hour-and-a-half-long video interview, where Steve walks me through the basics of his Minsky modeling software, and why he believes it's an important tool for MMTers.

(Here's a link to PART TWO. A list of the audio chapters in this episode can be found right below.)

MMT and Steve are in complete agreement with how banks spend (lend money into existence). After reading Stephanie Kelton's book in 2020, Steve realized that government spending also creates money. National governments don't tax in order to spend, they spend in order to tax. Steve quickly created a Minsky model convincing himself that MMT is indeed correct regarding this. This insight is also completely compatible with his understanding of bank spending.

As far as Steve's disagreements with MMT, they are important, and Steve lays them out in detail in the last ten-or-so minutes of this episode. But let it be known that they are far from core issues. In other words, the amount of agreement is far greater. It's good to understand what these disagreements are, but as Steve says, we have much bigger fish to fry.

This is the first main episode of Activist #MMT since August. Although I've released three chapters from John Harvey's readings of his book Contending Perspectives (with lots more to come!), the past six months have been all consuming, starting with my third Torrens course – which was coincidentally taught by John on that very book. It was both incredibly enlightening and unbelievably exhausting.

I've also become a full-time musician. I now sing several times each week at retirement communities and related facilities (independent living, assisted-living, nursing homes, etc.). Coincidentally, back in July, I met Steve in person for dinner in Princeton, New Jersey, which is about an hour north of my home. After dinner and conversation, Steve gave me an initial walk-through of Minsky. We ended the night with me singing a few songs on the sidewalk – just me, my phone, and a little Bluetooth speaker. At the very end of today's episode, after the closing theme music, you'll hear a small highlight from that experience. You can check out my singing website at seejeffsing.com.

And now, onto my conversation with Steve Keen. Enjoy.

• 4:24 - Hellos, and the plan
• 5:53 - His journey fighting mainstream, and, in 2020, to MMT
• 8:19 - Marx's view of money, Steve's PhD, Minsky's financial instability hypothesis, double entry bookkeeping, thinking of government spending differently
• 9:43 - Modeling money properly with double entry bookkeeping
• 10:49 - Discovering MMT in 2020, which changed his view on government spending
• 12:56 - Mild criticism of MMT's consolidated view
• 14:29 - Money creation is the expansion of balance sheets. The same thing happens on both the asset and liability side. If it ONLY happens on the liability side, it's a liability swap it. If it ONLY happens on the asset side, it's an asset swap.
• 16:42 - Regarding government money creation, how does your model distinguish between money creation and the supposed recycling of collected money?
• 19:12 - The only insight MMT gave Steve was that government spending creates money. All his work on banking is exactly compatible.
• 20:09 - Steve's two disagreements with MMT
• 21:31 - Disagreement 1: MMT says that in general, imports are a benefit and experts are a cost.
• 25:48 - Disagreement 2: The JG and UBI are actually complementary
• 27:59 - A dangerous follow up question: danger of UBI is that it could undermine the job guarantees Price anchor. Steve's response: the UBI would need to be below the job guarantee wage
• 30:25 - Have you modeled these disagreements in Minsky to confirm your view? Answer: no. There are simply much bigger fish to fry.
• 31:16 - Goodbyes for audio portion, transitioning to video
• 34:38 - Singing for Steve on a sidewalk in Princeton
• 36:01 - Duplicate of introduction, with no background music (for those with sensitive ears)