With thanks to .

Today I talk with one of the original developers of MMT, (Twitter/@. Mat is a professor of economics at the University of Missouri Kansas City, or UMKC which, according to Sam Levey, who was my first-ever guest and is also a UMKC economics PhD. student, is where MMT was born. Mat is also research director for the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity and research associate for the at Bard College. In this first of a five-part episode, Mat and I first talk about how he grew up in Philadelphia, where I also grew up and still live near. He attended Temple University in North Philly and earned a bachelor’s degree in what was originally called Pan African Studies but came to be known as African-American studies. According to Mat, quote, "everything seemed to keep coming back to economics." He says he also decided on economics because economists and their theories "affects peoples lives” in a more immediate sense than other subjects. Although all subjects are important in their own way, there is a reason, he says, that every countries’ leaders have economic advisers. Mat then talks about his long career as a heterodox economist and professor, and the difficulties he experienced and witnessed among the heterodox community, substantially due to the lack of support from (and benefit to) those in power. The infighting and factionalism he describes is similar to the concepts in his 1999 paper regarding Abba Lerner, called "Functional Finance and Full Employment." In it, he talks about how the artificial scarcity of jobs and funding imposed by the central government and currency issuer, causes bad behavior and decisions by workers and unions, in an effort to protect their artificially limited jobs at all costs. This understandably results in discrimination against the most disadvantaged. As Stephanie Kelton describes it, it is a cruel game of musical chairs. Mat calls Fred Lee an important figure in promoting and supporting a "big tent" for Post-Keynesians, in order to address some of these concerns. (This interview was Fred Lee's book, A History of Heterodox Economics.) One of the primary examples Mat gives of discrimination by neoclassicals is how heterodox economists were told that if a concept could not be modeled or expressed in math, then it wasn’t really economics. I see this as a tool to make economics inaccessible to the general public, and also as a way to take the real world, which is complicated, difficult, and beautiful, and reduce it to meaningless numbers and formulas. This is not unlike focusing on a child’s report card or standardized testing grades and ignoring the child himself. This intentionally myopic view of the world obviously ignores real world suffering and also makes it very easy to justify not alleviating it. Resources (Paul Davidson) 2004 book by Virgil Henry Storr, 2015 by New School's Mike Isaacson, "" 2011 paper by Mat Forstater, regarding Byard Rustin, called "" (The latter half of the title is indeed the same as the below Lerner paper.) Papers written by Mat (unless otherwise stated) that I read in preparation for this interview: 1999: : Some excellent insights from Abba Lerner, as it relates to the MMT-designed job guarantee (which is MMT proposed solution to Lerner's goal of always balancing full employment while avoiding inflation). 1999: (): The many reasons why the private sector cannot achieve (or maintain) full employment, and why only the public sector can (and must). 1999: (here is the same paper, but ): The only thing that can cause people to spend more (recycle their savings) is an injection of new money by the federal government – that is, deficit spending. 1999, with Warren Mosler: 2002: : A more technical look at the unique advantages the federal government has over the private sector, regarding achieving and maintaining full employment. 2005: 2005 with Warren Mosler: (One of the to those interested in learning more about MMT.) 2012: , a chapter from the...

Welcome to episode 47 of Activist #MMT. Today is part two of my two-part conversation with second year MMT-activist Ramona Massachi. Ramona is a New Jersey resident, mother of two, and an artist who creates handmade jewelry, chandeliers, and metal sculptures that light up. In this second part, Ramona and I talk about how we worked together for several months to coordinate and schedule dozens of federal candidates for private introductions to MMT with PhD economists. Before we met, Ramona helped create a community of hundreds of progressive candidates, which became a network to promote their campaigns. She discovered MMT in early 2019, and vetted these candidates for an openness to learning it, and a platform that reflects its knowledge. Between October 2019 and March 2020, several dozens of federal candidates joined our introduction sessions. This includes Cori Bush of MO-01, who just had a against a twenty-year incumbent – an incumbent whose father was in that same position since 1969. Some others were of NY-12, of OH-05, and of OR-01. Ramona ends with a story of how she owned a jewelry store at the age of 23 and how she felt pressured to selling online, on the then-fledgling internet. She knew instinctually that doing this would have instantly made her store into an international company, and made it more difficult to focus on her local customers and treat her workers well. It's also a statement on our so-called free market and the devastating effects of getting products and services needed for daily survival, from very far away. Note that this two-part conversation is not a discussion of MMT concepts but rather how MMT has affected our lives and political views.

Welcome to episode 47 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with second-year MMT activist . Ramona is a New Jersey resident, mother of two, and an artist who creates handmade jewelry, chandeliers, and metal sculptures that light up. She designs the latter by programming it into a 3-D CAD program. She is also a and talks about the struggles of personally having strong progressive values but being part of a community that is highly conservative. In addition to her Judaism, Ramona has practiced meditation since the age of sixteen. When she discovered in early 2019, she describes it as academic justification for what she had always known to be true: that there is abundance in the world and it has always been possible to provide all with what is needed to prevent suffering. We end with a good faith debate about the current state of our society, electoral process, and the elite behind at all. I play the role of the dark cynic, and she, a self-described extreme optimist. This is part one of a two-part conversation. In part two, Ramona and I talk about how we worked together for several months to coordinate and schedule private introductions to MMT for dozens of federal candidates, with PhD economists. Note that this two-part conversation is not a discussion of MMT concepts but rather how MMT has affected our lives and political views. Resources Bernie Sanders Middle East , March 22, 2016 Nathan Tankus’ blog #LearnMMT For an overview of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) with many reliable sources to learn more, here is a good place to start: On the web: containing many expert sources and layperson tutorials. On Twitter: with expert sources and layperson tutorials. On Facebook: Follow :) The pinned post contains the above web-article. Also, the on Modern Monetary for Real Progressives contains a wealth of information. Please become a monthly patron of Activist #MMT We shouldn't have to beg, but we do have to beg. So it's not *that* we beg, but *who* we beg. I am choosing to beg you, my listeners, to financially support this show. For even a dollar a month, you'll get exclusive patron-only content and updates, highlighted by around four-days access to every episode, before they're released to the public. However, you'll also get super-early access to several episodes, weeks, and sometimes even months in advance. To be clear, however, all episodes of Activist #MMT are free, for all, forever. Patrons only get the opportunity to hear them before the public. Take a listen. If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a monthly patron of Activist #MMT. You can start here: https://www.patreon.com/activistmmt. ✌️, ❤️, and #MMT 🦉

Welcome to episode 46 of Activist #MMT. Today is the final part of my three part conversation with Texas Christian University economics professor, author, and , John Harvey. We continue our conversation about inflation from both the mainstream and Post-Keynesian points of view, and also discuss the MMT-designed job guarantee. A full introduction can be found before , but for now, let’s get right back to our conversation. (Here's a link to .)

The full (and significantly-improved) audio from a panel called "8. Money, Imperialism, and Development" with Ndongo Samba Sylla and faclitated by Fadhel Kaboub. This is from the 2019 International MMT Conference in Long Island New York. It ends with a question-and-answer session. Original MMT developer Randy Wray about this panel: "This one-two punch is the best panel on MMT I have ever seen." Here is a link to , which is featured in this MMT resource post: (And, I have to say: the orange-black charger Fadhel is holding at the beginning, plus the blue-green “CM” logo on the top-right of the screen as the slides are being loaded, are both mine. So I’m forever part of the best panel on MMT Randy Wray has ever seen 😁.) Original video, with not-the-greatest audio Here is the which has audio that is servicable enouguh (with headphones and the volume turned up), but is a bit difficult to hear.

Welcome to episode 45 of Activist #MMT. Today is part two of my three-part conversation with Texas Christian University economics professor, author, and , John Harvey. In part one we talked about John himself, institutionalism, and discrimination. In the final two parts, John and I talk about inflation as seen through the lenses of both mainstream and Post-Keynesian economics. As people who challenge the overwhelmingly dominant school of economic thought, we must learn both schools. Another reason is because we want to efficiently communicate with and convince the masses who have been influenced by the dominant school – and the nearly infinite power that backs it. I was inspired to talk with John after having an unpleasant debate with a local lawyer and history-buff. He was perfectly pleasant and respectful, but his views I found to be highly cynical and disappointing. (With his permission, the entire dialogue can be found in the show notes.) As I understand it, his view is that it is essentially impossible for the central government, the one and only issuer of the currency, to safely do anything bold, without offsetting that spending one-to-one with taxation or bond sales, in advance. In his own words: I simply believe the government has to pay for those programs through taxes or serious consequences will result. Often, the tradeoff is worth it - I'd gladly pay more taxes for universal healthcare for example. This is because, regardless how desperate the program may be needed, creating the money to do it would increase the money supply, which would cause inflation, which would cause the people to rise up and literally bring down the entire government. In other words, the quantity theory of money is so volatile that even the state’s monopoly on violence is no match for the unbridled rage that would result from the inflation caused by the new money necessary to implement that bold policy. So, for example, take the Green New Deal, which is required to prevent organized human civilization from devolving into literal worldwide chaos. Daring to create the money necessary to implement this program would cause revolution and bring down the government anyway. As Randy Wray and Yeva Nersisian say in , "it is irrational to fear deficits more than we fear the annihilation of human civilization." The objection reminds me of the resistance I have received regarding the job guarantee: for example, if the job guarantee jobs are not "valuable," it would potentially demoralize workers, lead to corruption, and undermine the entire program. Another is that corruption in general would make it essentially impossible for the job guarantee to be properly managed. [I’ve included some screenshots of this criticism in the show notes] (See screenshots at the bottom for examples from a recent conversation.) The idea that these micro concerns would somehow so-dramatically undermine the entire macro purpose of these programs is, of course, absurd. For example: how valuable are the jobs we have today? Right now? Even if a job guarantee job weren’t as valuable as the jobs we currently have, would they be so bad that it would completely outweigh the horrors of involuntary unemployment? What kind of corruption do we have right now in the for-profit private sector? Even if there was some corruption in the administration of the job guarantee, again, would it be so detrimental that it would outweigh the horrors of involuntary unemployment? How much has corruption undermined other federal program such as the police, libraries, and public schools? (And of course, those who vehemently express these concerns are almost always not desperate for a job, or a better job.) As John says, the job guarantee is "elegant in its simplicity" and "just so obviously simple and straightforward." The job guarantee is as beneficial to society as seatbelts are in cars. While padded dashboards and more flexible and stronger windshields may be a good idea, it is no...

Welcome to episode 44 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with Texas Christian University economics professor, author, and , John Harvey. In this first of a three-part episode, John talks about how he decided on economics as a profession, despite mainstream thought doing its best to discourage him. He then elaborates on the concept of institutionalism, which he recently discussed on MMT Podcast [parts and ], and specifically how MMT integrates its ideas. This part one with John is the first Fred Lee’s book, . As the book makes clear, heterodox economics, which includes MMTers, Institutionalist, Marxists, and all Post-Keynesians; is resisted by mainstream economists with every fiber of their being – and the nearly infinite power that backs them. John talks about how John Galbraith told him – importantly over drinks – that mainstream economics is "dead" and "hopeless." So instead of changing the minds of people whose paychecks depend on their minds not changing, the decision was made to communicate directly with candidates, policymakers, and importantly, laypeople via interviews, blogs, and social media. In parts two and three, John and I discuss inflation as seen through the lenses of both mainstream and Post-Keynesian economics, and of course we touch on the MMT-designed job guarantee which directly addresses much of it. Resources John’s book Contending Perspectives in Economics: A Guide to Contemporary Schools of Thought, . New version coming out August 2020. , by Alfred Eichner. My Naked Capitalism article on . #LearnMMT For an overview of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) with many reliable sources to learn more, here is a good place to start: containing many expert sources, layperson tutorials, and people and places to follow. On Facebook, the on Modern Monetary for Real Progressives contains a wealth of information. Please become a monthly patron of Activist #MMT We shouldn't have to beg, but we do have to beg. So it's not *that* we beg, but *who* we beg. I am choosing to beg you, my listeners, to financially support this show. For even a dollar a month, you'll get exclusive patron-only content and updates, highlighted by around four-days access to every episode, before they're released to the public. However, you'll also get super-early access to several episodes, weeks, and sometimes even months in advance. To be clear, however, all episodes of Activist #MMT are free, for all, forever. Patrons only get the opportunity to hear them before the public. Take a listen. If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a monthly patron of Activist #MMT. You can start here: https://www.patreon.com/activistmmt. ✌️, ❤️, and #MMT 🦉

Welcome to episode 34 of Activist #MMT. Today is part two of my two part conversation with Mark Collins (Twitter/@amlighthouse). Mark is a fourth year MMT activist, Arkansas resident, and self-described "far-to-the-left socialist." In this second half, Mark talks about how he spent five decades knowing that something was wrong with his understanding of the economy, but not being able to put his finger on why.

Description continues here: https://activistmmt.libsyn.com/episode-34-22-mark-collins-some-of-the-puzzle-pieces-have-been-intentionally-turned-over

I got a call pretending (according to the caller ID) to be from my local Apple Store. This is a short recording of me pretending to believe them, up until the point where they could actually cause any damage. This demonstrates how these scammers try to scare you into giving them total remote control over your computer, how to prove it, and how to prevent it from happening.

Description continues here: https://activistmmt.libsyn.com/not-mmt-an-attempt-to-remotely-hack-my-computer-via-a-scam-phone-call