RadioMMT

Anne and Kev apply the MMT lens to the news of the day.Kev reflects on the development of the Labor Party from a workers' party to a populist party. Anne Looks at the billionaires and multi-national corporations that behave like they can tell governments what to do. And Kev goes out on a limb with his MMT-informed predictions for MAGA America. Show NotesElon Musk’s Hostile Takeover | Lever Time (podcast)Notes on the Crises (website)Nathan TankusTime to outlaw the credit rating agencies (blog post)Bill Mitchell, December 23, 2009Big Spending States Face Credit Ratings Downgrades (newspaper article)by Shane WrightThe Age, 5 February 2025States facing credit downgrades due to ‘lax fiscal discipline’ Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck. Additional AudioToo Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck.NY-LA by Full Flower Moon Band

You've probably heard the buzz words:- cryptocurrency- central bank digital currencies, CBDCs- stable coins- digital wallets- e-cashWhat's it all about? Is there anything to the hype, or to the alarm? Law professor, Rohan Grey, takes a well-honed MMT machete to some of the confusion that has sprung up around these new money-like technologies, and he clears the way for us to make informed decisions about the kind of society we want to live in. Show Notes Modern Money Network (organisation)"We keep two critical questions in mind:What is money?How does money work?”Cloud Money (book) by Brett ScottBitcoin, ether, dogecoin – Chalmers says the future may be crypto (news article)Shane Wright, December 28, 2024Crypto tip-toe: Jim Chalmers suddenly looking a tad desperate (news article)Michael West, Dec 29, 2024 Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck Additional AudioToo Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album StarstruckMoney by Pink Floyd, from the album The Dark Side of the Moon

Worried about the multiple crises we are living through? Housing, cost of living, inequality, poverty, food waste, species extinction, floods, bushfires... People smarter than us know how we can de-grow towards a sustainable, circular economy. And we will be much happier and healthier as a result!We hear from some of those smart people -- Dr Mark Diesendorf, Dr Marilyn Waring, and Dr Steven Hail -- in an excerpt from a podcast called The Sustainable Hour, hosted by Mik Aidt. Anne agrees it is all soooo doable, and Kev gives us a dose of reality. Show Notes Sustainability scientists’ critique of neoclassical economics (mentioned article)Mark Diesendorf, Geoff Davies, Thomas Wiedmann, Joachim H. Spangenberg, and Steven HailGlobal Sustainability journal, Volume 7, 23 September 2024  Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck. Additional Audio The path to a green economy (podcast episode from The Sustainable Hour, 15th of December 2024) Too Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck.

This week Kevin discusses some of the implications of the return of Trump with fellow MMTers, Jackson and Kent. Could there be some unforeseen advantages having a right wing maniac in the US drivers seat, or is this just an optomistic fantasy? This raises the question: what is the purpose of money? The consensus we come to is that money should be a public utility used for the public good. However to make that happen we need to organise. Public Money, Public Good.

Anne asks economist Dr. Steven Hail, what do we have to fear from Project 2025? The answer might surprise you. What's more, we answer the implied question. If most of our political leaders, economists, bureaucrats etc do not understand how the monetary system works, then how is it the system works as well as it does? (Of course we could be managing our monetary system, and our economy, so they serve people and planet a lot better than they currently do.) Show Notes Project 2025 (chapter 24) Lever Time (episode 3, podcast)Project 2025 Is Even More Radical Than You Thinkproduced by Arjun Singh, 5th November 2024The Lever Time podcast is hosted by award-winning journalist, and Bernie Sanders' 2020 speechwriter, David Sirota.Modern Money Lab (events)Beyond the Deficit Myth: Money, Government and the Public Interest.A new interactive weekend seminar using Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) as a guide to economic policy analysis, institutional reform, economic development, and promoting social justice and a transition to ecological sustainability. Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck. Additional Audio Too Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck.The Morning Edition (podcast) with Jacqueline Maley,Inside Politics: Treasurer Jim Chalmers, 23 August 2023

For a short time, for a mere three decades, Australia came close to securing the foundations for a truly egalitarian society. Economic historians look back upon this era as "The Golden Age". Full employment was the key to this shared prosperityYet in a shocking betrayal of workers, labour activists abandoned the struggle to eliminate involuntary unemployment. Why? And can we return to a full employment economy? Show Notes The Hawke-Keating Hijack : the ALP in transition, by Dean Jaensch (book) Trove (database)Free, online collections from Australian libraries, universities, museums, galleries and archives. A collaborative effort maintained by the National Library of Australia. Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World (book)by William Mitchell and Thomas Fazi Political Aspects of “Buffer Stock” Employmentby Peter Kriesler & Joseph Halevi, 2016 (article) Modern Monetary Theory - Bill & Warren's excellent adventure (book)by William Mitchell and Warren Mosler The Job Guarantee -- Weakening Worker Power? (article)by Michael Hiscox, Aug 22, 2020Challenge Magazine, The Magazine of the Left of the Australian Labor Party Unionists for a Job Guarantee  UFJG on facebook Theme Music Pleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck Additional Audio Too Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck

Human and planetary flourishing is possible despite the multiple crises we face. One solution at our fingertips is a "full employment economy". What stands in the way of implementing this solution? Not money. We can financially afford an economy where everyone has the amount of paid work they want. Political will is the obstacle. In fact Labor are heading in the opposite direction in their efforts to increase the rate of unemployment.We speak with Owen Bennett, who believes he has found the Labor government's Achilles heel, and how to put pressure on them to live up to their name. Show Notes Australia’s Labor Movement Has Abandoned Unemployed Workers, by Owen Bennett (article)Jacobin, 30 July 2024 Participation, Job Search and Mobility, Australia(ABS publication, replaces "Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia")"In  February 2024: 1.9 million people were not working but wanted to work" Understanding the Journey to Full Employment, by Sarah Hunter (speech)Keynote Address to the Barrenjoey Economic Forum, 11 September 2024 Episode 3, of the ABC documentary series, "Nemisis" Trove (database)Free, online collections from Australian libraries, universities, museums, galleries and archives. A collaborative effort maintained by the National Library of Australia. Full Employment (paper)ACTU congress 2024 Statement on the Conduct of Monetary PolicyThe Treasurer and the Reserve Bank Board, 8 December 2023 Modern Monetary Theory - Bill & Warren's Excellent Adventure (book)by William Mitchell and Warren Mosler The Hawke-Keating hijack: the ALP in transitionby Dean Jaensch (book) Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck Additional AudioToo Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck Centrelink Hold MusicSummer Stroll by Andrew Cotteedescribed as "easy swinging vintage orchestral with romantic strings & playful twiddles" Balrog Boogie, by Diablo Swing Orchestra

Can anyone explain why we have a "per capita recession"? Anne & Kev can't help noticing the government is in surplus and not spending enough of our public money, and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is putting a high price on money. Could it be the Labor government is more interested in the optics than the actuality of being good economic managers? Could it be that interest rate decision-making isn't much more than a puritanical morality play?Anne & Kev have a good crack at both fiscal and monetary policy this hour.Show Notes "Changes to RBA Act will further entrench the depoliticisation of economic policy and reduce democratic accountability"blog entry by Professor Bill Mitchell, November 29, 2023 Modern Monetary Theory - Bill & Warren's excellent adventure (book)by William Mitchell and Warren Mosler, 2024 Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck. Additional AudioToo Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck.Look How High I Climb, by Nina Rose Balrog Boogie, by Diablo Swing Orchestra Brand New GirlfriendExzel Music Publishing (freemusicpublicdomain.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Panel Participation by Michele Bullock, Governor, at the ASIC Annual Forum, Melbourne21 November 2023The Morning Edition (podcast) with Jacqueline Maley,Inside Politics: Treasurer Jim Chalmers, 23 August 2023Jim Chalmers comments on the RBA’s interest rate decisionSky New, Sep 24, 2024Reserve Bank of Australia Media Conference (RBA youtube)Media Conference – Monetary Policy Decision – 24 September 2024

If the Labor party opens the neoliberal door a crack, and the Liberal party kicks that door off its hinges, how do we fix that gaping hole through which the destructive winds of inequality and climate destablisation continue to blow? Neither of our major parties in Australia seems willing to do so.The answers are pretty straightforward. Any handyman could tell you, "it's a no-brainer". Although, the politics is not... unless we organise! ShownotesAustralia's welfare is 'breeding a nation of bludgers' amid fruit picker shortageSky News Australia, Nov 9, 2020 Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck. Additional AudioToo Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck.Elevator Music

With the help of Martha Knox-Haly, and John Haly, we examine the worst ever neoliberal policy that continues to inflict suffering on hundreds of thousands of Australians. Just how airy-fairy are the economics behind this policy, and how could unions and Labor governments have fallen for all this? Show Notes Fiat Socialism by Carlos García Hernández (book review) How Labour Built Neoliberalism by Elizabeth Humphrys (book) The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton (book)Choosing unemployment: what of job seekers? by John Haly – (article - part 1) Choosing unemployment: what of job seekers? by John Haly (article – part 2) Inside Politics: Treasurer Jim Chalmers (podcast)The Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy (RBA Statement) Changes to RBA Act will further entrench the depoliticisation of economic policy and reduce democratic accountability (blogpost) Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck. Additional AudioToo Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck.