I don't usually provide links to other articles, but this is not to be missed. While a bit long and confusing, it essentially points out that our notion of the 'household' as a model for how government spending works is completely ass-backwards. From this model, it follows that our notion of 'paying' for education or single payer or social security or any other social program through tax revenues is absolutely backwards too. No household can print money, but the U.S. government, through the private, bank-run Federal Reserve does. Unless you have a printing press in your basement churning out counterfeit notes, the similarity is non-existent. The 1971 move to go off the gold standard - 47 years ago - ended that. Fiscal and monetary policy are actually separate. Fiat money undermines the whole notion of government debt and 'austerity.' Private banks also create credit out of 'thin air' onto a computer screen, so there is no reason why a State Bank cannot do the same thing for citizens.
Marxists could possibly use MMT to undermine austerity-minded politicians and the world-wide banking industry...
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| The Purpose of Taxes Is Not What You Think... |
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/22/behind-the-money-curtain-a-left-take-on-taxes-spending-and-modern-monetary-theory/
By Jim Kavanagh, Counter-Punch
And I found it on the internet!
Red Frog
January 22, 2017
P.S. - Bloomberg on MMT:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-21/modern-monetary-theory-beginner-s-guide?srnd=premium
P.P.S. - Doug Henwood has an excellent article in Jacobin on the drawbacks of MMT, mentioning that the rich hope they won't have to pay taxes, the difficulty of issuing govt. bonds based on it, the imperial dollar standard behind it, its disconnection from capital and obviously, inflation. He bases this on analyzing the neo-liberals supporting it.
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