For most people Stephanie Kelton's new book 'The Deficit Myth' is the book of the week, and rightly so, but I read it a while ago, which is how I got on its back cover. So I have been reading something else:
I will be honest; I have not finished this yet, but it is incredibly well written and compelling.
It is also hopeful. I like this from the title page:
Keynes reserved the right to change his mind.
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I prefer the later quote!
I dislike the quote “in the long run we are all dead ” because because it is referenced to the individual self rather than all humans. Most would hope future generations will not be dead and a reasonable goal in the time we have here is to make the a better place for the next generation. Much better is the question of Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, who asked, will future generations say that their ancestors were wise?
Very good
They are not inconsistent. Much can be achieved in the long run, but we might not live to see it. Planting tree for example.
From what I have read of Keynes, he was a very wise man who learnt to be wise like the best of us – by making mistakes, and having the courage to change his mind as a result, instead of being swept along by ‘received wisdom’.
He was a truly reflective practitioner of economics unlike to many others who seem to pick a theory and stick with it regardless.
Mind you, they say the age of enlightenment is just about dead.
What strikes me about MMT – why I approve of it – is that it is more situational approach to macro economics in that it is not a ‘set it and forget’ approach – when the context changes – say full employment (or near as) is achieved, then policy changes.
We all like to think that we search for the truth in a matter, but the truth changes too – that is where the art is in MMT macro economics for me and why the ossified, dead and undynamic theories related to Neo-liberalism fall flat on their face all the time. MMT also enables and asserts a State’s role in the economy – something which many Neo-liberals cannot tolerate because of their anti-State ideology.
Mindful of what you said about people expecting you to do their web searches, I offer this. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Price-Peace-Democracy-Maynard-Keynes-ebook/dp/B07WPQD8ZX
There was more to Keynes than economics.
The link is Amazon and there are other people to buy from.
Thanks
Richard,
You might want to look at and comment on this article that appeared on zero hedge this morning.
I’m not sure how widely read Goldmoney.com ( the source) is, but I believe zerohedge.com is.
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/mmt-ephemeral-cult-symptomatic-peak-macroeconomics
Thanks very much for the blog, reading it is very much a part of my morning ritual.
I’ve always disliked Zerohedge, having been aware of it for many years
As far as I recall, it’s very pro gold standard, isn’t it?
The article feels like it is
So capitalist fundamentalist as well
I won’t waste my time
I have always thought that gold was the ultimate “greater fool” investment. You buy a gold bar. You can’t eat it, or wear it, or read it. You hope that someone will buy it from you for a higher price than you paid. The buyer hopes that someone will buy it from them at a higher price than they paid. The someone in turn hopes…. Amazing how many clever people can’t see that there might eventually be a problem. But then gold is different because it is a “traditional store of value”. Also because it comes from a hole in the ground, rather than a printing press. After all, the holes in the ground are found by chance, rather than as an intelligent response to need.
Interesting counter-balance book (in theory) to Keynes in regard to the latter’s “The Consequences of the Peace”:-
“A Perfidious Distortion of History: the Versailles Peace Treaty and the success of the Nazis”
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfidious-Distortion-History-Versailles-success/dp/1911617281/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=A+Perfidious+Distortion+of+History%3A+the+Versailles+Peace+Treaty+and+the+success+of+the+Nazis&qid=1592053967&sr=8-1
I’ve not read the book just the blurb but it reminded me of the argument that the Gold Standard acted as a prompt for imperialist aggression in the sense that a country could escape the “Gold Standard collar” to build itself up by taking over other countries both to expand its industrial production as well as secure raw material resources for that expansion. Keynes I know had some understanding of this but what I don’t know is how much he understood about Hitler using MMT in the form of MEFO certificates to carry on the imperialism as a response to the “Gold Standard collar.”
This is an important issue given the original idea behind the Gold Standard was to help guarantee payments for international goods and materials. After World War II the American dollar became a sort of quasi-Gold Standard since the United States promised other countries they could redeem American dollars for gold. This continued until Nixon stopped this redemption and the dollar floated. This didn’t end “imperialism” though in that China resorted to currency rigging to maintain the hegemony of its Communist ideology because failure to grow the Chinese economy would have resulted in the overthrow of that hegemony. Notably because of its high population China so far hasn’t had the need to “commandeer” workers from other countries for manufacturing purposes, automation and AI a big contributing factor here.
Logically therefore it seems reasonable to me to say that Keynes has still not succeeded in delivering “economic peace” in the world because there’s no agreement to a set of equitable trading rules that allows a country to play “catch up” in developing its economy for its citizens whilst protecting the value of its floating currency.
Catching up does protect the value of its currency
The problem is that trade is too often used as a form of war – and the U.S are past masters at it.
Michael Hudson has some good books on this issue – ‘Trade, Development & Foreign Debt’ (2009) plus ‘Super Imperialism’ (2003). There are others too of course.
Given the development of modern communications and AI, plus the fact that its draconian laws on the number of children in a family never worked, expansion for China is unlikely to arrive in that form.
Look at the dates. Almost as if Keynes was more optimistic in hard times than in the ‘roaring twenties’…as if his wisdom developed with age, and with the age, as if only in an existential crisis could man realise his individual power on the collective good.
And then he shared his wisdom.
We just need to listen and learn, despite the cacophony.
Shame that von Hayek and Friedman are not still around to change their minds as well. But as uncontrolled market ideologues they probably wouldn’t.
If you fancy a day out, go to Kings College, Cambridge and see where Keynes did his work. There’s even a building named after him and there’s a fine a choice of his personal papers
https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/archive-centre/online-resources/guide-to-the-modern-archives