There was good news from the SNP elections at the weekend.
Both Kairin van Sweeden and Tim Rideout were elected to the SNP policy development committee. Both are committed to MMT and a Scottish currency.
Perhaps as important, Chris Hanlon is the Policy Development Convener and so runs this committee. He also happens to be a cofounder of MMT Scotland and is on the SNP NEC as a result of bein this committee's convenor.
It is not my job to do party politics, and the SNP is not the only pro-independence party in Scotland. But it is good to see MMT exponents winning places where they can influence debate.
I wish them good luck with the frustrations to come.
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Their presence is badly needed.
Their own Finance Secretary said yesterday “But let’s remember – it doesn’t come from a big UK Government bank account somewhere. Every single penny of it is borrowed and will have to be repaid as much by taxpayers in Scotland as anywhere else”
I realise she was making a point about Scotland having no input into how the furlough scheme works, but still..
They are so wrong….
She was a guest on BBC Radio Scotland last week and host John Beattie put it to her did she believe in the MMT argument that the national debt does not have to be paid off. She avoided the question.
I don’t think Beattie is a fan, but credit to him for making MMT part of the discussion. Slowly but surely MMT is making progress.
Also heard the interview last week and some others he has had with other commentators. I always liked Beattie as a rugby player but he is beginning to grate as a news show host.
Can’t remember now whether it was reference to ‘magic money tree’ or debt repayment that had me shouting at the radio and did hope that she might have responded more effectively.
You are right, don’t think he is a fan, and is often quite aggressive, probably because he hasn’t done his research and his accountancy background, which he continually reminds listeners and, rigid focus on ‘balancing the books’. (Apologies to Richard for the accountancy reference but in Beattie’s case it does appear to be a limiting factor in his understanding of macroeconomics.)
These appointments are encouraging but don’t think we should be complacent. But, don’t let us be complacent! Having a voice doesn’t mean it will be listened to! We still need to pressure the ‘hi-heid yins’, and Kate Forbes is one of them. to listen to a wider spectrum of opinion rather than specifically or only to Wilson and Higgins and their neoliberal agenda.
The first time I hear any one of them get close to mentioning MMT in any context will be a first and when I truly will rejoice that progress is being made.
Beattie is severely hampered by his accounting training into viewing the world solely through a microeconomic lens
He is not alone, but he has a public duty to do better
Thats my sense too. John Beattie, to his credit, however did ask listeners to message him their thoughts on MMT, so I emailed the show this message as soon as I got home…
“John, Many thanks for mentioning Modern Monetary Theory on the show. As a former rugby coach, I wonder if you’ve ever come across a rugby fan fretting about the number of points the SRU have expended in the course of a season. Of course nobody in their right mind would worry about that. The UK government is the same wrt to £s as the SRU is wrt rugby points. In neither case is it a burden on the governing authority. However that’s not to say MMT economists want to spend spend spend!
Regards Stephen Ferguson”
Whether he saw it and read it out, I’ve no idea…I had DIY to do 🙂
However there’s no denying that MMT is part of the conversation. But for it to really take off we desperatly need a UK politician as brave and switched on as AOC willing to actually say this out loud. And moreover be willing to hit back at all the immeadiate jibes they would face in response. That would be the true breakthrough moment for me.
“the frustrations to come” – I imagine they will be nothing like as bad for them and many others as the frustrations have been over the past four years.
So many clueless politicians in the UK having no idea about Safe Asset Money, how its evolved and what the implications are for the UK economy, Brexit and global trading. Effectively they’re amateurs destroying this country out of sheer ignorance!
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3557233
I suspect that Scotland has more problems with independence, which appears to be tied to rejoining the EU, than Boris’ intransigence.
The Scottish fiscal deficit is – according to the IFS – a bit over 8%, while the maximum permitted under EU rules is 3%. And then there will be the effects of the pandemic. Furthermore, membership of the Euro is mandatory for new members.
Too boring to go through this again
Watch the video on financial capitalism
London strips Scotland bare using this
SO it records a deficit now
And won’t when indepdnent
An interesting video with which I have some sympathy, but having spent the early part of my career in civil engineering, where I might have had many £millions of muck-shifting plant on site for a few months, to be followed by many £millions more in very large cranes etc. Without plant hire companies, the cost of entry into civil engineering would have been prohibitive, rentiers must be looked at on some form of cost/benefit basis rather than as a “evil.” That said, rentier activity is in need of supervision, but not by politicians.
I do agree that banking is a bad example and I suggest that their £23 billion grant from us – the poor taxpayers – might be a place to start looking for fairness.
That said, I’ve had a quick look at the Scottish argument and quite frankly it seems rooted in days long past and the chances of recovering anything seem as good as our chances of getting back any of what we have paid into the EU.
I admit I find your argument, well, hard to find
“SO it (Scottish Govt) records a deficit now. And won’t when independent”
You can’t say that. Maybe it will and maybe it won’t. The deficit of any currency issuing government is the surplus, or savings, of everyone else.
And no government can know, or control, what everyone else will want to do.
The big mistake of the Lib Dem Coalition was to try to stop everyone saving after the 2008 GFC as they sought to reduce their debts. Sure they can do that to some extent by making everyone poorer but it’s hardly good economics, or even good politics.
I can suggest that the record keeping is wrong now, and that a proper national accoiuting system will show something quite different
“It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt”
― Mark Twain
I haven’t thought since I have been looking in on this site that Richard needs a Praetorian guard.
He doesn’t
As Richard has said on a previous thread: “Trying to run Scotland without its own currency would be like a person trying to be a carpenter without having a saw.” Anyone with an MMT understanding will agree 100%.
But they’d also, perhaps, go further and say there’s no point having your own currency if someone else sets the rules on how the currency should be managed. This will present a dilemma for a future Scottish government wishing to rejoin the EU.
The first thing the EU will insist on is that they show they are managing their currency in a way that is compatible with eurozone rules. They will want the Scottish government to demonstrate they are capable of “aligning” the Scottish currency to the euro in preparation for adopting the euro. They’ll be back using someone else’s currency effectively.
That really is good news Richard, thanks!
Sorely needed in this snafu world.
Small correction – Chris Hanlon and not Colin Hanlon.
Apologies!
Very good news indeed, and congratulations to Kairin and Tim – best of luck, I know you’ll be working hard to get proper policy in place. Sorry I can’t be part of the SNP and offer any support on the inside, but I’m still relying on you both for much 🙂 . No pressure.
Having watched and listened to both Kairin and Tim as well as your good self Richard in the discussion on Sunday I agree that their election to those positions is excellent news. Their expertise in the area will be extremely hard for Sturgeon to ignore or for Andrew Wilson to dismiss.
MMT tells us that we must mint a Scottish currency soonest after or on Independence Day. Starting the process soonest after a Yes vote. This can be explained to voters who are emotionally tied to Sterling.
if we let the banks continue to issue script then our physical notes won’t change, the coins will have to and BoE notes will have to vanish. Deposit them in the bank for good Scottish money. Barclays in Scotland would have to actually stock Scottish notes.
I grew up in NZ with the mighty NZ$. NZ would kill for many of Scotland’s natural resources, level of development, industrialisation and very importantly closeness to major markets. Scandinavia and Europe are just over there. A Scot£’s main problem will be becoming too high for our exports but under MMT we can fix that.
NZ could do with a good dose of MMT in the national conversation. Recent governments ran surpluses to ‘pay down debt’ which was illiterate economic lunacy. A Labour govt did it trumpeting it’s fiscal prudence.
The Common Weal Group did well partly because afaik they were the only one with a slate. (Ie a list of names of who to vote for for each post). If even 20% of voters follow a slate and the rest vote randomly the slate candidates will do really well.
I voted for the CWG slate but was a little uncomfortable when I read in The National the next day that it was a triumph for candidates hostile to recognition of trans people. I think transphobia is a really concerning issue for the CWG to be associated with. I otherwise support most of their views.
I think it’s going to be an interesting year for the CWG, perhaps a rocky one. I also expect the “other side” to have a slate of their own next time which seems to me an elementary part of political organising.
I do not think the CWG is transphobic
But it also does not think it the biggest issue in Scottish politics
I suspect most would agree with that