It is often claimed that Mahatma Ghand said:
- First, they ignore you
- Then they laugh at you
- Then they attack you
- Then you win.
No one can be sure Ghandi did say that. In any case, I prefer the Schopenhauer version:
- First, it appears laughable;
- Second, it is fought against;
- Third, it is considered self-evident.
And Tony Benn's is pretty good as well:
- First, they ignore you.
- Then they say you're mad.
- Then dangerous.
- Then there's a pause, and then you can't find anyone who disagrees with you.
So, where are we with MMT?
- No one is ignoring us now.
- And the laughing stage is definitely over.
- The mad/dangerous/attacking/fighting stage seems to be in full swing.
I'm looking forward to the next bit, when:
- No one disagrees with modern monetary theory.
- They do, in fact, say they believed in it all along.
- And they use it, because it is self-evident.
Are we going to get there? I think so.
Why am I so confident? Three reasons:
- This process is underway.
- The direction of travel is as predicted: the conclusion is inescapable.
- And you are helping that happen by talking about it.
And for the last, I offer my thanks.
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I have been reading about the condition of this country before the Second World War. The history tells a story of a country addled by underinvestment and ill preparedness for anything including a war of aggression against it. The parallels with today are ominous.
I feel like a victim of history; if I was religious I would be looking at Job and wondering how I could possibly escape fate or some sort of plan already made for me by others.
It all feels like a well trodden path into a trap.
Your words are comforting.
Keep going. Get a walk.
Sterling work as ever Richard, keep it up!
Before coming across your blog, it always baffled me how money works in a sovereign economy such as here in the UK. And the continuous din from most politicians and so-called economists that “there is no such thing as a Magic Money Tree” (MMT by another name?) is plainly false as evidenced by the BoE’s own admissions.
As Paul Krugman has stated, everything is political.
Thanks
Most economists have no idea what money is.
Very few are ever taught about it.
Ans accountants never are.
As Stephanie Kelton might have rephrased her quip “Nobody believes there’s a Magic Money Tree yet most people unthinkingly believe money grows on the rich. Go figure!”
🙂
I’m certainly not looking forward to the next expected financial crash, I work in the construction industry, we always get hit hard in a crash, but might the next market meltdown be an opportunity for MMT. The government will no doubt bail out various sectors, and that can be the point at which people like you point out that they are “printing money”, and this can be done at any time. People are already on the edge, another recession could be revolution inducing. Labour, the Tories, Reform will look to make us pay for the recovery. People will be desperate for an alternative.
We need to be ready to supply it.
It is self evidently the correct way of describing how a fiat money system works, with the creation of money by government spending and bank lending, and the destruction of money by taxation and loan repayment.
Anyone who says different has to explain why every central bank thinks it is correct.