Michael Hudson, Stephanie Kelton, et al: Why Monetary Theory and Policy Is a Critical Terrain For the Left (Left Forum 2018)

Image by Dirk Gently via Flickr

with Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
June 7, 2018

OpenUnivoftheLeft on June 5, 2018

Left Forum 2018: As our demands grow bolder—true full employment, the rebuilding of the social safety net starting with Medicare for All, an overdue green and just transition—so will the naysayers’ inevitable refrain: “How will you pay for it?” Developments in our understanding of monetary theory and the money system has, thankfully, illuminated a path forward out of the trap of austerity: when we understand how money actually works, we know that the obstacles to bold action at a national scale on jobs, healthcare, and climate are political, not economic.

So what does a post-austerity left politics look like? How does an understanding of both public and private money creation inform our national visions and our local struggles? How do we shut down liberals who insist on talking about deficits? How do we exit from financialization and crushing levels of private debt? And, ultimately, what are the strategies needed to take on the over-mighty financial sector and turn the power of money creation to democratic social ends?

Left Forum 2018, Money Matters! Why Monetary Theory and Policy Is a Critical Terrain For the Left, The Democracy Collaborative, John Jay College, CUNY, 6-3-2018, New York City, NY. Stephanie Kelton, Sanders Institute, Stony Brook Univ., Gar Alperovitz, The Democracy Collaborative, Michael Hudson, Pavlina Tcherneva, Bard College, Levy Economic Institute, Raul Carrillo, Modern Monetary Network, New Economic Project.

[Hudson begins at 24:27 minutes in; Q&A begins at 1:21:10.]

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Michael Hudson is President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a Wall Street Financial Analyst, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and author of J is for Junk Economics (2017), Killing the Host (2015), The Bubble and Beyond (2012), Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire (1968 & 2003), Trade, Development and Foreign Debt: A History of Theories of Polarization v. Convergence in the World Economy (1992 & 2009) and of The Myth of Aid (1971), amongst many others. He can be reached via his website Michael Hudson, mh@michael-hudson.com.

From the archives:

Chris Hedges, Richard D. Wolff and C. Jama Adams: W.E.B. DuBois: What His Life and Work Can Teach Us Today (Left Forum 2018)

Paul Street, Glen Ford, Chris Hedges, Bruce Dixon: Imagining an Authentic 21st Century U.S. Left (Left Forum 2018)

Socialism: Our Alternative To The Madness Of The Market by Eric Ruder

“Creating Wealth” through Debt: The West’s Finance-Capitalist Road by Michael Hudson

Michael Hudson: Geithner Turfed Out by EU Bankers + There IS An Alternative To European Austerity: Modern Money Theory (MMT)

MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) as an ECB (European Central Bank) Alternative by Michael Hudson

The Historical Roots of the Economic Crisis – The Cure: Monetary Reform by Richard C. Cook