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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 10h

“MMT and rules of government borrowing”

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/09... #econsky

A new commentator left the following comment on this blog after my most recent video. They started with a quote from me: ‘And bonds in particular behave very differently in the MMT worldview. These ...

www.taxresearch.org.uk

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 19h

Curtin not Curtis (predictive text got me).

Philip Curtin “Death by Migration”, “Disease and Empire” etc

clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 19h

Reinert, Tilly, Vries, McNeill, E.L. Jones, E.W Fox, Bairoch, Goldstone, Curtis, Crosby—wonderful literature in the area of Mokyr, actually understanding the economy.

And—THOSE are models! Of the highest order: natural language+syllogistic reasoning.
Whole field needs recognition

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 19h

What’s the difference between an activist minarchist neoliberal using obsolete 1800s interest rate beliefs & an Austrian Economist?

Just the obsession w the word “malinvestment”?

(I guess also the otherwise correct rejection of the mainstream’s modeling scholasticism)

#econsky

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 1d

Now, when a government imposes taxes in ☈, *everyone* is unemployed in terms of ☈.

So what must the government do?

@mamomvpy.bsky.social

clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 1d

“There Is No Such Thing As Fiscal Policy”

‘The way we normally think of microeconomics is an Arrow-Debreu world with no money. Hence, we have a barter economy…there is no such thing as recessions in a barter economy and hence no excess capacity and no unemployment.’
#econsky

clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 1d

(marketmonetarist.com/2012/01/18/t...)

There is no such thing as fiscal policy

It can be rather traumatic for children to see their parents fight. I feel a bit like that when I see two of my heroes Scott Sumner and David Glasner discuss fiscal policy. The whole thing started …

marketmonetarist.com

clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 1d

“There Is No Such Thing As Fiscal Policy”

‘The way we normally think of microeconomics is an Arrow-Debreu world with no money. Hence, we have a barter economy…there is no such thing as recessions in a barter economy and hence no excess capacity and no unemployment.’
#econsky

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 13d

“New quantum discovery challenges Heisenberg's uncertainty principle”

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

New quantum discovery challenges Heisenberg's uncertainty principle

For centuries, scientific progress has depended on more precise tools for measuring the world around us. Galileo’s telescope revealed Jupiter’s moons and shook the geocentric universe.

www.yahoo.com

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 17d

All of #econtwitter converging on post keynesianism without even realizing it (“yes the real world is more complex than our models can capture, complexity science doesn’t really help per se, but if we add in real world dynamics & observations our work can matter…but that’s *haaard*!) #econsky

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 24d

What macroeconomic model is most useful, and what macroeconomic model is most accurate/realistic compared to empirical data?

#econsky

clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 28d

It’s 2025.
This is a top 5 journal.

People are still writing as if a currency issuer is financially constrained in its own currency

ifs.org.uk/sites/defaul... #econsky

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 28d

It’s 2025. This is a top five journal.
Crowding out, bond issuance driving rates
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3982/...

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 29d

Krugman’s Flashing Neon Sign

By Scott Fullwiler Update: Paul Krugman has posted a reply to this post that is a straw man. He and Nick Rowe are viewing this all through the lens of the old Monetarist/Keynesian debates in which…

neweconomicperspectives.org

clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · 29d

Definitive.
Lending creates deposits out of “thin air.”

“Selgin…has confirmed that the Endogenous Money view is correct. But he didn’t see this because, like almost all Neoclassical economists, he doesn’t use double-entry bookkeeping”
profstevekeen.substack.com/p/selgins-ho... #econsky

Selgin’s Hot Air on Bank Money Creation

George Selgin announced some weeks back that he planned to write a definitive critique of the argument that “banks do not simply act as intermediaries, lending out deposits that savers place with them...

profstevekeen.substack.com

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Sep 13

“A Blueprint for African Prosperity”
www.myjoyonline.com/how-african-... #econsky

How African Nations can fund their own Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - MyJoyOnline

Let's look at a monumental example that's literally reshaping the landscape of East Africa: the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

www.myjoyonline.com

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Aug 29

“when we look at the World Bank database, there is no evidence that higher interest rates down-regulate inflation.
If anything, the evidence suggests that rate hikes make inflation worse.” economicsfromthetopdown.com/2023/02/19/i... #econsky

Interest Rates and Inflation: Knives Out – Economics from the Top Down

There is strong evidence that higher interest rates don’t mitigate inflation. Instead, they might make it worse. I wade through the details here.

economicsfromthetopdown.com

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Aug 15

“The rise of MMT in China”
www.chinabankingnews.com/p/chinese-ec... #econsky

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · May 26

“What is modern monetary theory?”

theconversation.com/what-is-mode... #econsky

What is modern monetary theory? An economist explains how it could help Canada

A heterodox school of economic thought known as modern monetary theory has significant implications for how Canadians understand public debt and deficit spending.

theconversation.com

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Apr 29

“The General Relativity of Fiscal Space: Theory and Applications”

www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1... #econsky

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Apr 25

Good time to remember that profits and wages are always a political decision, not an economic one.
And provably so
#econsky

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Apr 25

"Why Are Free Traders So Emotional About Trade?"

'Those who dogmatically object to any strategic trade policy cannot be taken seriously as critics'

commonplace.org/2025/04/24/w...

Why Are Free Traders So Emotional About Trade? | Commonplace

Opponents of tariffs who dogmatically object to any strategic trade policy cannot be taken seriously anymore as critics.

commonplace.org

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Apr 23

(*caveat- an MMT lens can analyze *any* system; however, I think it is safe to say the key insights are closely tied to a system with floating exchange rates)

clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Apr 23

“MMT* seems inherently incompatible with Keynes’ bancor proposal or anything like it, due to the fixed exchange-rate mechanism of an International Clearing Union (adjustable, but imposed by the ICU)”

Discuss

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Apr 22

2024

“A CONSENSUS IS FORMING FOR IMF REFORM”

www.imf.org/en/Publicati...

A Consensus Is Forming for IMF Reform

The IMF must listen to the needs of its global membership and adapt to emerging challenges

www.imf.org

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clintballinger.bsky.social @clintballinger.bsky.social · Apr 22

I mention this bc
“1” seems to have zero likelihood of happening

“2” is always suspect & probably too narrow to force change

So we will just trundle on w the default option (key currency) despite its many flaws (& despite Trump-caused issues w the $—they won’t flip the system)