The destruction of Greece – the slow-burn decline of a nation

Herman Van Rompuy, the former European Union president told us all we needed to know about democracy in the EU when he spoke to a a gathering in Louvain (Belgium) in 2010. In his speech (September 8, 2012) – A Test of Solidarity – Von Rompuy said that the Eurozone meant a “loss of sovereignty for all”. He went on to wax lyrical about the need for solidarity – “Solidarity is a duty, not only a right”. Unfortunately, his behaviour when in power, and the policies pursued by other EU bosses was not consistent with their narratives. Their constant claims that solidarity and convergence marked the aspirations of the EU was never borne out in reality. In the case of Greece, the Troika inflicted such harsh policies that, not only has the material prosperity of the nation been trashed, but now, evidence is emerging that the underlying physical and mental health of the people has been significantly damaged. One step short of genocide. The slow-burn destruction of Greece and its people continues.

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US labour market improves but GFC residue remains

On October 5, 2018, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their latest labour market data – Employment Situation Summary – September 2018 – which showed that total non-farm employment from the payroll survey rose by only 134,000. The labour force survey measures show that employment growth outstripped the growth in the labour force, which resulted in the unemployment rate declining by 0.2 points to 3.69 per cent. The US labour market is reaching unemployment rates not seen since the late 1960s, although the participation rate is well below the pre-GFC levels and a substantial jobs deficit remains. The employment-population ratio rose by 0.1 points in September. Taken together, the US labour market continued to improve in September but remains some distance from full employment.

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The Weekend Quiz – October 6-7, 2018 – answers and discussion

Here are the answers with discussion for this Weekend’s Quiz. The information provided should help you work out why you missed a question or three! If you haven’t already done the Quiz from yesterday then have a go at it before you read the answers. I hope this helps you develop an understanding of modern monetary theory (MMT) and its application to macroeconomic thinking. Comments as usual welcome, especially if I have made an error.

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Reflections on the 2nd International MMT Conference – Part 2

I am now on a train heading back from Galway to Dublin for tonight’s event. This is Part 2 of my responses to the conversations I had and presentations I attended during the Second International Modern Monetary Theory which was held last weekend in New York City. In Part 1 I focused on the importance of starting an activist program with a thorough grounding in the theory and practice that the core Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) team has developed over the last 25 or so years. As MMT becomes more visible in the public domain and seems to offer much to those with progressive policy aspirations, there is tendency to adopt a stylised version of it (a sort of shorthand version), and sloganise MMT. Part 1 cautioned against that tendency. The latter part of Part 2 also introduced the idea that there is only one Job Guarantee and many of the multitude of employment guarantee proposals that have popped up like weeds after rain in recent years do not have the essential technical design features to make them consistent with MMT. I continue that theme in this blog post.

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Reflections on the 2nd International MMT Conference – Part 1

I have very little free time today. I am now in Dublin and am travelling to Galway soon for tonight’s event (see below). Last evening I met with some Irish politicians at the Irish Parliament and had some interesting conversations. I will reflect on the interactions I have had so far in Ireland in a later blog post. But today (and next time I post) I plan to reflect briefly on my thoughts about the Second International Modern Monetary Theory which was held last weekend in New York City. Around 400 participants were in attendance, which by any mark represents tremendous progress. The feeling of the gathering was one of optimism, enthusiasm and, one might say without to much license, boundless energy. So a big stride given where we have come from. Having said that, I had mixed reactions to the different sessions and the informal conversations I had over the three-day period, which might serve as a cautionary warning not to get to far ahead of ourselves. This blog post is Part 1 of my collection of some of those thoughts. They reflect, to some extent, the closing comments I made on the last panel last Sunday.

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I hope the Italian government holds its nerve against Brussels

Only a short blog post today as I am travelling for a fair part of the day on my way from New York City to Dublin for my next speaking engagement. Tomorrow’s blog post will cover some reflections on the 3-day Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) conference that finished yesterday in New York. There are several things I thought about the event, some of which I will share in public, the others, in private, with the organisers. But, today’s post, is a brief reflection on the latest crisis that is about to engulf the Eurozone. I am referring to the announcement by the Italian government that it will target a fiscal deficit of 2.4 per cent of GDP. The elites are up in arms. I hope that Italy holds its nerve.

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When 232 thousand becomes 630 – quite, simply horrifying Brexit losses

I read a lot of articles in the British and other press about how the Brexit camp lied or mislead voters about the benefits of Brexit. Apparently there is an immorality in the leave camp that led it to deliberately dupe the voting public and allow a bunch of racists to steal the vote. According to this narrative, a new vote is necessary to bring out the truth so that democracy rules. What a joke. The concept of democracy for the Europhiles in Britain is to keep holding national votes supported by a massive disinformation campaign until the votes delivers the result they want. That seems to be what is going on. In the meantime, the unsuccessful voting outcomes are put down to the ignorance of the voters, or the racism of the voters or some deficiency in the voters rather than deficiencies in the proposal the Europhiles are trying to push. And the on-going campaign has to be fuelled by a constant repetition of the disaster estimates. The case of the UK financial services sector is a classic demonstration of this phenomenon. It is at the point of being a ridiculous sham.

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