BlackRock's Fink: Modern Monetary Theory Is 'Garbage'

Mar.07 -- Laurence Fink, chairman and chief executive officer at BlackRock, discusses China's demand for U.S. Treasuries, modern monetary theory, and why deficits matter. He speaks with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker from the BlackRock Wealth Symposium in Zurich on "Bloomberg Surveillance."

[@genecat]

It's heartbreaking he forgot that deficit spending saved BlackRock.

[@matrixman8582]

Which is why deficit spending should end. It's corporate welfare

[@preventablesuffering6239]

or we can shift policy so that deficit spending bolsters up the greater economy as a whole rather than bolstering up the select chosen.

[@debbiedogs1]

@@matrixman8582 - no, deficit spending is the only thing that puts money into our economy, but the corrupt who hijacked govt in the 70s have arranged that deficit spending enriches THEM via various scams, and they have caused decline to the country, the economy, and to the lives of the American people. Deficit spending should be directed to those who need it and to help the economy be healthy.

[@matrixman8582]

@@debbiedogs1 Deficit spending is what puts money into the pockets of the wealthy. But it boosts GDP so it looks like we're all getting richer

[@debbiedogs1]

@@matrixman8582 - yes, the corrupt in power have arranged to enrich themselves with it, but the more of us who know how federal money works, the more we can DEMAND that deficit spending be done as per the Constitution directs, which is to spend to provide for the good of all. This econ expert tells us - mythfighter.com/2019/01/24/if-you-could-provide-free-comprehensive-healthcare-to-everyone/

[@peterscherling9000]

The flowers are just beautiful!

[@Techaktien]

#Facts

[@ThePorschefan]

They do make the place colorful and alive, don't they

[@VeryDramatic]

Do Any Of You Happen To Know Where I Could Buy A Few?

[@emceeunderdogrising]

Tullips are beautiful. They are stealing the show here.

[@pakpala1]

But the man is ugly aka garbage.

[@Poochie1]

For a guy that is the CEO of a company managing trillions of USD, he is very confused.

[@nohopeequalsnofear3242]

No one knows what this economy is doing.... no one. I knew sears and GM would one day go bankrupt. Do you know how many people lost money shorting a garunteed bet? Im glad i never shorted the stock. Gold defies logic. Bitcoin are tulip bulbs. Up is down. The world is crazy.... im just a little guy in a small town in the usa. Mr. Fink is in L.A. I dont think he knows more than me. But I appreciated his views on bonds

[@ronagoodwell2709]

He's all over the map with his explanations, meanwhile his hands are describing imaginary charts and graphs that contradict what he says. The upshot: raising his taxes won't help the economy. And retirement... he wants to get his hands on social security.

[@atlas42185]

You're confusing inarticulate with confused. The guy obviously knows a great deal, the way he communicates is unoptimized. Further, he gets cut off in the middle of his sentence.

[@Poochie1]

@@atlas42185 China demand of US Treasuries is a function of the trade. It is very simple. Also, when I listen to all those economist talking about the economy, I have the feeling that nobody understands whats going on. Especially those at the FED.

[@billmelater6470]

@Poochie: Considering that you're not legally allowed to use anything else, I would have to ask what you expect?

[@libertarianPinoy]

MMT = deficit spending is not a bad thing until it is.

[@TheTokkin]

yes. nominals do not limit govt spending, only inflation will.

[@lazysod3]

Isn’t that true of everything? That’s a meaningless statement. Maybe bc you don’t actually understand MMT.

[@parkeresposito9554]

@@lazysod3 I don’t think you understand MMT. There’s a difference between M1 and M3 money supply.

[@MrDanielfff777]

@@parkeresposito9554 what is m1

[@sethseth9059]

Hasn't hurt Japan one bit. Nearly a quadrillion in debt and no inflation.

[@williamwilson6499]

He said nothing of value.

[@infinitynoka2209]

More than summers, at least he raises bond yields and changes in that, which I am towards agreeing that monetary policy alone may not be able to resolve. Fiscal policy to control inflation resulting from that will be important.

[@urbanverificationist]

Fink is living proof that the Peter Principle is alive and well. This man as gone way beyond his level of competence.

[@Cinderspinal]

I studied the Peter Principle! Very interesting, I saw it at FIAT where I worked for one year, very incompetent people with vast history of making great cars... Not anymore.

[@sean9820]

Level of competence.

[@urbanverificationist]

@@sean9820 Thank you..

[@johnkim5125]

wdym? Context?

[@jamesrawlings5781]

@@johnkim5125 What context do you need?

[@jackmadden1156]

Love how he says "deficits are bad" but also says "taxes are bad" basically saying "no government." Not to mentions US has this massive deficit because of it bailing out wall street billionaires like him.

[@nehmanator333]

Yup. "We love a big military, hate big deficits, but can't pay taxes.." so umm...yeah

[@Smoomty]

Deficits ARE bad and taxes ARE bad lol. The US has a massive defecit because they waste so much money on government programs that don’t even work very well

[@davesmith3289]

@@Smoomty "Deficits ARE bad and taxes ARE bad lol" Is that a fact? That's weird, because last time I checked, the only places on planet earth that I would actually want to live are high-tax countries that are constantly running budget deficits. In fact, I can't even name ONE single low-tax country with regular budget surpluses, let alone one that I would actually want to live in. Can you? What's the name of this low-tax/no-tax budget surplus country you want to live in? Utopia?

[@btc1m654]

@@davesmith3289 Liechtenstein, Monaco, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar, Andorra, Estonia, San Marino. These are a couple examples, what do these countries have in common? They generally are small countries which makes governments slightly more efficient and they also don’t spend obscene amounts of money on the military like the U.S does. And most of them offer some form of free healthcare.

[@davesmith3289]

@@btc1m654 I wouldn't want to live in any of those places. They're all shitholes, which one do you live in?

[@achinthmurali5207]

Printing machines go brrrrrr

[@blakelewison9872]

Construction workers give more value to society than any of these so called business leaders. Why do we take these people seriously?

[@ryandavies6243]

No they don’t 🤣

[@Niko_from_Kepler]

Because they have the monetary power. They can create and destroy tons of value because of the huge amount of capital they control.

[@xkidmidnightx]

@@ryandavies6243I’d take one construction worker over 6 million of these hook 👃 civilization destroyers

[@doggingnoob]

I am not an MMTer but he said “modern monetary theory is garbage” then demonstrated he doesn’t understand it, and then said something that is consistent with MMT. Of course deficits matter :’)

[@luckerooni7628]

MMT, aka neo-chartalism is the belief that the state created money, not two individuals industrializing their ability to exchange goods and services. And no, deficits do not matter in MMT. They are a means to an end, not an obstacle to overcome. If you disagree, you don't understand the very basics of MMT, and yes it is idiotic and full of shit.

[@doggingnoob]

​@@luckerooni7628 Yes they do. MMTers do not think or say or argue that you can run perpetual, infinitely large deficits. (That is the sense in which I meant 'they matter'). They are pretty consistent with the mainstream on that one. My understanding is that their argument is that deficits do not matter in the way that mainstream/neoclassical economics say they do, i.e. a sovereign currency issuer that borrows in its own currency cannot go bankrupt because it can meet liabilities by issuing new currency.

[@sethseth9059]

@@luckerooni7628 Two individuals industrializing create value. The central banks create the means of universal exchange; money. It's you who don't understand sovereign fiat currencies.

[@nohopeequalsnofear3242]

Fink thinks any taxes on billionaires is a rancid idea

[@johndough23]

yes because at this point taxes mean little more than punitive actions and have little to do with why we have deficits. But the public, ignorant as they are, love Eat the Rich so there you go. The reason we have wealth inequality is because we have allowed the private economy to die at the feet of Walmart thinking and destructive trade policies. Nixon-Reagan sealed our fate.

[@withoutlimits16]

He needs to talk to warren mosler

[@spiritofgoldfish]

Today, commercial banks have the privilege of creating money as credit. They oppose governments creating their own money, because that would make economies less dependent on bankers and bondholders. Opposing Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), banks and bondholders demand that governments finance their budget deficits by borrowing at interest instead of simply creating their own money by fiat. Michael Hudson. The Destiny of Civilization

[@johndough23]

But people love Credit Unions and small regional banks, go figure. The problem is the Government spending YOUR money. Its dumb money deciding how smart people should live. The more centralized the more clueless. MMT hopes to send this madness into Chaos.

[@spiritofgoldfish]

@@johndough23 Taxes aren't too high, the wrong things are taxed. Rentiers have moved taxation onto labor, while economic rent is what should be taxed away.

[@DonVoghano]

Funny thing is that deficits grew most under the tenure of these deficit hawks with all their tax cuts to themselves and austerity for everyone else... It's like watching firemen who spray diesel onto fires and then complain that the flames are getting worse, most likely due to irresponsible homeowners having too much furniture.

[@nocucksinkekistan7321]

Good

[@crobinson2624]

America has been adopting Modern Monetary Theory for almost 20 year. America has been deficit spending since George W Bush was in office and the last President to have a balanced budget was Clinton. If America was serious and I mean truly serious about being “fiscally responsible” Congress would raise taxes on the wealthy adopt a 70% marginal tax rate, adopt Medicare for all system, because single payer health care saves the system estimated between 2 and 5 trillion over 10 years. Cut America’s Defence spending in half including closing half of America’s military bases abroad, and close the tax loopholes, and put an end to corporate welfare in the country.

[@sevilnatas]

I don't think the fact that Republicans have been hypocritically blowing up the deficit for the last 20 years is them practicing MMT, I think it is simple hypocrisy. As far as M4A, cutting defense spending, and stopping corporate welfare are all good positions, socially and I'm all for them, but I am not sure what taxes has to do with adopting these policy positions. We should just do them and manage taxes based upon the velocity of money in our economic system.

[@idikyurgerl9356]

no one talks about deficits with regards to bank bailouts and Billionaire tax cuts 🤔

[@mberoakoko24]

If the bailout wasn't there , the USA would have been worse off.

[@idikyurgerl9356]

mbero akoko the banks should have been nationalized and the money should have gone to those defrauded by credit rating companies.

[@bradleyjohnson6107]

Which is a case for MMT

[@gabbar51ngh]

Thanks to keynesian economics

[@MichaeldeSousaCruz]

This guy proves that you don’t have to be smart to make a lotta dough... 😂 what a fool

[@MichaeldeSousaCruz]

@Franz Owomumu I hit a nerve, didn’t I? 😂 you just not have read enough about MMT, would you care to learn about it?

[@MichaeldeSousaCruz]

@Franz Owomumu MMT has nothing to do with Communism and you’d know that if you read from the actual MMTers. The original developer Warren Mosler is super rich 😂 get to reading

[@MichaeldeSousaCruz]

@Franz Owomumu look I feel sorry from ya. You most likely had a rough upbringing in a country that claimed itself to be communist, when in essence it was just Fascist 🤷‍♂️ if you believe in this whole “Communism/Socialism v Capitalism” charade then hey, you have at it. It’s nonsense. Here’s the short, you either have a state money system or you don’t (which MMT describes), and then the other axis is you either have democracy with an educated populace or your have fascism. This is simple stuff. 🤷‍♂️ I would invite you to learn about MMT so you can see the difference and realizes that so many people are being duped into thinking about this “Communism/Socialism v Capitalism” dichotomy. It’s false

[@zachsilvey8928]

@@MichaeldeSousaCruz MMT doesn't just stand for "a state money system", that's called fiat currency. MMT implies that the gov can freely print as much money as they want because deficits apparently don't matter. Why don't you get off your high horse before thinking everyone's too dumb and got "duped" into a belief, instead maybe you should think about how it's possible for the U.S to payback $27 trillion of debt without completely debasing the value of the USD.

[@MichaeldeSousaCruz]

@@zachsilvey8928 MMT teaches sequence: 1. Tax liabilities 2. Spending 3. Tax payment/bond purchases, thereby eliminating solvency consideration. The debt is paid by debiting the US Treasury Securities Account and crediting the Reserve Accounts, it’s a transfer. The source of the price level is prices paid by government. Mainstream have the interest rate thing backwards, low rate is deflationary, high rate is inflationary. No new tools, just new (for them) understanding of the tools. It’s not “printing” anymore, it’s electronic entries keystroked onto computer spreadsheets.

[@juntopodcast6289]

I was like am I an idiot or is this word salad, I'm pleased to see these comments lol.

[@raekm]

4:47 And that child is the Baby Hitler of Debts. Everybody finds it cute now

[@cashedoutmyluck]

Why isn’t anyone talking about BlackRock owning the us treasury

[@juanio7036]

They control own at least 10 percent of the top 10 companies in the world. Big tech, media, big pharma, oil etc

[@CaelestsFilius]

If deficit is such a problem, is he volunteering to pay higher rates?

[@chucka2507]

What does Fink mean no one is talking about US deficits? Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff, Jeff Gundlach etc. The problem is everyone who has screamed from the rooftop about deficits is largely written off as a kook and ignored.

[@tsim4703]

Chris hedges has been talking about it as well

[@adriansegura6352]

Deficits will matter when the Fed has to monetize the debt with QE . That's when they'll matter . And I think this Oct 1st we might get that situation .

[@tsim4703]

@elmartillogrande living standards inevitably go down when debt is high and inflation is higher than interest rates. Low wages are the symptom not the problem in my opinion.

[@chucka2507]

@elmartillogrande I agree too large a share of wealth derived from higher productivity has gone to the top, but the government doesn't control how private firms distribute profit. As for deficits they do matter. The only reason they have not mattered for so many years in the US is because the US has monopoly power over international settlements as virtually all trade is settled in US dollars. This means the rest of the world needs dollars to buy goods from other countries. If this dynamic ever changes we would quickly learn how inflationary deficits really are.

[@SP3NTT]

Because they're always screaming about it. Perma bears dont add any valuable insight.

[@YvanMonoai]

That stocks....of debt moment cracks me every time

[@ekanem2954]

loool ikr!

[@frankblangeard8865]

Good use of hand gestures to maintain interest.

[@usandmexico]

I'm not a fan of BlackRock. This company does offer some good, but it is still part of the retirement problem; that is partly due to the the ignorance of their customers. They have way too many ETFs, and James Grant is right and Bogle was right: the ETF business is out of control.

[@jeremyblank8590]

He's avoiding the scary reality that government spending cannot sustainable GDP growth indefinitely

[@derekmcdaniel6029]

Whether it's government or private spending is irrelevant to whether the gdp levels are sustainable.

[@jeremyblank8590]

government spending is an irreversible part of GDP now...

[@mathieuwiersma1660]

Wow, what an articulate and well thought out argument.

[@Mattiaslash25]

Thank you for giving us your argument with no explanations nor cause effect relationships...”it is bad because yes” thank you so much...

[@ndhaon]

Age

[@wisedupearly3998]

Simple, just halt all govt' borrowing and QE. Let's see what happens to the "strong" economy.

[@grantbeerling4396]

Japan...250% of GDP? Silence.....

[@zygi22]

The Japanese stock market never recovered. The effect of central planning and political fiscal manipulation that causes malinvestment and misallocation of resources that will eventually lead to disaster.

[@lazysod3]

i get it that isn’t what MMT is about. You need to do some further reading. MMT isn’t a new plan. It already exists and is used. MMT proponents are simply exposing it and saying let’s just be honest about how we’re actually running the budget instead of this outdated bedtime story about household budgets and money supply causing inflation.

[@call-1515]

Modern monetary theory restricts spending based on the available labor, not just when you see harm in the economy. If Fink watched one Stephanie Kelton video in its entirety, how would have a better grasp than he has now.

[@tonywilson4713]

Agreed I've watched a bunch of here talks. The first time I saw her I thought she was nuts but then did a podcast with Mark Blyth on her book "The Deficit Myth" which I finally got a hold off and have just started. I liked how she started with admitting that even she thought it was nuts until she hit the question "where does the money go?" I'm an engineer and I like the logic of what she's saying which is why people like Larry Fink hate MMT. As she says in the government spends $100 taxes back $90 then there's a $10 deficit. She asks where's that money and what did the government GET FOR IT? That's what Larry hates, he doesn't want people to know where that money is or who's benefiting from it.

[@ryanjeanes5253]

He probably thinks it's garbage because it doesn't benefit him personally.

[@michaelsnelling3338]

Size of deficits (debt) is very important so is the very low level of taxation of the rich and their manipulation of the markets. Time for change?

[@aluminiumfish]

if the US economy is a closed system then deficits matter. But its not. Money is leaking out of the domestic economy because the expansion of the global economy is depriving the US of 'returnee' dollars. So the deficit is deflationary unless it overcomes this leakage.

[@jongyonlee1088]

Thank you. Very helpful for me.

[@JDiculous1]

How does that make it deflationary?

[@thomasd2444]

00:19 - People 00:24 - [my] people 00:24 - What are [your people] they not talking about ENOUGH ? 01:12 - Retirement issue

[@pakpala1]

Tax cuts for millionaires, military industrial complex, wars are garbage.

[@RRachwal21]

There's plenty of demand. The U.S. Treasury loves it! They can't buy enough of it!

[@laminekongere8889]

I once watched a video where Larry says it took him 3 years to grasp the concept of indexing... Maybe we should cut him some slack while he fully absorbs the principles & Benefits of MMT....

[@nickf7313]

Nothing he said shows any understanding of what MMT is.

[@MrRagusawitz]

HE IS TOTALITY against it unless its for him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@adriansegura6352]

MMT MEANS free money for everyone . If that's so then why work .?? Just pick up your check at 4 o'clock every Friday and go 9n with your life . This is the same shit Venezuela try to implement . Look at how they are doing

[@pakpala1]

Yep! The same fools who were for spending $3 trillion on Iraq war, $3 trillion on tax cuts for the rich during Bush/Trump administration.

[@thomasd2444]

03:52 - Is there a point in time where the supply of USA-TSY-bonds ( BABBLE ) 04:06 - And does that [ interest offered on USA-TSY-bonds ] harm the USA economy ?

[@jessedaniels9611]

US debt and deficit is in USD, as long as the US doesn't have a huge % of foreign debt in non USD they can deficit and control inflation. US is an exporter of it's currency so they have to worry less about a deficit that they can pay with thier currency as long as they get inflation under control (which seems to work good for the fed for the past few years)

[@blueskiesandgreenpasturesp3848]

He’s right.

[@edwardferry1440]

I thought he was basically saying that if there is a trade deal with US and China it will have to address the massive US trade deficit, meaning US have to supply China with much more goods than before. However, this means that the Chinese will then buy even less US bonds (because they want real goods instead). This creates a big problem for the US. There will be less demand for their bonds and this means yields must go higher to entice replacement buyers. The extra interest would not be able to be serviced by the US and this will therefore lead to more QE (otherwise default) and it will create massive inflation problems for the US. Why inflation? More money due to QE chasing less goods (due to China taking more goods). Laurence Fink is a terrible communicator and I can not be sure that this was exactly what he was trying to describe.

[@Desmondbrown73]

Prime Minister of Canada Trudeau says that monetary policy doesn’t mean a lot to him.. World economic forum approved

[@chfgbp6098]

It s called the path of least resistance. People follow easy ways to make money. And in the current System, everyone is practically forced to make money the 'easy' Way. Lol

[@MrKongatthegates]

The fed sets the interest rate

[@bradleymyers509]

Hello Black Rock and I haven't seen the movie yet but im still here. Fortunately.

[@georgeemil3618]

He doesn't or hasn't read what MMT is. Taxation is to control the money supply in the economy if inflation starts to increase. Traditional Monetary policy uses the prime interest rate. Of course he would be opposed because that means he and his corporation would be subject to that taxation. "The Right thinks that the poor have too much money and the Rich don't have enough." John Kenneth Galbraith

[@harv66]

He understands MMT very well. You should research his point about the interest rate, money supply, and buyers of US debt. Any of those is out of wack the whole house of cards falls, just look at Zimbabwe. Let me ask you think if inflation gets to the point of no return are you willing for the government to tax you at 100% to bring it back down to normal?

[@georgeemil3618]

@@harv66 Just because you say he understands MMT doesn't mean he does. You use arguments than continue to miss the point about MMT. Buyers of US bonds are nothing more than an exchange of US currency for something that pays interest. In fact, the US doesn't really need to borrow money, especially not from foreign holders. If interest and inflation exceeds the target rate of 2%, taxation is used to control the money supply to take back currency and destroy them taking them out of circulation. The US can print money to pay interest and it can destroy money to take it out of circulation to control inflation. The case of Zimbabwe is that Zimbabwe borrows in foreign currency and has to pay it back in foreign currency. The US borrows it own currency from itself.

[@pauljackson9519]

He has no idea what he's talking about. What was that first mumbled answer, "Raising taxes does not ..." He seems to think that MMT is about raising taxes. But he wisely decided to let that fade into obscurity and instead said deficits matter. When do they matter? This is the kind of stupidity that we can expect from financial "experts." Please interview Warren Mosler who can set you straight on monetary operations.

[@Rob-fx2dw]

What? You think they should listen to Warren Mosler - the guy who claims that the government's is just like a score keeper keeping score in a ball game and issuing money to the economy. Al that despite score keepers do not participate in a game like government does in the economy. He also claims that government is an "issuer" of money and not a "user" when the reality is the government is the First user of money when it spends that money to acquire goods and services from the private sector and Continues to use tax money to fund further spending. If it did not spend tax money again the deficits would equate to almost all of the spending and not just 10% or less. Additionally there could never be a budget surplus which has been the case some years. Also there could never be a balanced budget which has often been the case. Yes, MMT denies historical fact in it's fantasy ideas that don't stand up to the reality test. The fantasy that all the factual balanced budgets or surpluses did not happen and all the deficits of only 5% or 10% or even 40 % did not happen because they defy the MMT fantasy view. MMT is a load of rubbish that defies historical fact and mathematics and appeals to people who have little financial ability and are easily fooled by their pushers like Kelton, Mosler, Randall Wray and Mitchell. All of the above named cannot even address the questions of how their tax destruction claims stack up against the facts of surplus budgets and deficits of only 5% or 10% of government spending. .

[@thomasd2444]

04:32 - Yes, I'm a big believer that "deficits" [ of the Currency-Issuing-Govt. ] do matter

[@nicholasrocha2414]

I love confusion. Why? Because it means that there's no united opposition to our interests.

[@gavinschuette9826]

tax rent back to 100 a month per room so only building is big cheap dorms in middle of cities n towns.....deport illegals...end immigration...deport lazy and criminals

[@stevesteve7175]

Fink is a great

[@EnriqueHernan]

It seems to me that Mr. Fink engaged in complete speculation, without a single data point of support for his assertions. Additionally, used a metaphor to discredit MMT, which completely misrepresents the theory. Unfortunately, the interviewer didn't ask him how he would solve the deficit, I'm curious as to whether Mr. Fink would agree with higher taxes on the wealthy.

[@Ollie09000]

he's exactly right. no one is talking about the us-china debt loop. helping them transition into a service economy will help them expand into other territories with their own debt loop. XD. its a dirty secret, but will cause a sharp rise in inflation if that loop ends..

[@FutureSapiens]

I clicked on this video to find some arguments against MMT but everytime somebody is against MMT it just turns out these people havn't understood nor really tried to understand MMT. Makes me start to think that MMT really is the truth

[@roughhabit9085]

MMT is the government lending to itself because it no one else will . It equals inflation which equals taxation. If you think this is a good thing then you deserve everything that comes your way when it hits the fan .

[@FutureSapiens]

@@roughhabit9085 Why does it equal inflation? Why? All MMTlers I listned to, talk a lot about inflation and have very good empirical concepts of how inflation happens and why. Unfortunately, many others still talk nonsense about inflation saying basically you don´t know when it happens but it will happen because they are unable to admit that their concepts are wrong and they have no idea about the underlying causes of inflation

[@calebkendrick2807]

Based on his answer, I'm not sure he even has a cursory understanding of MMT

[@nickdelonas]

He definitely hasn't got any clue, whatsoever. Just arrogance.

[@matiasmartinez5023]

I can't speak for him obviously but I myself have an excellent understanding of monetary theory and I can say with no uncertainty that he is absolutely right: MMT is pure unadulterated GARBAGE. You're welcome.

[@nickdelonas]

Really? Which MMT books have you read? I've read several and would like to know specifically what you think is incorrect.

[@calebkendrick2807]

If MMT were the caricature he described, it would be complete garbage, but he seems to think MMT = unlimited government spending + unlimited taxes on the wealthy, views that, to my knowledge, no actual proponent of MMT holds

[@coaldoubt2879]

his salary depends on him not understanding it

[@jamesmatthew1903]

2:41 Erik Schatzker doesn't understand the difference between a venture and a debenture

[@tamarastankovic7081]

i noticed that too

[@myroseaccount]

Well if you want to know who are the wizards of Oz running the world and calling the shots, and in the immortal words of Gordon Gekko, "who decide the price of a paper clip", then Fink is certainly in that group. There are a few more, maybe a few hundred mostly men, but a few women as well.

[@thomasd2444]

03:13 - Is there a non-China buyer for USA-TSY-bonds ? 03:15 - Right now there are plenty of buyers of USA-TSY-bonds

[@MrHarveyrex23]

A fixed money supply chained to the gold standard wouldn't made all those trillions of dollars in quantitative easing in 2008 and 2009 to bailout the financial speculative stock market who crashed the economy due to all their credit default swaps and criminal financial speculative gambling

[@jorgegomez524]

so, he hates guys like him lol

[@davidtrescatorce]

This interview isn't holding up well in 2024, and it's only going to age even worse as time goes on.

[@Juanillo1-1.1]

At the ridicule stage soon when Bernie Sanders gets elected we will see they will go to the next stage. Of course we knew all along Modern Monetary Theory is exactly how federal finance works. Now let’s watch out for inflation while we add economic stabalizers

[@tiananman]

it doesn't work though. It's a ticking time bomb. Fiscal insolvency will turn into a monetary crisis. The notion that things look ok now so they'll probably be fine forever is called normalcy bias. If you were in charge of a budget, MMT is EXACTLY what you would invent if you didn't want to be constrained by actual accounting.

[@Juanillo1-1.1]

tiananman It doesn’t work you say? MMT isn’t something a smart administration might try. It’s how it actually works for sovereign countries who issue their own non convertible free floating currency. It’s impossible to become insolvent. Money at the federal level is like points on a scoreboard. You can no more run out of money than you can run out of numbers on a calculator “ that computes to the trillions of course”The question we have to ask ourselves is would we rather spend on the good of the people rather than endless regime change wars. Once you start nderstand this and yet continue to perpetuate the lie that our money is scarce you become as Steve Grumbine would say a murderer by proxy. You have to decide for yourself as a lay person if you r going to understand federal finance properly or not. As the late Dr Cornelius Van Til would say” you don’t have to be an expert in the subject matter to know the truth of it, you just have to have the spirit of truth in you”

[@tiananman]

@@Juanillo1-1.1 I'm fully aware of these MMT talking points and assertions. And of course sovereign default in the classic sense is impossible with a floating currency. But the issue isn't whether the Treasury can afford to service its debts or not. If it had to depend on tax receipts, the answer is an obvious no. At some point, they'll need to finance those debts not with new treasury issuances, but with the printing press. And at some point soon after that happens, what do you think will happen to the faith and credit of the federal reserve note? I'm not talking about a fiscal crisis. That's off the table because as you note the treasury and the fed can always just issue new currency units. I'm talking about a monetary crisis which is much more serious. MMT proponents are making a deadly gamble: that they can be fiscally irresponsible and it won't effect the currency. And they can keep up this magic trick forever. If they're wrong, they destroy lives. Monetary crises coincide with war, famine and destruction. My assertion is that MMT will prove fatal to the dollar. Hegemony is not permanent. We're already very close to losing our spot as the world's largest economy. It's a matter of when not if we lose our status as the world's reserve currency. The beneficiaries of MMT, as you note, are war profiteers. That's who MMT carries water for. If you think that's going to change, then you should think again or perhaps for the first time.

[@RussCR5187]

@@tiananman If there is a deadly gamble being made, it's not by the proponents of MMT. Any gamble is the responsibility of those who are in charge of money matters at the Federal level. MMT simply describes the process they are using as it already exists. If you're saying it's a gamble to bring that process into the light of day, then I disagree. Please direct me to a source where MMT is promoting fiscal irresponsibility, or any other type of irresponsibility for that matter.

[@tiananman]

@@RussCR5187 MMT is the theory that people came up with to make fiscal irresponsibility a non-issue. As I said before, if you were to design a system that would let you ignore ordinary real-world constraints like budgets, you would come up with MMT. Your question is like asking me to point out which drunk drivers support crashing cars. None of them do, but it's how they think they can get home. I'm saying it's a bad idea. We've driven drunk for so long that people think it's the only way to get home at this point. I'm saying it will not end well for a variety of reasons. MMT is utterly unnecessary if there is fiscal responsibility. Why would you need all of this goofy theory if we actually paid our bills without creating endless, unaffordable debt? You wouldn't!

[@thomasd2444]

02:55 - Are you saying a trade agreement w/China is going to increase interest paid on USA-TSY-Bonds? 03:03 - We'll see . . . it will reduce demand for USA-TSY-bonds

[@rhysjones19]

Fink buffet and gates have done fantastic during this pandemic

[@reinholdloecker]

When MMT is garbage, what the hell is Blackrock?

[@wierdjared]

Then why is the DOD using MMT to overspend by 1 trillion plus every year over their insane budget? Crickets

[@williamwilson6499]

Brainless comment.

[@123Goldhunter11]

MMT is like fair dust. It works if everyone believes in it...................until it doesn't. Better be hedged.

[@R00365]

Kind of like money... 👀

[@thomasd2444]

03:40 - There could be a moment in time where USA-TSY-bonds will not sell without paying a higher interest

[@soulmate805]

“MMT is garbage”. Damn I just bought MMT book, lol.

[@adriansegura6352]

Cause your a fool

[@soulmate805]

@elmartillogrande Thanks for the clarification. My understanding of MMT so far is that we can never go back to gold standard caused it constrains our economy. Also, as long as the gov'tm print to stimulate the economy w/o infation, then there's no harm in printing. We don't owe any but ourselves.

[@briansolage4389]

That’s even better! You can read about it and form your own conclusion 🙂

[@luckerooni7628]

@@soulmate805 If you can believe some idiotic post on KZbin and self-confirm that you think inflation-less money printing either exists or that attempting to do it is okay, you seriously need an actual financial education or you are going to make some bad decisions for your family.

[@CaffeineAndMylanta]

Adrian Segura you failed to use the correct form ‘you’re’ Who’s the fool now?

[@thomasd2444]

04:15 - I was going to say something I should not say on television : THAT's GARBAGE

[@pasipulkkinen]

This proves that anyone can be a big corporate leader ;-)

[@SanSha2100]

Fink wants to make sure that Public sees fiscal deficit as big problem always and keep worrying in future as well as was stressed in past always.

[@ollywright]

He failed to explain his issues with MMT. All we got was 'i'm afraid about a potential future where us treasury supply is higher than demand' whilst saying there's no sign of this happening, nor has it ever happened. Nor do we have an inflation problem. I've been hunting for competent refutations of MMT from all these 'titans of finance' and have so far only found emotional negativity, not any coherent analysis. Which is becoming rather telling.

[@robertaylor9218]

Olly Wright I have two apprehensions about MMT, and I'm not sure if there is a baked-in solution. 1: a reliance on defect spending makes me nervous that our treasury bonds won't be bought up in adequate amounts (not enough people want to buy the new or rolled-over debt). 2: while I can see the merit of private surpluses being created through public defects, I wonder if the rising interest payments don’t cancel those gains, or even take things in the wrong direction. I'm annoyed that these 2 concerns aren't brought up in interviews with MMT economists.

[@robertjenkins6132]

1) Treasury bonds are not even needed to "fund" deficit spending (if Congress would change laws). They are an outdated legacy of the gold standard era; they are *not* counter-inflationary; and the Fed has other ways to manage interest rates (e.g., paying interest on reserves). A person hoarding dollars has a choice to save the dollars, which earn zero interest, or save treasury bonds, which earn interest. 2) The government's interest payments are to the nongovernment/private sector, so they do not cancel but rather increase the financial wealth of the private sector.

[@mennehgambia1962]

same

[@stevefitt9538]

At the end there he just assumed that deficits are like "bad behavior". He provided no reason why that is so. Shouldn't he be required to give at least one reason? England [now called the UK] has had a national debt since 1794, yes 1794. It has never been paid off. Since the graphs you see are always debt/GDP, and as GDP increases from economic growth, the ratio goes down a lot. But, actually the UK has rarely ran a surplus in all those 425 years. So, the shit has not hit the fan for 425 years even when their Empire basically ended. Why do people think that it will hit that fan "someday"?

[@Rob-fx2dw]

You are Wrong . The national debt is continually paid off when the bonds issued to create the debt mature. The problem is the government and it's partner in debt which is the reserve bank keeps creating more. That debt is paid off when the bonds that were created to raise the debt actually mature (which some of them do every day) and the taxes paid by ordinary people have to pay it out every day as well as the interest on new debt and existing debt.

[@RussCR5187]

@@Rob-fx2dw How about we use the common meaning of terms? The national debt is a collection of outstanding Treasuries. Treasuries are paid off when they mature. The national debt (i.e., the collection) is not paid off. When a Treasury matures, the redemption amount is simply moved from one account at the Fed (the "savings account" paying interest) to another account at the Fed (the "checking account" paying no interest). This happens by electronically marking up and marking down account balances. I don't see how taxes are directly involved.

[@thomasd2444]

04:07 - So what you're telling me, indirectly, is MMT isn't going to take care of this problem

[@spontaneousmixx]

I don't think he even understands MMT to call it "Garbage"

[@ShyGuyLoveSongs]

I think Max Planck was right, progress is made one funeral at a time. These old economic ideas need to age out.

[@JGS2295]

Larry Fink has no idea what MMT is

[@SiddhantGoenka.Official]

Hand gestures keeps remaining me of Trump saying "It's Uuge"

[@willislau22]

Well what he's murmuring all the time is he's a believer of "Debt still matters".

[@Rob-fx2dw]

Well - Just how can you be so financialy challenged that you don't understand that every financial asset like the fiat money we use today has an equivalent financial liability without which it could Not exist.

[@AB-bh6rb]

So hes worried about china. But wasnt blackrock the first american investment company to be allowed to operate in china?

[@thomasd2444]

02:19 - China does not need to sterilize [ LOL ] it's currency by buying U.S. Treasury bonds

[@manondamoon8911]

He says us has 1trillion debt "as far as they can see" but then goes on to say China owns 1.3 trillion which represents about 5% of bond issuance.

[@voteforno.6155]

1 trillion dollar DEFICIT, not debt.

[@Youtuube304s]

Until you get a cool 6 trillion to "play" with and buy up whole neighborhoods at a 25% markup.

[@mfer134]

He obviously holds the common MMT misperceptions. He always says, “I believe . . ., I believe . . . “. He seems to guide his economic understanding on faith”.

[@bradsubramaniam4429]

Yes, because your economic understanding of MMT is based on "fact" and "reason." *Note sarcasm.* What exactly is Fink missing here?

[@johnwatters3431]

@@bradsubramaniam4429 He compares running a deficit to watching a child engage in bad behavior, until it's too much. But it's arguable that you can run a deficit that doesn't cause inflation. So that comparison is a bit off. Also, doesn't Japan run at 250% of GDP? I'm just learning about this stuff, but it does seem like he is intentionally misrepresenting MMT.

[@ttc744]

Smart guy - relevant thought process

[@TheMusicFan1297]

elmartillogrande he is no moron and the new monetary theory is complete nonsense.

[@call-1515]

@@TheMusicFan1297 Fink does not understand that if the trade deficit is lower, then the federal deficit can be lower because there is less money that leaves the country. Really comforting to know that he can't even follow the money.

[@shaunbyrne3227]

Growth requires more dollars. Only the banks and government can make more money. Banks do it through credit, which if your only driver of growth is debt, that castle will come crashing down fast. I don't get how these "experts" can hold on to essentially conspiracy theory economic theory, while mmt is simply an accurate description of how things have been working, and how the fed and treasury already operate...

[@marciukspuks5353]

of course he says that. he does not want the secret out ;)

[@muntee33]

When someone presents what he is talking about in such an artificial manner that he struggles to find words to exchange with the ones he knows are true

[@bargdaffy1535]

Well if Fink thinks it is Bad then it is probably Good for us Human Capital.

[@Chadhogan111]

Oh look its the guy from Spectre

[@ndhaon]

Why do all my black rock active funds underperform benchmarks

[@daviddoch4872]

to people who have no alligence but. money are the worse of us all

[@daviddoch4872]

a real scum bag on display

[@fongponto]

fink - the parent that is watching his childrens´ bad behaviour becoming monumental, whilst playing the most ruthless and careless reality monopoly on the planet. but hey, anything for these extra dimes

[@MrCrescendo]

He's obviously pretty ignorant about what MMT actually is.

[@gg_rider]

MMT has been operational to an extent for 80 years. If MMT is garbage, the entire 20th century of American economic dominance and the expansion of Middle Class consumers was "garbage". MMT explains the old Gold Standard too: an artificial policy constraint Congress placed on itself to benefit investors. (Countries historically abandon their Metal Standard fixed exchange rate policy when they must wage war, life and death situations.) America didn't quit 2 World Wars or Cold War due to lack of United States Dollars. That would have been idiotic to surrender to Japan & Nazis if they couldn't buy war materials and pay soldiers on a balanced budget constraint. That would have been stupid & treason. Trump renegade tax cuts + spending, without a care, is pretty much PROOF of MMT concepts. Shorter Trump: deficit? Fuck a deficit. The MAIN difference wrt MMT between Trump vs AOC or Bernie etc is Trump stuck with Trickle Down theory. If Govt throws enough massive cash at Corp + Finance, go huge, some will trickle down to the poors who need a paycheck. Prog-Dems would do the same as Trump, but more emphasis on Demand-side than Supply-side tactics. (Pelosi would push more idiotic "fiscal conservatism" and Austerity to cause economic contraction.) A functional economy needs BOTH Demand and Supply. Lack of Supply relative to Demand is Inflation. Lack of Demand means cutbacks on sales, profits, jobs. Consumers are job creators in a modern economy ... for more than a century, the main bottleneck has been Consumers having insufficient income, insufficient credit. Business needs CUSTOMERS who have disposable income to buy whatever they're selling. Consumers used to have insufficient propensity to spend as big as capitalism needed. Why buy a 2nd pair of shoes when the cobbler can replace those soles? One suit for weddings and funerals. When the automobile started to be mass produced, families who could afford one needed function, not a "sexy" car or "luxury". Psychology was added to marketing to get poor folks to think like rich people when shopping ... buying status and image. MMT merely describes the Fiscal system (Congress spending) and monetary policy (Fed managing interest rates using "govt debt" as the tool) and how the private sector economy responds. How does the private sector respond to, say, a huge military budget? It creates lots of military stuff to sell to the govt. What corporate entity would refuse a fat military contract cuz "welfare" or "libertarian principles" or because "cash dollars are worthless" on some long horizon? Answer: none. Here's an example of a project that was ultimately rejected due to being technically unfeasible and politically dangerous to international relations, but consider the DEFICIT SPENDING here with barely a peep from the usual budget cutters: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative

[@cato451]

i’m glad i don’t park my money at Blackrock