Finding the Money with Stephanie Kelton

We all use money, and yet the questions of what is money, and where does money come from remain elusive.
Join renowned economist Stephanie Kelton, former chief economist to the US Senate Budget Committee, for this webinar about Modern Monetary Theory and her new film Finding the Money.
The film follows Kelton on a journey through Modern Money Theory or “MMT”. It unveils a deeper story about money, injecting new hope and empowering democracies around the world to tackle the biggest challenges of the 21st century: from climate change to inequality.
Stephanie Kelton will be in conversation with Greg Jericho, chief economist at the Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work.
Speakers
Stephanie Kelton, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Stony Brook University
Professor Kelton is also Senior Fellow at the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research. She is a leading expert on Modern Monetary Theory and a former Chief Economist on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee (Democratic staff). She was named by POLITICO (2016) as one of the 50 people most influencing the policy debate in America, as one of the 50 people who defined 2019 by Bloomberg Businessweek, as one of Barron’s top 100 Women in Finance (2020 & 2021), and by Prospect Magazine (2020) as one of the World’s Top 50 Thinkers. Professor Kelton advises policymakers and consults with investment banks, and portfolio managers across the globe. She is a regular commentator on national radio and broadcast television. Her most recent book (June 2020), The Deficit Myth, became an instant New York Times bestseller.
Finding The Money is a new documentary touring Australia in March 2024 with Stephanie Kelton. See below for details.
Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work
Dr Greg Jericho holds an Honours Degree in Economics from Flinders University. Greg also writes a weekly column on economics and politics for Guardian Australia - a position he has held since 2013. In 2016 he won the Walkley Award for Commentary, Analysis, Opinion & Critique, and in 2018 he was a Walkley Award finalist with Gareth Hutchens for their report on the crisis of wages in Australia in the Best Industrial Reporting category.
Finding the Money tour:
Most events listed feature a film screening plus live Q&A with Stephanie Kelton, film director Maren Poitras and special guests.
27 February Huon Valley TAS
28 February Melbourne
6 March Adelaide
7 March Adelaide
8 March Melbourne
10 March Brisbane
11 March Bangalow NSW
12 March Canberra
13 March Sydney
For more information and to book your tickets visit: modernmoneylab.org.au/events/...
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[@gideoncor]

What is so heartbreaking is that when you finally understand sovereign currencies and real resources, you realise that in a resource-rich, currency-issuing country like Australia, poverty, homelessness, and crumbling infrastructure like your defunct community swimming pool or library is just a choice. It's just a sad, stupid, political choice.

[@cosmicblaze1608]

Yes absolutely, it is a political and not an economic choice.

[@bonghead6621]

Spot on but in many forums what you just said is heresy sadly.

[@jenniferabbo]

Sad, stupid and immoral...

[@ML6103]

Precisely. Look at the addition to Centrelink payments during COVID.

[@alastairleith8612]

yes, I mean you don't need to understand MMT deeply to know it's a political choice, but it certainly makes the fact of the affordable housing crisis, accelerating inequality etc etc more outrageous.

[@Splattle101]

At 8 min, talking about common misconceptions, Q: "What do banks do?" A: "Lend other people's money." That was the view Paul Krugman propounded in his NYT column, where he was publicly contradicted by economists and bankers in his comments. It was brutal.

[@cosmicblaze1608]

Thanks for getting Stephanie in for a discussion. Would be great to get Bill Mitchell in as he was one of the founders of MMT. Learnt so much from his blog.

[@JonathanMaddox]

The 60-page Levy report Kelton mentions at 53:09 is L. Randall Wray, Flavia Dantas, Scott Fullwiler, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, and Stephanie A. Kelton, "Public Service Employment: A Path to Full Employment", Levy Institute, April 2018. I tried and failed to post a link here but with the list of authors it's easy to find.

[@iaindooley9275]

The question of why we continually hear governments from both sides of the aisle talk about the need to return to surplus is that they are legally obliged to do so by the Charter of Budget Honesty act 1998 which mandates that the economy be run according to “sound finance” principles. It may be the case that if we change the word “sound” in that act to “functional” then our entire economy would run differently. Wouldn’t it be amazing if changing just one word in one act was all it took?!

[@bzolsen]

It's just an excuse. The definition of "sound" for a household is not the same as the definition for the currency issuer.

[@emceegreen8864]

You should really watch “Finding the Money”. Shocking and informative.

[@detectiveofmoneypolitics]

Economic investigator Frank G Melbourne Australia is following this informative content cheers Frank 😊

[@wanderingfido]

There needs to be a moderated and televised panel that includes Stephanie Kelton _and_ Carmen Reinhart.

[@looneycow]

well done Greg 💚

[@qbas81]

Will watch with interest!

[@tomstruct]

Thanks folks 🎉

[@herbwiseman9084]

Perhaps we should look at these things - inflation, interest rates, taxes - in terms of the impact on the balance sheets of members of society. Inflation and the means to fight inflation - higher prices of goods, services and interest rates - by the central banks both increase liabilities on society. That forces the transfer of citizens’ assets - money - to those with the power to levy the liabilities. Those with power are the price setters for goods and services and the interest rates charged by the banking sector. Assets minus liabilities equal equity are the three columns of a balance sheet. Assets are money things. Liabilities are what we must pay and what we owe. Equity is our savings and wealth. So look at balance sheets. Those with the power to raise prices - levy liabilities - receive the money society transfers to them so their equity increases. Their liabilities may be similar to everybody else’s but their assets increase causing an increase in equity or wealth. But look at the average citizen whose assets are stagnant or shrinking and whose liabilities are higher - inflated prices. So the equity on the average citizens’ balance sheet shrinks. The rich get richer and the rest of us get poorer.

[@attilajuhasz2526]

Fascinating.

[@herbwiseman9084]

In Canada when Tommie Douglas left the leadership of the NDP, he stated that he knew the finance minister would be able to afford what they wanted to do.

[@stevengordon1424]

Assuming that MMT becomes accepted, how would congress fund bills? Would that change, knowing that the real limitation is inflation? Also, have there been any proposals as to what steps could be made in the event of a surge of inflation?

[@grimes8849]

To me, a lot of business people do want to offer a good product and/or service. But the ultra-wealthy don't live in the real world. Life is a game of winner take all, and with every measure of success, other people become little more than dust on a door mat.

[@brendanmahony3002]

One way to understand MMT is that it follows from the observation that the federal government issues the Australian dollar and it does it through federal spending bills. Oh and indirectly through bank lending. Issuing currency should be added to the United Nations Charter of Human Rights. It should be an individual right.

[@truthmatters1950]

Present a copy of "The Deficit Myth" to your local member and insist they read it or risk losing your vote! Pollies need to get its teachings through to the Federal Government so that they can argue for the federal government programs on the basis of human need and public interest directly, without having to jump through the traditional hoops of "What taxes or other spending cuts are we going to fund this with?" but rather be prepared answer the inflation question.

[@garyhancock7400]

Maybe the AI will stop using the "Taxpayer" term ever again?

[@tochriss]

MMT. Reminds me of Kipling's poem The gods of the copybook headings.

[@Splattle101]

No screening in Perth. Dang.

[@lasttrimestr49califos89]

Once Skynet becomes aware of MMT.....Houston, we have an problem.

[@user-qd8yg1fp7i]

mmt is d v definition of american exceptionalism.

[@katiecannon8186]

Except folks all over the world use MMT insights. Including developing countries which want to increase their monetary sovereignty.

[@Michelle-yq3vd]

In 2024,don't set new year financial goals without consulting a financial adviser.there expertise ensure a solid plan for success.Building wealth involves developing good habits like regular putting money away in intervals for solid investments.

[@marycox2247]

Thanks for the advice! I'm new to financial planning and wasn't sure where to start.Any tips on finding a reliable financial adviser or resource to guide beginners?

[@derickgarrett7025]

I agree, based on personal experience working with an investment advisor, I currently have $650k in a well diversified portfolio, that has experienced exponential growth. It is not about having money to invest in stocks,but also you need to be knowledgeable, persistent,and have strong hands to back it up.

[@carolpearson6397]

How can I participate in this?I sincerely aspire to establish a secure financial future and am eager to participate.who is the driving force behind your success?.

[@derickgarrett7025]

Marie Ann Treloar

[@derickgarrett7025]

She has been my counselor and coach.

[@andrewblake2254]

Stoneybroke University. You could not make it up!

[@Rob-fx2dw]

Why can't Greg Jericho who is supposed to have completed doctorate (I wonder in what field) understand that taxing gas producers will just put up the cost of gas to the consumer because gas companies cannot just absorb the cost of bigger taxes and the net effect will mean less gas for people to buy and that in turn will translate to more financial pressure on alternative energy suppliers which pushes up the prices again for those energy suppliers. . The only rational explanation is he is not competent enough to follow what happens in the economy.

[@paultrevorson8889]

Why is ebony Bennett’s name always on the bottom left of the screen?

[@lachlanmccall1012]

Probably because she’s the legend who organises all these things?

[@Zanzan8]

I'm new here I thought Ebony Bernertt ​is the Host's name it's confusing@@lachlanmccall1012

[@user-lg1wm8kq6e]

Wow ! You are a one issue GBN and party . We have no issues , no poverty, no crime Islam and Muslims is the only thing you are good for to criticise.

[@BlergleslinkVettermoo]

It's great that progressives are so concerned about the welfare of others, but the MMT way of viewing fiat currencies does not give anyone license to increase fiscal deficits ad infinitum. Inflation, for one, is a limiting factor. Once inflation kicks in, you are essentially transferring wealth ("stealing") from all savers through monetary debasement. You need to think about this very carefully, because I don't think Kelton is being altogether honest about the causes of the present inflation problem. Nor does MMT provide any guidance on the political difficulties in getting out of a period of excessive inflation.

[@katiecannon8186]

MMT folks have done deep research in the many tools that have been used to address inflation. Including suppressing bank lending (especially for speculative purpose). It’s called “credit guidance” and was widely used during WWII, for instance. Legally, The U.S. Fed can use credit guidance. But chooses to always rely on increasing interest rates to create unemployment to keep wages low.

[@marmotsongs]

It is infuriating listening to his questions. He starts to ask it, everyone gets the question, and then he takes a couple of more minutes to finish asking, piling on to it, as it were..It took a minute and a half just to ask his last question about the level of flack women economists receive (I just said it in 4 words). You could see Kelton's impatience. Several times, she remarks that she couldn't remember the second part of his question due to its rambling nature (my words).

[@housingrevolution2024]

I'm glad Stephanie mentioned the free-marketers most despised phrase: price controls. It's so futile raising wages, or implementing any form of wealth redistribution, when those controlling vitals such as land & housing simply raise their rents and sales prices accordingly. Expecting employers to keep up with the greed of the non-productive landlords and real estate investors has never worked, yet takes a huge toll on small businesses, has driven labor costs up to the point our domestic manufacturers here in the US can no longer compete on the global market, and drives general inflation.

[@jollygoode4153]

What does that virtue signalling acknowledgement add to the interview ? Do you even know if any of those local people still live there ? Have you met any ? Or are they all dead ? It's insulting this woke virtue signalling and its everywhere.

[@andydarbyshire4933]

Totally agree. Dont welcome me to my own country.

[@tarakenkratzer5284]

Long conversation. You said nothing useful

[@Rob-fx2dw]

More evidence of MMT's confusion of concepts and misinterpretation of the economy is their claim that of "price gouging" being a factor in creating inflation. It is clearly not because in the private sector someone paying of higher prices for some goods means they are less able to pay the price for other goods which reduces the demand for them and the combined ability of the private sector to cause inflation. Kelton's claim of price gouging is just indicative of her confusion about the way prices operate in the private sector. She cannot explain how prices work or why this is not so but frequently makes incorrect statements about inflation which are utterly false because of her inability to understand and unwillingness to learn from her own mistakes.

[@katiecannon8186]

lol. Just ignore those historically high corporate prices. It’s like you live in a world where there’s not huge amounts of corporate consolidation & the pricing power it affords.

[@Rob-fx2dw]

​@@katiecannon8186 You complain about consolidating and prices. You fail to see the woods for the single trees that is the pinnacle of consolidation and monopoly power that puts up prices when ever it likes. .

[@Rob-fx2dw]

@@katiecannon8186 It seems you suffer from some of the dreaded envy and paranoia that accompanies it and the net result is it clouds your ability to logically reason.

[@katiecannon8186]

@@Rob-fx2dw lol. You just think tax payers own the dollar printing machine. lol. Not very logical of you. Now run along and actually read what’s actually written in that dollar bill you have in your pocket. If you need a fuller explanation of what it means that you can use your government issued dollar bill to satisfy both your public & private debts just ask.

[@Rob-fx2dw]

@@katiecannon8186 Most (90% or more) of the money in the economy is created by private banks. Not government and not the central reserve a bank. Cash is only few percent. The government does Not issue or create money.. Only the reserve bank creates money as loan to government or private banks on exchange for customers' agreement to pay it bank (e.g. a loan) . It is all debt based. The central bank or government will only change that cash you have for another equivalent amount of cash. That you are owed on your account and everyone else's. That is because money today is fiat credit based and nothing else than a credit number and debt number in a chart of accounts. That is ! The one dollar cash you may hold is equivalent to another single dollar in your bank account. The statement on the dollar is irrelevant because its value can only be redeemed for an equivalent amount.

[@bondvigilante4135]

I’ve been watching them (MMTers) for a while. I always wondered how they would respond when their nonsense yields the predictable fruit. Rationalize, and double down. What else can they do? Does this woman have any understanding of what is happening to people living on fixed incomes, or pensions, or generally anyone trying to cope with the catastrophic impact of these ridiculous economic philosophies? Most of the country. I used to feel sorry for her, and more so for her students. Now? This 💩just makes me angry.

[@edbrewington3]

MMT is NOT an economic plan. It simply describes the current system and how it works since going off the gold standard in 1971.

[@looneycow]

Stephanie seems a bit to like she is much to disconnected with the poor and less fortunate

[@JonathanMaddox]

The poor and less fortunate weren't discussed at length here, it was about macroeconomics, but I see nothing in this discussion to support your observation, so I'm curious where you thought you saw it. Kelton opposes tax cuts for the wealthiest people and supports full employment in the sense that everyone willing and able to work should be guaranteed the opportunity of a properly paid job. Such full employment removes the threat of unemployment from the arsenal of employers trying to push their workers for more labour for less pay. These macroeconomic policies are very supportive of the poor and less fortunate.

[@katiecannon8186]

Stephanie supports federally funded universal healthcare, education, public housing and a Job Guarantee

[@laabuela13]

The microphone is covering you mouth and partly your face.

[@Neil-yg5gm]

MMT is nonsense

[@treesa2732]

Or you are a troll on the gov payroll already but what about providing some evidence to back that up ??

[@katiecannon8186]

You just like to think that you, a tax payer, issues the national currency 😅

[@wavymcfly]

Crackpot theory

[@Rob-fx2dw]

They are another example of two fantasising crackpots pissing in each others pockets but basically knowing absolutely nothing of any use.