Why The Government Has Infinite Money

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Why The Government Has Infinite Money - Second Thought
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Medicare for all saves trillions
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Inflation
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[@1Dimee]

Big thanks for the shoutout JT! Happy to have played a role in this. For those who want to learn more about Modern Monetary Theory, these are my best videos on it: kzbin.info/aero/PLyytc2-LIrN7kIRyPXghWjeb4MV_DDqBK&si=JclZwUoARQjv2DIr

[@Sashin9000]

I am so happy I discovered you.

[@grayhost]

Fantastic episode. 👍 Would be great if you and your team make an episode on the benefits of Universal Housing Rights aka Universal Housing... 👍 Universal Housing Rights is a real world solution to the housing issues we're facing today. It would solve homelessness, excessive rents and housing costs that prevent economic mobility for millions & millions of full-time working poor & middle class Americans. As well as save us all the wasted tax payer money into useless "solutions" (ie. means-testing etc) that never even put dent into all housing issues... housing aka a roof over your head, which is an inalienable Right. No need for means testing which doesn't work. Say, if you make $500-$1000/year more than the alloted amount it will deny you but not absolve you. It can also give a sense of dignity back to the less fortunate rather than the way our current systems shames them. Those who don't need it will most likely not tap into it but sure would feel better knowing it's there if they ever do. It wouldn't effect those who are already homeowners! Plus, Universal would be practically zero cost to administer since there would be no need to waste time and resources to administer useless means testing etc. We could apply some similar policy as FDR & create jobs at the same time. Instead our bought and paid for politicians in the senate just approved close to $1trillion for the defen$e budget, as they so easily do each year and by "bipartisan" support. Always benefiting their rich donors rather than we the people. 😏 We could end homelessness, obsessively high rents that prevent economic mobility and create jobs and wealth across the entire nation possibly within a single generation. 👍

[@RealProgressInAction]

Great work Tony! This video is excellent

[@izaakamesta1919]

I clicked in this video looking for a comment like this, been following for a while and videos are great,im subbed and expecting, lol

[@l00tur]

Thank you for assisting JT in this video! It’s incredibly important and helpful that we pool our collective resources to help spread knowledge and awareness to the masses!

[@Juliett-A]

It really breaks the brain when you consider that 90% of humanity's problems like starvation, homelessness, and lack of health care are allowed to exist in spite of our ability to easily solve them.

[@ilovestitch]

And that people actively fight for those things TO exist because their economic model and view of the world requires 30-40% of people to lose so 0.1% of others can win

[@googane7755]

Capitalism demands sacrifices. There is enough money to end world hunger like 10 times over but that will never happen in a system that prioritises the benefit of the few over everyone else.

[@erkinalp]

@@ilovestitch not only their economic model, but also their political view. they are anti-society in essence

[@drd2093]

No amount of money will solve those things other than Health care. Poor people are built into the system

[@xirvin92]

There can't be millionaires without poor people existing

[@goblinguy3103]

Watching American politics as a non-American feels like listening to your friend telling a story and realizing it was their fault half way through

[@trasher84]

Youre saying europe is better

[@goblinguy3103]

@@trasher84 where did I say I was European??? Edit: thanks initiateit for boosting my comments with your anti-public transit comments lmao

[@richardspillers6282]

​@@trasher84and you just validated his outlook. 😂 jfc

[@stevengarman4848]

We are NOT "Americans". We are citizens of the United States of America. Proper names should be used. The people who live in the continents of North and South America are Americans.

[@whyplaypiano2844]

@@trasher84 As an American who has visited Europe many, MANY times...yep!

[@michaelhgravesjr9608]

I've said it for years. When it comes to economics, people seem to keep forgetting that it's imaginary. All of it. We made the whole system up. And if it isn't serving our needs, all we would need to do to solve it is imagine better.

[@dc4457]

The hard part is getting everyone to buy into whatever the new scheme is. All fiat currency is, is a government-backed IOU that every person with something to trade is willing to accept because everyone else is also willing to accept that IOU. The government can force all of its subjects to accept fiat currency (says "legal for all debts public and private" right on the paper) but has limited control over the exchange rate.

[@michaelhgravesjr9608]

@@dc4457 Yeah, unfortunately that's always been the case. FINDING solutions to most problems is comparatively straightforward; getting people to ADOPT them, however... 🙄

[@Arpit0011]

It is man made but how is it imaginary?? And what better do you think can be done??

[@michaelhgravesjr9608]

@@Arpit0011 The whole premise behind fiat currency is "these little bits of paper and metal have value". The whole concept of economic value is predicated on the concept of property. The very concept of ownership is imaginary, as is anything that follows from that premise. Since property only exists because we say it does, and things only have the value we assign to them, it's easy, if one takes off the shades, to imagine something that served everyone (or at least themselves) better than the current system. For example, my own economic policy, were I allowed to set one for the nation, would look like this: if the civilization as a whole, or any individual, needs it to live, it can't be privatized.

[@Arpit0011]

@@michaelhgravesjr9608 i get it now. Thanks for the explanation. Yesterday I saw a video of "aperture" on money and he explained the same that how money is an illusion.

[@simone_maya]

Someone said that it's time to be concerned when you start to see individuals shoplifting groceries rather than big-screen televisions, and i agree. Truth is, inflation will never reach 2% ever again, maybe in the next life, but not this one. Anyone purchasing groceries and gasoline is aware that real inflation is much over 10%; they simply lie about it like cheap blankets. In reality, interest rates would be in the 20s because of how high inflation is. But then despite the severe bear market, I am aware of certain investors that continue to earn over $365,000. Wish I could accomplish that.

[@BenBak-wt7qi]

Very possible! Particularly in this weak market. There are several opportunities to generate excellent returns, but such intricate transactions can only be carried out by seasoned market professionals.

[@Stefan-xc7hp]

I totally agree, it's been three years and counting, and I've made over 1.7 million by simply following a coach's advice. I was on the sidelines for a while watching, trying to determine the best time to get in, before I came across a coach, recommended by my wife. I was reluctant at first but I went ahead and contacted the coach. As a small reward for my consistency, I went on a trip to the Bahamas in the late summer. haha

[@addisonwillow1055]

My husband and i just had this conversation this morning. This is exactly how we wish to get our finances coordinated ahead of retirement. Can I get access to your advisor?

[@Stefan-xc7hp]

Sure, the advisor that guides me is LOREN LENA WALKER, I got to know her through my wife. It's my wife that has her contact, but you could further investigate her credentials and contact her yourself. She's well-grounded and known, shouldn't be a hassle finding her page, just look up her name.

[@addisonwillow1055]

Just did a copy and paste search of Loren Lena Walker on my browser and her page popped up immediately, thank you for saving me hours of researching.

[@robotZER0]

Capitalism's prime objective is profit. Debt, disaster, homelessness, hunger, illness, disease, sickness, pain, death... capitalists see these profit generating opportunities. It is not profitable to "solve" these issues. Human misery continues because it is profitable.

[@coolioso808]

You get it! You 100% get it. Have you heard about Ubuntu Contributionism and One Small Town model? I'd recommend you check it out. It's nice to know there are viable new system models out there that people can contribute to and build in their own community if there is a will, there is a way.

[@bogusmcbogus2637]

profit in the short term.

[@doctorc-ton1099]

it is why this modern life seems so disgusting to me.

[@sanca5982]

Yep, you got that right. They take advantage of all that...the human misery you just described. The Sackler family certainly did it seems.

[@trollconfiavel]

It's either capital for the capitalists or nothing for everyone, even though no capital is actually created by capitalists but by everyone else. The irony...

[@fareed6964]

it’s crazy to see how much the production value of these videos has gone up over the years. love ur work JT

[@thishandleistaken.]

Justice Terminator?

[@9hannes9]

Eventhough he really peaked with his video about the eradication of mosquitoes. That was JTs real magnum opus

[@markdailey8526]

Gotta thank Capitalism. He’s making a lot of money from Capitalism with every video they produce.

[@HiDefHDMusic]

@@markdailey8526that’s literally the point, capitalism creates socialism. That’s what Marxism is.

[@markdailey8526]

@@HiDefHDMusic that’s a jaded point. Socialism creates socialism.

[@ebubechiibegbula5968]

As a health care professional who has to deal with out.of pocket payments , this video speaks what I have always believed about the economy....

[@edwardharshberger1]

Having worked in healthcare, currently starting my MPH, and planning on continuing to work in healthcare, I have grown to hate the US for-profit healthcare industry. Alongside the big -isms, it is one of the biggest things holding back Americans from being happier and healthier people. Just the concept of PAs is fucking insane to me, especially when they start implementing automated denial of claim systems.

[@Bradleyschaeffer376]

Creating wealth and financial freedom isn't as tough as many people believe. Building wealth and remaining financially stable indefinitely is a lot easier with the appropriate information. Participating in financial programs and products is the only true approach to make a high income and remain affluent indefinitely...

[@PennyBurdick318]

It is always good to have a financial plan. I work with a professional planner and fixed-income strategist in NY. The fixed income portion of your portfolio won't simply serve as a buffer to the volatility of the equity portion of your portfolio, but will provide legitimate income.

[@Rhgeyer278]

I couldn't agree more. Taking charge of your life and putting in the hard work is the path to success. Having a portfolio manager like Mr. Samuel Peter Descovich is a game-changer. Their expertise and guidance can truly transform your financial journey. Making $35,000 in profits each month and saving 70% of that is quite impressive!They save you time and provide valuable insights that lead to impressive profits. Keep up the amazing work, and enjoy the fruits of your labor..

[@GaryWinstonBrown]

I've shuffled through a few experts in the past, but settled with SAMUEL PETER DESCOVICH. The strategy he use is recession-proof, more specifically profit-oriented , and most likely, you'd find his basic info on the net, he's a renowned advisor.

[@Ashleycorrie8494]

It’s unfortunate most people don’t have such information, I don’t really blame people who panic cos lack of information can be a big hurdle. I’ve been making more than $65k passively investing with Samuel Peter Descovich, and I don’t have to do much work. It doesn’t matter if the market is crashing, I will always make good profit returns.

[@AnnaKrueger809]

I have turned over more than half MILLION working with SAMUEL PETER DESCOVICH on a wide array of options and finally sticking to a few that have been favorable in the past 2 years.

[@stevengarman4848]

Money does NOT really exist. It is a construct of society. It only has the value a society gives it.

[@trollconfiavel]

Well. Today this value is controlled by markets and their 'invisible hands'. Bourgeoisie.

[@KingAntDaProphet]

Someone finally gets it

[@christianorsa]

Obviously

[@cupcakesfanficgameslover5792]

My mama always said she views it as a barter product

[@danielzhender660]

​@@cupcakesfanficgameslover5792sounds like another way of saying money is a means of exchange.

[@kaseywahl]

I've been paying my taxes in eloquently-crafted poems for years and i love it! I've never been richer, though I've never felt poorer on the page...

[@rembrandt972ify]

You remind me of a friend of mine. He's been paying taxes with poetry for years. He works out every day, reads two books a month and has sex every day. If only I could get him to talk about something other than how much he hates living in prison. 🤣

[@binhosmingos7356]

What’s the poem tax rate & bracket? I need to know

[@balaynganiyebe]

wait, this paying tax in poetry thing was ever possible or is it just a joke ? /gen

[@enyce989]

The amount of stuff they purposely keep you from learning in school is alarming. Thank you for educating me man...this was super informative

[@rhythmandblues_alibi]

That's what they want. A dumb public is easily manipulated.

[@wrecklessfilmsofficial]

Your point about inflation being caused by asymmetry and not simply a greater sum of money was one if the best explanations of the cause of inflation i've ever heard lol.

[@humpchannel9363]

It is our money we need to use it for infrastructure and human wellness.

[@h.g.wellington2500]

This is key in the context of student loans. So many people think canceling them means other taxpayers have to pay the bill.

[@arnaldo8681]

well, someone has to pay the bill. The student owes the bank. If the loan is canceled without payment the bank was forced to pay the bill. If government prints money to pay the bank this money is redistributed to the bank's share owners as profit. So there will be more people with money, but there will be the same amount of stuff to be bought. So someone will not be able to buy as much stuff. This will be the person paying the bill there is no free lunch

[@h.g.wellington2500]

@arnaldo8681 no, the government is the creditor of a federal student loan. Not a bank.

[@arnaldo8681]

@@h.g.wellington2500 sorry for the mistake, im not from the us. The government lent money directly to the students?

[@craigmcpherson1455]

Because of the student loan pause, a lot of the borrowers took advantage of this lack of expense to go out to eat, spend on luxuries, vacations etc. This contributed to the massive inflation over the past three years. The resume of payments will definitely help cool the inflation.

[@h.g.wellington2500]

@craigmcpherson1455 false. Inflation was caused by pandemic/war related supply chain issues and corporate profiteering.

[@apollovotum4667]

babe wake up new second thought video dropped

[@ebdgr]

Me to my cat 🐈

[@jowi6491]

I can not describe how glad I am to see the MMT spread throughout the Marxist community. It just goes to show that we have the ability to learn and evolve throughout the centurys, seeing that Marx’s original monetary theory was not quite accurate does not stop us from using his revolutionary insights in connection with more modern findings to create the best of all possible societies or at least something a lot closer than what we have today. Understanding the true nature of money and of the financial system better than the defenders of the oligarchy is what could give socialists the deciding edge in some countries. We can only wonder what could have been possible in former socialist experiments if the authorities had understood the full potential of their monopoly on currency

[@knasiotis1]

however many economists still consider MMT highly debateable

[@jason59k55]

how would you synthesize marxism and mmt? to me they seems completely incompatible, and what would it replace in marxism that was innacurate?

[@alexgrunde6682]

⁠@@jason59k55Marx’s analysis of the origin of currency fell into the standard “currency emerged from barter” rationale. Which, to be fair, was what every classical economist of the time was using and much of the anthropological analysis that would undermine that didn’t come for another century and change. But I don’t think it invalidates Marx in that it just makes currency another aspect of the state that the bourgeoisie utilize for their own economic power in bourgeois democracy. It’s not something that really needs to be synthesized because at its core it’s an analysis of accounting, there’s nothing inherent about it that goes for or against the working class.

[@jason59k55]

@@alexgrunde6682 marxism doesnt state that currency came out of barter, what are you talking about?? marxist analysis says money comes out of class society and comnodity production, not barter in of itself

[@SinclairSound]

@@knasiotis1 which ones, the mainstream economist who relied on monetarism in the 70s? The ones who's best models before the dsge were based primarily on a model developed to explain planned economies? The ones who's DSGE models had no room for the great recession? The best critiques of MMT come from the heterodox schools who understand it best.

[@BrianSweeney1985]

This might be the single most important topic you've ever covered and is near and dear to my heart. No rational discussion on US politics can proceed without knowing this stuff first. Thank you!

[@Smkymcpott85]

If we add a limit to resources, then the 1% can horde more resources and you have less. It also means there is a call to action within the people's minds to not waste resources, or keep resources so others don't have them. The problem is people that who watch these videos aren't the people who need to hear this stuff.

[@ebdgr]

People should Google how much the top 1% earned during Covid from JUST from 2019-2022 (hell, present day) alone.

[@_Bees]

This is happening now, this is what's going on within our capitalist societies. There is already a limit on resources, that limit is determined by the quantity of stuff we have here on Earth. An exponential need for profits is what drains the Earth faster than we need to, we don't need to overproduce, we don't need a lot of things current capitalists require for their desire of infinite profits. If we systemically change society in which we don't need profit incentives or if we don't apply monetary value on things, then there would be no incentive to horde those thing. If people's needs were provided and everyone got what they needed to live and be happy, there would be no incentive to want more. Build society with scientific truths, provide the best life for everyone the best we can. We will never live under an utopia, no system can be perfect, but with our current knowledge, resources and tools, we can definitely build something vastly better than a system of profit seeking leeches. Of course political education and all is required to change the perspective of millions or even billions of people, I cannot even begin to chip away at the surface of this kinda discussion in this comment, but I'm just saying that what you're saying is already happening and happens because of the symptoms of the capitalist system. Things would be incomprehensibly different under a different mode of production...

[@ilovestitch]

this is why we need politicians with an actual backbone that aren't just propping up capitalism on one side or radically anticonsumerist capitalism on the other

[@imnotmike]

That's always the case. The people with the power never want to make changes to the system that gave them the power. It's worked very well for them, and changing it would reduce their power. So the people with the power to create change always resist change.

[@angrydragonslayer]

@@imnotmike i still held some hope for socialism before bernie went from "the millionaires and the billionaires" to "the billionaires" when he became a millionaire......

[@newtonfinn164]

One of the most helpful explanations of MMT I've come across. The Marxist twist concerning why MMT is not widely recognized, despite its obvious truth, is missing from far too many otherwise accurate descriptions of the science of fiat money. Thank you for at least touching upon the whole picture, both economic and political.

[@dkmark7802]

​@@cryptofacts4uYes, Venezuela is in hyperinflation because they print a lot of money, not because it overelied in a unique commodity and it's value dropped absurdly in since 2008.

[@xIQ188x]

@@cryptofacts4u”If Santa isn’t real then how did he leave me presents and eat the cookies I left out?”

[@narcocastillo3783]

@@cryptofacts4u MMT: you can print money* * a thousand page report on the scenarios where this is acceptable, where it can fail, limitations, benefits, etc. economics understander: HYPERINFLATION >:( y'all mfs the same people who bring up the mud pie argument against the labor value theory like marx doesn't touch on it like ~40 pages into Das Kapital lol

[@narcocastillo3783]

@@cryptofacts4u Like, literally addressed in the video and most introductory economics texts on MMT mention, printing money is not an issue in cases where the availability of resources is not an issue. Weimar Germany was literally several years into the fallout of the end of WWI -- you think Germany had resources? No of fucking course not. So yes, just printing money was dumb at the time (although do note that it did work later on a few years later when the Depression hit Europe :p) because of context. They did the same thing essentially when the economy turned for the worse in the late 20s/early 30s and funneled a lot of money into public works WHEN THEY HAD MORE RESOURCES ACQUISITIONED. Suddenly printing money works. It's almost like MMT and even fucking Keynesians understand that printing money is a tool in managing a nation's economy but not something you do willy nilly lol. The US at the moment IS UNDERUSING ITS RESOURCES. Professor Richard Wolff goes into the use and availability of resources that could be used for new industries and infrastructure -- which are violently underused/underfunded. That is one small reason (among many other reasons ofc) the US' inflation rate isn't going as crazy as the others, because when push comes to shove, we actually do have the resources necessary to accompany the money that we print.

[@uhohhotdog]

@@cryptofacts4uhe briefly talked about it in the video. Maybe pay attention. In short it was lack of production or use of foreign currency or both.

[@tomseiple3280]

Strongly recommend other read David Graeber's "Debt: The First 5000 Years" and Barry Eichengreen / Kris James Mitchener's "In Defense of Public Debt."

[@Bobo-vv1yw]

This goes against everything i've learned in school lol

[@Mene0]

Man, this is really hard to understand. As you said, it goes in contradiction to everything we're told about gvt spending

[@ronstoneman4766]

It does, but it's true. We've been lied to for decades

[@paulschumacher1263]

Hooray! Finally! Someone clearly explaining Modern Monetary Theory. And it isn't just a theory: it's based on empirical evidence. When the gov. goes into debt., the economy, and everyone, does better; and when the gov. restricts spending, the economy dips and everyone (except the rich) hurts. The only limit is not money but productive capacity. Great Job!

[@Jay_Johnson]

The Issue is as soon as people stop believing the government will pay off the debt they will not want to hold the government debt. That is what happened in the UK last September with Liz Truss' budget. If she had doubled down and devalued the pound to fund tax cuts the UK would not be able to find creditors willing to lend in the pound. As soon as creditors force a government to borrow in a foreign currency a country will either face massive recession or a sovereign debt crisis.

[@noahwig500]

What i don't understand is why it's called a theory as if it's not 100% this is the way it works. It's not like speculative history or something. It is right here going on right now.

[@Jay_Johnson]

@@noahwig500 it is 100% how it works in the US from the 60/70s to the present. Not in the rest of the world.

[@noahwig500]

Alright, i see@@Jay_Johnson

[@TiberionMarivallis]

This is the first video about the Modern Monetary Theory that mentions MMT only towards the end. Just yesterday I was searching for a video about MMT on your channel and there it is. I hope you're going to make more videos about the MMT, so more socialists will know about it, to use it for debunking conservatives and implement progressive economic policies. Maybe even critizising it from a socialist perspective because the conservatives's critique on the MMT is just imbecile. They don't even (want to) understand it like they don't (want to) understand most things.

[@Ocinneade345]

It’s basically Keynes

[@JP-JustSayin]

​@@Ocinneade345no

[@TiberionMarivallis]

@@Ocinneade345 Keynes + Chartalism (and some other stuff like the job guarantee)

[@uhohhotdog]

@@Ocinneade345not really. It goes beyond Keynes

[@alexuvarov7441]

@@TiberionMarivallis MMT does not work. I don't know what you're talking about.

[@juandavidbejarano6193]

I always knew capitalism was fueled by desperation

[@breindigob]

Right? When you control the food/water/shelter/education/minds of the masses, you control reality. Even if there is no conscious "deep wicked plan" made by the rich (which I doubt), simply having all the money means you can decide what is made and how society changes artificially based on your own desires and insecurities. Hell, simply thinking like this out of curiosity is enough to make most people upset because they cant imagine anything outside this reality that someone's elses imagination built for them. Its sick.

[@coolioso808]

Hah yeah, capitalism: fuelled by fear, sorrow, desperation and Old Spice. :p

[@KingAntDaProphet]

In it's nature it's competitive

[@breindigob]

@@KingAntDaProphet humans are also cooperative. We might choose to lean into our better traits.

[@brentt6714]

The capitalist class keeps us desperate for their benefit. Best system 🙃

[@rkoh3740]

Stephanie kelton and warren mosler have been my go to for all things MMT

[@ernststravoblofeld]

Lately, they have been giving the military more than it requests. That's how fucked we are.

[@lelandgrubson2736]

"SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY" in a nutshell

[@Kite403]

Hey guess what? Money has no intrinsic worth! :D So yes, the gov'ment does in fact have the money to spend on every possible policy we could ever want i.e. Medicare 4 All, UBI, etc. Love the video! Great work as always! More people need to hear this kind of stuff. Maybe then the worker class can finally rise up :D

[@ilovestitch]

The part we need to control for if we have the government set up M4A, UBI, etc. is price controls to prohibit capitalists from profiteering and hoovering up all that newfound "wealth" the common class would be found with. And honestly we could probably vastly improve most peoples' lives without M4A and UBI through strict price controls on all goods.

[@5th_decile]

He did say something about finite resources though... an analysis or two about the superimperialism of the US is due upon reaching your point of euphoria.

[@SinclairSound]

​@@cryptofacts4u You have used this example in more than one comment so I'm assuming your a troll or haven't read the academic work on MMT. So if you are serious then you can go to the defacto post-keynesian handbook: Marc Lavoie -- Post-Keynesian Economics: New Foundations. He has a chapter on monetary policy which explains how MMT fits into monetary policy. MMT requires certain conditions to be met, Venezuela does not meet those conditions. The United States does.

[@whyplaypiano2844]

@@cryptofacts4u Just say you can't read lmao.

[@whyplaypiano2844]

@@cryptofacts4u Also, his argument is "Venezuela does not fit certain requirements as stated in -insert evidence here- which is unlike the USA, which does meet those requirements."

[@sondorp]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 💰 Government debt ceiling agreement 01:30 🇺🇸 Government spending and election season 04:32 💸 Government debt and currency sovereignty 06:23 💵 Government spending and taxation 08:18 🏦 Private banks and money creation 11:35 🌐 Real economy and resource constraints 14:21 🌍 Government spending without capitalism Made with HARPA AI

[@stefanbeatdown4685]

As an European anti-capitalist I already find it perverted that people have to pay for basic needs anyone needs to survive (besides of quite a looooong list of other things). But looking at the US where people are thrown into debt if they need healthcare or want proper education just makes me sick. I guess one of the worst experiences I had in this context was a discussion with a US citizen who tried to convince me that it is "freedom" that you can decide if you want to pay (a frickin fortune) for health insurance or not, and being forced to pay taxes to provide healthcare for the poor would be unfair. How brainwashed can an individual actually be?

[@eomguel9017]

As illustrative as this video is, you left out a key element in this story and that is what has been referred to as the US's "exorbitant privilege" of having the monopoly over the creation and control of the world's main reserve and trade currency. For most countries, more money printing does result in inflation because their currencies are not backed up by unwavering demand, and thus, if they want to access certain resources in the international market that they themselves do not produce to keep their economies running, they need to access US dollars first, or else, by putting more local currency in their national markets than the amount of goods and services available to be consumed, they push prices upward. That's where the US's military might comes into play; it is one of the many tools that the US elites use to preserve their monetary sovereignty, or as you put it in another video, the US relies on everyone else relying on them. If a big portion of the world moved awy from the use of the US dollar, infinite creation of money would no longer be possible because there would not be as much demand in the international markets for it, and that would limit the US's capacity to access physical resources in exchange for coloured pieces of paper or their equivalent digital tokens.

[@arnaldo8681]

how does the us' military might come into play here?

[@Zimbobroke]

@@arnaldo8681 basically, if you don't rely on the usa you get your ass sent to pluto itself by its military.

[@TheOldngrumpy1]

Our position as the creator of the currency of international trade ended in '71. Nixon saw the future of an America that was a net importer and the impact that would have on its gold reserves. He completed the move to a fiat currency that FDR initiated in '34, and in so doing forced the end of the gold standard for most modern economies in the world as well. If America officially recognizes the correct framework of MMT other countries will also and their monetary sovereignty will be dependent upon their resources, as ours will be, not numbers on a spreadsheet. This move to a resource-based economic system may greatly favor nations that have been subjected to economic imperialism, primarily in the global south. However, the US remains the only economic power large enough and with a global payment clearing system able to serve the vast traffic of international trade. I don't really see a major shift of that in the cards if we end the weaponization of sanctions and trade in good faith. Things that may cost more will simply cost more, but many critical resources will end up costing less when Western monopolies are subjected to the same supply and demand forces they claim to live by.

[@craigmcpherson1455]

​@@arnaldo8681Remember Saddam Hussein? He tried to sell his oil for a currency that is not dollars. That's why the USA sent in the Marines. All those excuses like 9/11 and Iraqi freedom were BS.

[@murraymadness4674]

OK, but the USA does have the reserve currency of the world, and so it is true that it can spend unlimited amounts. Until it the dollar stops being the reserve currency of the world, which other countries are trying hard to make happen. but until they succeed in doing so, for example, oil stops being trading in us dollars.

[@Ouranos369]

It's just sad because I remember ages ago I went on a date with this guy and he was so against Bernie Sanders because "how would the government afford to pay for free college, where would that money come from?" And I didn't know enough about politics or economics to refute that. It's just sad that the gov can fund whatever it wants and the US is this big of a dystopia 😢

[@tomcop668]

MMT is simply a lens as to how the monetary system works. It does not favor capitalism, socialism or any other ism. #LearnMMT

[@brianhouston5368]

Our entire way of life under Capitalism is about borrowing from our future to pay for our present.

[@Rompelstaump]

Did you even watch the video? Edit: OMG🤣 I fell for the bait😅

[@uhohhotdog]

Try watching the video. There is no borrowing

[@Max0r847]

In terms of social/ecological sustainability, yes. In terms of money, no.

[@Max0r847]

@@RompelstaumpWe are racking up debt in terms of real resources/conditions that will come back to bite us in the ass. But that is not a monetary phenomenon. It's a "real" phenomenon, which of course economists find endlessly inconvenient to acknowledge "real" things

[@uhohhotdog]

@@Max0r847 no we are not 🤦‍♂️

[@djavanh2538]

we need second thought canada edition 😭 this video is so well done!

[@connie7025]

And uk 😅

[@YoungTang]

Thank you for another great video, sadly also reflecting our sad reality...

[@Demios40]

Part of me is convinced that the inflation crisis of the 1970s was a form of collective action by the business world, and "too much money in the economy" was a cover story to basically blame corporate greed on the American people, who bought it hook, line, and sinker. In 1971 the Powell Memo galvanized the capitalist class into collective action, making the rich the most political they had ever been since before either the first Roosevelt administration. Within that same decade inflation goes absolutely buck wild. The coup de grace is that in order to "fight inflation," the economy was restructured and the burden of risk much more heavily put on the working class via the Volcker Shock (something that to this day is praised as a positive for its supposed inflation busting). More recently the capitalist class threw a fit over the COVID stimulus checks and subsequently went on a capital strike. I'm doubting its a coincidence that the biggest inflation boom since the 70s is a part of that as a way to punish the government for how it didn't handle the COVID response according to capitalist dogma. There is an article behind a paywall that points out that the free-floating threat of a capital strike and economic sabotage is used just as frequently as lobbying in order for capitalist interests to get their way. Probably not a coincidence either. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0032329218755751?journalCode=pasa

[@Srijit1946]

Sci-Hub can probably bypass that paywall I imagine. The person behind Sci-Hub's creation, Alexandra Elbakyan, is a communist interestingly enough.

[@vic91020]

Here in Spain we have universal free healthcare, yet we spend 1/3 or 1/4 of the US per capita spending on healthcare Sadly we are lately facing defunding, leading to waiting lists (although im sure than less time that some US people wait while saving for the surgeries), in my opinion, in an attempt to quietly privatize the industry, possibly supported by 2 of the biggest unions.

[@parkway.productions]

Informative.

[@Scriven42]

Hearing this shit, while understanding that the gov't literally prints the money and can never, ever, go in debt to anyone, ever..... it's so fucking enraging... Also: RIP David Graeber.

[@Spartan_AG_999]

The government will never run out of money because they create it. But the purchasing power of those dollars is the problem. Inflation is a huge issue and we are seeing that now at the store. We are losing value in the dollar very quickly

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

It's because money is fake, right? It's a game. The rules are made up. The money game is rigged by the winners - who win because they made the rules in the first place. Why do we keep playing along?

[@Achrononmaster]

@6:00 good point, but the bonds are not even borrowing operations. The monopoly issuer of a fiat currency cannot borrow back it's own currency if it has a non-zero interest rate target, since the bond sale is a reserve drain (drives the OCR up) so is always accompanied by a reserve add. The point of Tsy and FED/CB bond operations is purely for *_interest rate maintenance_* aka. _basic income but only for people who already have money in proportion to how much money they already have._

[@63saruman]

Ruling class = psychopaths and sociopaths.

[@based_mouse]

You should definitely run for office if possible; I'm planning on running in my district for a House seat soon, and I've found that framing ML policies through certain buzzwords that are popular in a person's ideology actually works in moving them over extremely well (I've moved over some far-right and libertarian people in that way recently as well). I feel like if a coordinated effort happened in a sort of left-wing coalition where the policies and ideology were just re-labelled for use on the campaign trails it might actually be able to gain at least a few successes, which is all that would be needed to give the policies of an actual left wing a public and non-ignorable platform on the national scale. Unfortunately it's unlikely that our country's current socialist parties would ever actually lay off the backstabbing (Maoists against MLs, MLs against reformed Leninists, reformed Leninists against Trots, Trots against demsocs, demsocs against Maoists, and so on) long enough to make a working multi-party coalition , but I think it could be done via a "Futurist Party" that just substitutes new buzzwords for the desired policies. Ideally, said party would be intended as a coalition party between various left-wing parties (PSL, CPUSA, SAlt, SEP, SPA, SPUSA, etc etc) and left-leaning movements (AIM, which a lot of my family has been part of, being an example of a movement with a large portion of leftist people). Short form of the tangent is that, since most neoliberals (and other capitalist or capitalism-adjacent ideologies) form their opinions based on aesthetics, buzzwords, and so on, it seems like the most viable path for socialism would be to just not publicly refer to it as socialism insofar as the public label of a socialist party. I and others I know have already been able to win over significantly more people on political arguments by gauging what their beliefs already are by what words and arguments they use and working from there to frame the argument as the logical conclusion to their own worldview, and it seems like it'd be an extremely useful tool in convincing more of the public to vote for a socialist candidate.

[@K1ngCorvus]

The opening killed me 😂

[@suprithAnCom]

Modern monetory theory🖤

[@Diptera_Larvae]

Maybe JT covered it in the video but I didn’t understand it, but can someone please explain to me, in Australia the Gov started the NDIS program, which was a separate healthcare program to our Medicare program, specifically for people with disabilities who needed life long support. A complaint I heard from friends who are in the program, some companies raised their fees which was viewed as trying to get more money out of the Gov, in some cases this effect people who were outside the NDIS program. Does Gov have a part to play in stopping price gouging?

[@flossietube2065]

This video was so good I had to save it!!!

[@brentt6714]

If these facts become well-known and we run society based on this premise in the future, our future generations will look back on us like idiots for putting ourselves through the unnecessary and wasteful suffering we're living in.

[@elisegeum1514]

Should force the gov to invest in the country and the people voting for them

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

Okay, how?

[@diddymelone2265]

We are more! We only need realize our power and stand Up in solidarity

[@bogatyr2473]

The problem is that the same terms are used in personal finance and government finance creating major misconceptions that thise in power are happy to perpetuate.

[@DK1213]

This might be the best video you guys have ever made. Excellent work JT and the Second Thought team.

[@lilreinforcement4166]

No lol

[@DK1213]

@@lilreinforcement4166 ok lil bro, i don't remember asking for your input 👍

[@falcolf]

Every time you said 'profit' in this video I remembered Quark the Ferengi from Deep Space 9 purring out "Prrrrofffiiittt."😂

[@Dogofwar9]

You give the govt to much credit. Our govt WASTED $247 billion last years alone. The housing crisis we have is because politicians created so many restrictions on land use. We are literally STILL in a physician and nurse shortage so expecting universal healthcare is crazy. The govt is so cheap they dont even want to pay to create better roads instead they want businesses to do it. The govt is equally to blame for the problems

[@naveedhasan5365]

Stephanie Kelton was nice enough to send me a signed copy 😊😊😊

[@TheJamonm93]

How to explain MMT without telling people you're talking about MMT

[@Supadubya]

We DON'T "have the doctors for Universal Healthcare", because the United States is already in a Physician Shortage due to under-investing in Physician training the last 30 years... If we want to take on this important priority (Universal Healthcare), the first step is training more doctors and nurses- the same way the US government invested in expanding Physician and Nurse training in order to create Medicare in the first place... (because prior to that there WEREN'T enough doctors to care for the old-poor retirees in society...) Real Economy is, as said here, all that matters in the end- so the physical resource constraints preventing certain projects need to be eased first... (similar to how the historical USSR was in an almost constant state of Labor Shortage, especially after 1950- the only way to carry out new projects was to improve Productivity in existing jobs first, as was initially done with Agricultural Collectivization to free up labor for industrialization...)

[@sprockkets]

Also of reference is Money as debt, available for free on yt

[@nebulan]

There is a branch of the military we will always need: the coast guard (but focus on safety and life facing)

[@stanislav_5312]

I love that i can find information THIS useful this easily and broken down for non finance person. Sometimes Yotube is a blessing. Great video.

[@Dizzy_N]

A farmer has the right to sell his cabbage for a profit. The problem is the people who don't contribute anything to creation, transportation and retail of that cabbage having a share in its profit. Can you do a video on that?

[@Jay_Johnson]

People won't buy government bonds if they don't think they are going to be payed off and devaluing the currency will only increase the interest on the bonds and on future borrowing. I'm from the UK and we had an economic crisis this time last year over this. I get this is a US focused channel and the demand for the dollar is largely dependent on oil based American imperialism but without that imperialism the US would be like every other country whose fiat currency was valued based on confidence.

[@consciouscode8150]

That understanding of taxes is really fascinating - that the government taxes so there is some inherent need for dollars as a currency specifically. It reminds me of almost a battery, or a pump - the government uses its power to force money to continue circulating in the economy through the demand created by taxes. All current must eventually come back to the battery's negative pole.

[@idlewildwind]

7:39 "Now that you understand that --" Me, not understanding: ...yea...

[@lukeolson5177]

Steve Grumbine is always talking about this on his show and on status coup for people who want more information on mmt. Also Stephanie Keltons book deficit myth dives into the subject as well.

[@scumbagdyln]

excellent work from the SecondThought team & 1Dime ❤

[@vvilliam_eu]

Oh how I've waited for a video on the MMT from you. I love how you connected it back to Marxism at the end. Eye-opening! Keep up the good work ❤

[@YouHaveAnApeHead]

Endless money yet it goes to the military instead of ending homelessness or universal healthcare.

[@TheConservative1-us7bf]

Your only half right and yes the Government can print worthless money all day long, But high interest loans and Inflation does matter in the real world along with wage stagnation and no body wants to buy worthless bonds like they used to and other country's are refusing to buy our Bonds, our down fall was getting off the gold standard and the Introduction of the fed..

[@redjacquesa1]

As much as I love second thought and JT around 8:00 he says private banks create money out of thin air because it can loan money without taking money from your account. This is false. There is no fractional reserve banking and there hasn't been in over 50 years. The money banks loan does t reduce the amount in your account but the bank is loaning money it has on hand (digitally) just because your account isn't changing that doesn't mean the amount of money the bank has isn't changing.

[@kathyslage7059]

Thank God!!!! Someone with a larger platform explaining economics to leftists who usually dont get it! Thank you so much.

[@PapagenoX09]

Thank you for going into this in detail. The way the politicians talk "our grandchildren" (for some reason it's always the grandkids) will have to put grain, sheet metal, kids toys etc. into time machines to send them back to our time to pay the debt back.

[@josemarirobledo5613]

ill rewatch this later on a monitor, these are good stuff

[@stacyryonew2702]

sent this video to several people i know just because it blew my mind and i feel like more people need to know this

[@lilreinforcement4166]

This video is wrong about almost everything pls don't share disinformation and educate yourself

[@frgogi3485]

One thing I would like to point out is that small business owners should try to be supported. Small businesses take power away from large corporations if they succeed. They provide an alternative route to success. It gives more options for the working class. Small businesses are also more easy to make accountable because they don't have the vast resources of large corporations and the fact that people will likely know the owner, the owner would have to make monetary concessions in order to appease the the clientele, workers and government. I'm a strong believer that the first step to transitioning away from a capitalist economy is to decentralise the market

[@Bryan48950]

I remember being a kid playing MW2 (2009) and seeing a death screen quote of how one B52 bomber costs more than a billion dollars to produce. I had this mindset ever since, how can you mass produce items that cost a billion each but never have “money”. Money really only exists at the lower levels.

[@9tankie]

Thanks for tying this topic into a Marxist view on the subject! ❤ ☭ I'd missed the Non Compete video on that until I saw it in your sources just now. 😮

[@5th_decile]

To me this video seems less marxist than usual. The message is progressive, but MMT remains a brain-child of capitalism. A genuinely Marxist video needs to include a discussion of the way towards a moneyless society, payment based on labour tokens etc...

[@ob1quixote]

The first honest ad read for Ground News I've seen.

[@Krypto_Dogg]

The market prices rise naturally because they realize their money has less value when more is printed, otherwise the “end” of the line where the money stops, usually billionaires/the biggest corporations, will naturally gain an unfair portion of the money printed. That’s the real trickle down.

[@andywinger4197]

Very good. Basic MMT in about 15 minutes. And I like the fact that universal healthcare and especially military spending was thrown in. Not enough people are talking loudly enough about either of those. The US military is a huge contributor of greenhouse gases and I'm not certain any benefits we derive are worth that cost. And our for-profit healthcare system is great at providing profits for a few but not so good at providing healthcare to many.

[@caseydamiano269]

"Thumbs up!" The only thing I'd take issue with is that "defense" spending is highly slanted toward the billion-dollar Defense Contractors, whereas the Service People themselves get a relative pittance. They do receive "okay" pay, but its a relative drop in the bucket to what Boeing, Raytheon, et al receive.

[@Silence.......356]

This makes full sense

[@wirelessbaguette8997]

I was thinking as I was watching this "This sounds a lot like 1Dimee's video on this topic!" And then you shouted him out at the end! Great stuff!

[@richardmcdonald8724]

"Increasing the money supply doesn't cause inflation" Argentina has entered the chat 😂

[@MikeJackson690]

*Uganda sent a friend request*

[@begging4music]

that's right! this is the one and only #MMT. thank, thank you, thank you for putting this out there ( (here), only one planet we all live on.)

[@Jesus-kt5dc]

Bro, you were printing "thank you" like it was a fiat currency.

[@alexanderkesterson6338]

Couple things I think would be really cool to take a look at Amish society and see how they're extremely community driven society within the American society and capitalism shares many similarities with socialism. I also think it's important for us to look at all of the so-called failed communist or socialist countries that are developing nations and ask was the US involved with that downfall like we were in South America.

[@ErikBlair]

This is one of your best videos ever. Thank you.

[@dougmorgan6616]

Most people think that Canadians have FREE Healthcare, but we don't. We have universal Healthcare. Health care premiums are deducted from our pay, but it goes to a government run not for profit Healthcare insurer. We pay for it, we simply don't have to pay shareholders a profit.

[@dougmorgan6616]

It (premiums) is collected through personal income taxes, and those earning less than 20k per year don't pay, but who could live on that?

[@forwardourmotto]

Hi chat

[@suicune2001]

1Dime's videos about the topic are really good. It's really not that hard when you think about it. Everyone should have heard at one point or another in their life, "The government prints money." Literally, the government prints money. There's no reason the government should ever run out of a thing it can make at will. If they don't believe you, they can go to any bank with a messed up dollar and get a fresh new one. Inflation is much easier to understand when you simply look at what's happened since COVID. Everything is more expensive, wages are stagnant, and companies are making record profits. There's no such thing as inflation when it's fueled by corporate greed.

[@danielmaher9512]

For some reason, I never get nebula notifications for your content. Oddly, KZbin is reliable in the matter.

[@Joubes]

What if we taxed the rich but offered bonds you could buy to support big projects to get out of taxing

[@robert2690]

Stop these private banks. We need a centralized bank

[@tilda140]

Government debt: OK for bombs, military, tax breaks for billionaries Bad for feeding hungry people, housing, etc

[@Beatrix7004]

Because they keep printing it up with nothing to back it up

[@loremaxime2603]

JT really be out there explaining ex nihilo money theory in 15min