Promoting Public Understanding of Money & Finance
Through Education, Discussion & Scholarship
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/modern-money-public-purpose
Description
This seminar series introduces a new economic narrative, in which societies use their monetary systems in a democratic way to achieve full employment and promote public purpose.
Rationale
The global economy has recently experienced a series of catastrophic and destabilizing events, including the Global Financial Crisis, the Eurozone Crisis, the Debt-Ceiling Crisis and the ongoing Great Recession. Today, nations around the world continue to suffer from stagnant growth and historically high unemployment rates, despite healthy profit growth in the financial sector and wealthiest echelons of society. The failure of orthodox economics to adequately predict and explain these crises, as well as the inadequacy of existing policy responses across the political spectrum, from traditional Keynesian “pump-priming” to harsh fiscal austerity, underscore the need for a new economic paradigm grounded in legal and operational realities and the human needs of a 21st-century economy.
Year: 2012 to 2013
Table of Contents
The Historical Evolution of Money and Debt
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/historical-evolution-money-and-debt
https://www.youtube.com/embed/0zEbo8PIPSc
Hudson, Michael, and Randall L. Wray The Historical Evolution of Money and Debt. Modern Money and Public Purpose. New York, NY: The Modern Money Network, 2012.
Tuesday September 11, 2012
This seminar will explore the social structures that have historically underpinned debt and money systems, and apply insights gleamed from them to our contemporary economic problems.
Overview
This seminar will explore the social structures that have historically underpinned debt and money systems, and apply insights gleamed from them to our contemporary economic problems. Questions to be addressed include:
- What is “debt” and how do creditor/debtor relationships it differ from other forms of human interaction?
- What is unique about our contemporary monetary system compared to previous generations?
- What role did private debt play in the lead up to our current economic crisis?
- How can an understanding of the nature of debt and money help achieve positive social reform?
Transcript
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/governments-are-not-households
Governments Are Not Households
Implications of Monetary Sovereignty & Stock-Flow Consistent Accounting
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ba8XdDqZ-Jg
Governments are not Households: Implications of Monetary Sovereignty & Stock-Flow Consistent Accounting. Modern Money and Public Purpose. The Modern Money Network, 2012.
Tuesday September 25, 2012
This seminar will examine the legal and institutional structure of the current global monetary system, with a particular emphasis on the economic freedoms afforded to nations such as the U.S., U.K., Japan, Canada and Australia that use a non-convertible fiat currency with a floating exchange rate.
Overview
This seminar will examine the legal and institutional structure of the current global monetary system, with a particular emphasis on the economic freedoms afforded to nations such as the U.S., U.K., Japan, Canada and Australia that use a non-convertible fiat currency with a floating exchange rate. Questions to be addressed include:
- How does a fiat currency with a floating exchange rate differ from other types of currencies?
- How does government spending and taxation work?
- Why is accounting important for understanding the economy?
- How can monetarily sovereign nations address their current economic problems?
Transcript
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/design-defects-and-policy-failures
Design Defects and Policy Failures
An Institutional Analysis of the Eurozone Crisis
https://www.youtube.com/embed/HpIsZL5FJVs
Varoufakis, Yanis, and Marshall Auerback Design Defects and Policy Failures: An Institutional Analysis of the Eurozone Crisis. Modern Money and Public Purpose. The Modern Money Network, 2012.
Friday October 5, 2012
This seminar offers a diagnosis of the current European debt crisis that traces its origins to inherent flaws in the legal and institutional design of the Eurozone.
Overview
This seminar offers a diagnosis of the current European debt crisis that traces its origins to inherent flaws in the legal and institutional design of the Eurozone. Questions to be addressed include:
- Is the European Monetary Union responsible for the current Eurozone crisis?
- What role have core nations such as Germany and France played in the crisis, compared to peripheral nations such as Spain and Greece?
- What are the political and economic implications of austerity?
- What policies should Europe adopt to resolve this crisis?
Transcript
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/debt-deficits-or-unemployment
Debt, Deficits or Unemployment
Identifying Real Threats to Growth
https://www.youtube.com/embed/X39M9MXRNyg
Tuesday November 13, 2012
This seminar explores the intersection between the real and monetary (or nominal) economy. It addresses the relationship between money and economic growth, and explores popular misconceptions surrounding the “sustainability” of government deficits, national debt and trade deficits for developed and developing nations.
Overview
This seminar explores the intersection between the real and monetary (or nominal) economy. It addresses the relationship between money and economic growth, and explores popular misconceptions surrounding the “sustainability” of government deficits, national debt and trade deficits for developed and developing nations. Questions to be addressed include:
- Why does unemployment exist in a monetary economy?
- How does a nation’s developmental stage affect the sustainability of government deficits?
- Is national debt a problem, and if so, under what conditions?
- Can developing nations “afford” welfare programs?
- What is the relationship between capital flows, trade and exchange rates?
- What is the relationship between money creation, exchange rates and global competitiveness?
Transcript
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/money-democracy-and-constitution
Money, Democracy and the Constitution
Revolutionary Experience in the United States
https://www.youtube.com/embed/1dFF5Qsg7mM
Friday January 25, 2013
This seminar explores the relationship between money and the legal formation of the modern liberal capitalist state, with a particular emphasis on the pre-Revolutionary and early United States. In contrast to conventional economic narratives that cast money as lubrication for existing forms of exchange, this event highlights the legal and political origins of our modern monetary system, and traces the influence of those forces on the shape of the modern economy.
Overview
This seminar explores the relationship between money and the legal formation of the modern liberal capitalist state, with a particular emphasis on the pre-Revolutionary and early United States. In contrast to conventional economic narratives that cast money as lubrication for existing forms of exchange, this event highlights the legal and political origins of our modern monetary system, and traces the influence of those forces on the shape of the modern economy. Questions to be addressed include:
- How are monetary systems shaped by constitutional processes?
- How was the United States monetary system affected by the revolution and drafting of the U.S. Constitution?
- What impact does the legal structure of money have on the character of an economy?
- What insights do historical revolutionary debates about money provide on current economic problems?
Transcript
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/independence-or-marriage
Independence or Marriage?
Interactions Between Monetary and Fiscal Policy
https://www.youtube.com/embed/soVyyyXrcwo
Friday February 8, 2013
This seminar examines the legal and operational relationship between central banks and treasury departments
Overview
Questions to be addressed include:
- Should fiscal and monetary policy be viewed separately from each other?
- Is central bank “independence” an obsolete concept?
- What are the political implications of recent unorthodox central banking practices such as Quantitative Easing (QE), Operation Twist and Interest-On-Excess-Reserves (IOER)?
- What role should central banks have in promoting full employment and price stability?
Transcript
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/rent-seeking-instability-and-fraud
Rent-seeking, Instability and Fraud
Challenges for Financial Reform
https://www.youtube.com/embed/BFk6epIveY8
Tuesday February 26, 2013
This seminar will explore how financial sector innovation and regulatory structures affect inequality, macroeconomic fragility and white collar crime.
Overview
Questions to be addressed include:
- What role does the financial sector play in a modern day economy?
- How does financial innovation fit into traditional boom-and-bust accounts of the business cycle?
- What role did fraud play in the global financial crisis?
- How can financial reform effectively reduce the prevalence of rent-seeking, instability and fraud?
Transcript
Reproduced from: https://modernmoneynetwork.org/symposia/guaranteed-income-or-employment
Guaranteed Income or Employment
Economic Rights for the 21st Century
https://www.youtube.com/embed/-3uWDnLVPv8
Friday March 8, 2013
A look at the social, political and economic justifications for the legal right to work or income, as well as historical examples of direct public employment programs.
Overview
This seminar focuses on the social, political and economic justifications for securing a legal right to meaningful work and basic material wellbeing, as well as historical examples of direct public employment programs from various nations including the United States, Argentina and India. Questions to be addressed include:
- Should individuals have a legal right to work and/or basic material wellbeing?
- Can we afford a job or income guarantee?
- What would a job or income guarantee look like?
- What can we learn from direct employment programs from the past and abroad?
