Administrative announcements

Travelling all day today – up hill and down dale

I am travelling a lot today and do not have enough time write a blog other than to tell you that. Last Thursday, work took me to remote destinations where the wind blows strong and rain is always expected. This Thursday, I am pursuing my craft and spreading the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) word up hill and down dale. I have also been reading various new ‘reform’ proposals for the Eurozone – they seem to be coming out at a rate of one a day or so it seems. They all fail to get to the nub of the problem – it is essentially so flawed with so many historical and cultural constraints that it needs to be abandoned. One lame idea tells us to ‘fix the roof while the sun shines’. I will comment on that next week. The problem – as my recent tweet notes – is that the ‘roof’ is the least of the problems. It is falling in for sure but only because the foundations are rotten to the core. I also wouldn’t actually characterise the current situation in the monetary union as being ‘sunny’. If it is, then spare the thought of what ‘cloudy’ much less ‘rainy’ might be. The quiz will be back tomorrow as usual. For the moment I am listening to …

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Travelling all day today to where the wind blows and it rains a lot

I am travelling a lot today and do not have enough time to think much less write a blog. I am travelling where the wind blows strong and rain is always expected. A perfect place to write once I land and have some other things to complete. On Monday, I will post Part 3 in the series I have been working on this week on EMU reform proposals. The quiz will be back tomorrow as usual. For the moment I am listening to …

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Running trains faster but leaving more people on the platform is nonsense

Earlier in the week I was in Britain. Walking around the streets of Brighton, for example, was a stark reminder of how a wealthy nation can leave large numbers of people behind in terms of material well-being, opportunity and, if you study the faces of the people, hope. I am used to seeing poverty and mental illness on the streets of the US cities but in Brighton, England it very visible now as Britain has struggled under the yoke of austerity. Swathes of people living from day to day without hope under the current policy structures, damaging themselves through visible alcohol and substance abuse, cold from lack of shelter and adequate clothing, and the rest of it. And then a little diversion around the City area of London, where the overcoats the men wear cost upwards of £2,000 and the faces are full of intent. Two worlds really. I was thinking about those recent experiences when I read the latest release from the IMF (September 20, 2017) – Growth That Reaches Everyone: Facts, Factors, Tools. Their analysis continues the slow move of the IMF to acknowledging, not only the reality the world faces, but also, by implication, the massive costs that this institution has inflicted on poor people around the world.

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Travelling all day today …

I am travelling all of today to the US for the MMT Conference in Kansas City which begins on Thursday. I hope to see some of you at the conference which will be a major development in our program of work and advocacy. From there I am onto London for the British Labour Party Conference presentation (Monday) and the book launch of my latest book (with Thomas Fazi) Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World (Tuesday – see below for free ticket access). For details of all the events associated with my speaking tour in the next fortnight see below.

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Travelling all day today but here is something to watch and listen to

I am travelling most of today and thus my usual blog will resume tomorrow. Yesterday, an interview that I did for RadioNZ (the public broadcaster) on Friday was aired on their popular Sunday Show. You can access the interview overleaf. You can also access the video of my presentation on Friday (July 28, 2017) at the University of Victoria, Wellington. That should keep you all busy.

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Today in Wellington – Live Stream at 12:30 NZ time

I am Wellington (NZ) today and in addition to various meetings and other engagements I am giving a presentation which I am calling “Thinking in a Modern Monetary Theory Way”. I hope to post audio or video with slides etc on Monday when I have some more time to process the information. But you can watch the presentation live (I am told) and the details are available by Clicking “Read the rest of this entry” …

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Travelling to the land of the long white cloud today

I am travelling for most of today to New Zealand (Wellington) to honour some engagements promoting a new political movement that is keen to use Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) as a basis for a progressive political agenda in a nation that has been in the throes of a neo-liberal infestation for several decades now. In fact, New Zealand was one of the first to sink into neo-liberal oblivion. I wrote about the devastating consequences of this policy shift in this blog – The comeback of conservative ideology. It was a very sorry tale indeed. The sociopaths took over. You can see a rich portrayal of how the neo-liberals set about wrecking the social fabric of this wonderful nation by watching the documentary film – In a Land of Plenty – which runs for 1 hour and 44 minutes. It is compelling and worth the investment of your time. You will get angry. But maybe getting angry is the first step towards getting active and joining collective movements to do something about this nonsense. Indeed, that is what I am up to over the next few days – helping a new political movement develop narratives to counter the insidious dominance of the neo-liberals. Building a true oppositional Left is the imperative now for all activists.

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