Here are the answers with discussion for yesterday’s quiz. The information provided should help you work out why you missed a question or three! If you haven’t already done the Quiz from yesterday then have a go at it before you read the answers. I hope this helps you develop an understanding of modern monetary theory (MMT) and its application to macroeconomic thinking. Comments as usual welcome, especially if I have made an error.
On May 17, 2011, the US Social Security Trustees Report and the US Medicare Trustees Report were released. The releases set the conservative deficit terrorists into a tail spin. They would have been better making a nice cup of tea, relaxing with a book and generally chilling out. In fact, the most interesting part of the US government’s Social Security Administration Home Page seems to be its Popular Baby Names search engine which allows you to plug in a name and find out how popular it has been over x years and its ranking by the year. My parents chose a name for me that remains popular. I don’t know whether that is good or bad. But playing around with that little toy is much better fun than reading the Trustees’ Report and the resulting hysteria in the media. The point is that these Trust Funds are just elaborate accounting smokescreens that ultimately mean nothing if one comprehends the financial capacity of the US government. They represent a case of a government creating a farcical structure to administer some program and then elevating the structure to a false level of importance that actually leads them to introduce policies which undermine the initial purpose of the program – and all without any basis. The time has come to tell the American people the truth.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the Labour Force data today for May 2011 which shows that the labour market is in a very weak state. Full-time employment collapsed further (having falling sharply last month) and part-time employment growth was very weak. Employment growth is failing to keep pace with population growth which means that no dent is being made in the very high labour underutilisation rates. Total working hours barely moved and total labour underutilisation (the sum of unemployment and underemployment) rose from 11.9 to 12.2 per cent. The teenage labour market remained in an appalling state. Even the usually optimistic bank economists (who predicted that employment growth would have been much stronger than it was) are starting to sound circumspect in media interviews today – “weakness”, “softness”, “poor result” – were descriptors that were heard today. The Australian economy is nowhere near full employment and the slack increased in May 2011.
On Friday (June 3, 2011) Fair Work Australia which is the body that formally sets the minimum wage in Australia handed down its Annual Wage Review 2010-11 decision. The Minimum Wage Panel of FWA released its second Annual Wage Review under the Fair Work Act 2009 and awarded minimum wage workers an additional $19.40 per week which amounted to a 3.5 per cent rise. With inflation running around the same rate or higher, the decision fails to provide for a real wage increase especially given productivity growth is running at around 1.5 per cent at present. The decision will apply over from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. The decision further cements the real wage losses that low-paid workers have endured over the decade and is not sufficient to arrest the deterioration of low-pay outcomes relative to average earnings in the economy.
Today, the Australian winter officially begins yet where I am the sun is shining. Not so for the Australian economy though. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the National Accounts data for the March 2011 quarter which shows that in the first three months of this year the Australian economy contracted by a staggering 1.2 per cent. The result has been dismissed by the Government and many of the commentators as a “one-off” result driven by the extraordinary weather events (floods and cyclones) earlier in 2011. There is some truth in that statement. But overall once we net out the likely effects of the natural disasters the data suggests that the Australian economy is growing modestly – but not strong enough to eat into the pool of idle labour. We have to appreciate that this is a rear-view mirror of what the economy was doing 3 months ago. The contemporary data (flat credit demand, construction, retail sales, employment growth) tells us that the current performance of the Australian economy is very weak. With the contribution from government now negative and the household sector saving ratio rising sharply we are increasingly dependent on the external sector for on-going growth. The fact is that with China introducing contractionary policies there is still some uncertainty ahead on that front notwithstanding the evidence today (terms of trade) that demand for our exports remains strong.
I get a lot of queries from readers about how the banking system operates. One recurring theme relates to the role of deposits in the banking system. Mainstream economic theory considers banks to be institutions that take in deposits which then provides them with the funds to on-lend at a profit. Accordingly, the ability of private banks to lend is considered to be constrained by the reserves they hold. While students find it hard to think outside of this construction, the reality is very different. Banks do not operate in this way. From the perspective of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) private bank lending is unconstrained by the quantity of reserves the bank holds at any point in time. We say that loans create deposits. So then what is the role of deposits in MMT. That is the topic for today. I am deliberately simplifying to get the essential understanding across.
tooth fairy delivers some sixpences to help ailing family finances – problem is that the children will run out of teeth, unlike the government who can never run out of money.
Individuals often carry history on their shoulders by virtue of the positions they hold and the actions they take. When these individuals hold views about the economy that are not remotely in accord with the way the system operates yet can influence economic policy by disregarding evidence then things become problematic. It is no surprise that my principle concern when it comes to economics is how we can keep unemployment and underemployment low. That was the reason I became an economist in the late 1970s, when unemployment sky-rocketed in Australia and has been relatively high ever since. So when I read commentary which I know would worsen unemployment (levels or duration) if the opinion was influential I feel the need to contest it. That has been my motivation in economics all my career. A daily contest given that the mainstream of my profession is biased to keeping unemployment and underemployment higher than it otherwise has to be. Today I present a simple reality check for the austerians.
Labour Force data today for April 2011 which shows that employment and participation contracted sharply over the last month. The data confirms recent trends (March being the outlier) that the labour market is not very robust at present. Total working hours also contracted sharply. With full-time employment sharply negative, and modest part-time employment growth – I also suspect that underemployment rose again this month. I do not consider this data supports the popular view being promoted by politicians and bank economists that we are close to full employment and interest rates will have to rise. My view is that there is a lot of slack left in the economy. A stunning aspect of this observation is that teenagers continue to suffer employment losses having lost 73 thousand jobs overall since the crisis then recovery began. The other reality is that trend employment growth is barely keeping pace with population growth so unemployment is hovering at high levels. If the “once-in-a-hundred-year” mining boom was really delivering a bounty then we should be eating into unemployment and underemployment. The reality is that the Australian economy is, at best, growing modestly with most regions close to contraction.
Yes, I only want to know about love … which brings me to the royal wedding today which seems to be dominating the media over here. So I am focusing on Britain today. The British monarchy has banned Australian comedians making any commentary on the wedding which seems to miss the point. I wish the couple well as I do all wedded couples – marriage is a great institution – but at the same time there’s something base about millions of public dollars going into this flippancy at the same time as the British government is undermining the prosperity of its own nation and committing millions to remain jobless and moving towards poverty. So here’s my royal wedding commentary which can be summarised by – I don’t wanna know about evil …
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the Consumer Price Index, Australia data for the March 2011 quarter today and it revealed a sharp spike in the headline inflation rate (up 1.6 per cent for the quarter) but a very benign underlying inflation story. Overall, the impacts of the natural disasters (floods and cyclones) are driving food prices up and world oil price movements are causing local petrol prices to rise. These impacts are likely to be transitory. It is interesting that there is considerable disagreement among bank economists about what the data release means. Many are joining my chorus and suggesting that the transitory nature of the inflation influences will not compel the Reserve Bank to push up interest rates. At present, the data tells us that there is no inflationary outbreak evident and other data suggests that the economy is slowing.
Today I continue my theme “When you’ve got friends like this” which focuses on how limiting the so-called progressive policy input has become in the modern debate about deficits and public debt. Today is a continuation of that theme. The earlier blogs – When you’ve got friends like this – Part 0 – Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 and Part 4 – serve as background. The theme indicates that what goes for progressive argument these days is really a softer edged neo-liberalism. The main thing I find problematic about these “progressive agendas” is that they are based on faulty understandings of the way the monetary system operates and the opportunities that a sovereign government has to advance well-being. Progressives today seem to be falling for the myth that the financial markets are now the de facto governments of our nations and what they want they should get. It becomes a self-reinforcing perspective and will only deepen the malaise facing the world. Today I focus on the Peoples’ Budget proposal recently released by the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) in the US.
Last night (April 13, 2011) the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave a speech to the right wing think tank – the Sydney Institute – entitled The Dignity of Work. The Sydney Institute has taken positions in the past which include supporting the labour market deregulation (removal of trade union privileges); financial deregulation; need for budget surpluses in times of prosperity; privatisation; welfare reform (emphasising private solutions); the expansion of private education at the expense of public education and more. So it is a strange place to give a lecture on the dignity of work. The labour market policies which the Sydney Institute has supported have undermined workers’ rights, held back the growth of real wages, and been responsible for a massive redistribution of income from wages to profits over the 20 or 30 years.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the Labour Force data today for March 2011 which sends some very positive signals unlike the mixed news we have been receiving over the last few months. Overall, my interpretation of the data is that the labour market is adding jobs and providing some modest scope to reduce the huge pool of unemployed. Full-time and part-time employment growth was positive and the participation rate rose slightly – a virtuous duet. Total hours of work rose for the month. But despite the media narrative that we are now “below” full employment. The bank economists were claiming this meant that the RBA should put interest rates up. My view is that there is a lot of slack left in the economy. A stunning aspect of this observation is that teenagers continue to suffer employment losses having lost 86 thousand jobs overall since the crisis then recovery began. The other reality is that employment growth is barely keeping pace with population growth so unemployment is hovering at high levels – at at time when we should be really eating into it. Given related data series recently, the RBA would be mad to increase the interest rate.
I get many E-mails every week from people asking me to explain exactly what a deficit is. They understand that a budget deficit is the difference between revenue and spending but then become confused as a result of being so ingrained with narratives emanating from politicians and lobbyists who misuse terms and always try to conflate deficits and debt. So today’s blog is a basic primer on deficits and why you should welcome them (usually) and why we all should sleep tight when the government is in deficit. So – budget deficit basics …
I am all done writing letters – at least for today. I forgot to send both. I noted someone mentioned that he had never read any admissions of error from me. True enough. Over the course of my academic career I have made many predictions and none have turned out to be qualitatively wrong (sometimes the quantum us shaky but the direction is correct). But I am not trying to sell tickets for myself. Economists like me who comment regularly on current affairs are always subject to empirical scrutiny. So I am regularly putting my neck on the line – in written word (blog, Op-Eds etc) and speech (presentations, media interviews etc). So far so good. I note that a correct empirical observation doesn’t mean the underlying theoretical explanation which might have motivated the prediction is correct. But it is a lot better than missing the empirical boat altogether and suggests that there is some worth in the theoretical framework being employed. From a personal perspective the current period of economic policy is very shattering (if you share my values about the dignity of work etc). But from an intellectual perspective, as an economic researcher, the current period is very interesting. It is providing us with real world data which directly relates to theoretical statements made by economic schools of thought. So I am keeping a running tally of how the laboratory rats are going? You can judge which theoretical structure you consider useful yourself when thinking about what is happening at present.
I stole the title of today’s blog from an article I wrote for the US weekly – The Nation – which will come out on April 4 in print. The on-line version is out now. It comes out in the same week that the nations that are leading the austerity charge – Ireland and Britain – publish disastrous labour market data. The Irish data is nothing short of atrocious some 2 years after their government led them down the austerity path promising salvation. Where are the economists who from the desks of their safe jobs were highly vocal in promoting the myth of the “fiscal contraction expansion”? Still sipping Chardonnay from their safe jobs I dare say. The article, in part, is about how these liars have convinced governments to push their economies over the brink. It is also about how the same lies that are being to used to justify the austerity barrow were used to justify the massive deregulation that led to the financial sector feeding frenzy and caused the crisis in the first place. When we will ever learn? In today’s blog I offer a video commentary on the thoughts behind the article in this blog (which as it turns out didn’t save me much time – I seem to type faster than I speak!).
Today the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the Labour Force data for February 2011 which sends mixed signals. Overall, my interpretation of the data is that the labour market is fairly subdued at present. Today’s data shows that employment growth was negative (but there is probably some flood impact in that figure). Participation fell which took the pressure off unemployment so the unemployment rate was steady. The positive news is that full-time employment growth was stronger and total hours worked rose in February (leading to a modest decline in underemployment). While some of the parrots in the bank economist ranks are already predicting an interest rate rise to combat some “imaginary” inflation threat, today’s data would not support a change in monetary policy in the coming months. The related data (sharp drop in housing finance) reinforces the view that there is no inflation threat building. The data tells me that exactly the opposite is the case. There is still plenty of slack in the Australian labour market and employment growth is doing nothing to mop it up. Its not my opinion – just take a look at the data! The signals are mixed today but you will not see me smiling!