This is, well, rich.
The Radical Left-Wing Theory That the Government Has Unlimited Money
Cut, cut, got side-tracked with how white supremacists are leftists, socialists, Marxists.Tall, bearded, with gentle brown eyes, Occupy Wall Street veteran Jesse Myerson spends his days knocking on doors in the rundown neighborhoods of southern Indiana reminding voters of the enormous wealth of their country. His message, as an organizer for the progressive grassroots group Hoosier Action, is that the United States is a spectacularly rich nation and some of that wealth could, and should, be spread to the poor people of southern Indiana.
...He says his group’s biggest competition for the hearts and minds of poor Indianans is a white supremacist group called the Traditionalist Workers’ Party. “They’re organizing along the same lines as us—these oligarchs are being tyrannical and exploiting us and we need peace and prosperity....
Back to the Money Grows on Trees Theory of Economics...
This is the goal-oriented version of the religion of statism where if you can think it, then spend other people's money on it, namely our chidrens' and theirs.Myerson isn’t bothered by the deficit: “We’re the richest country in the history of countries, in the history of riches. Of course we can afford it.” He notes no one seems to worry about the price tag when Congress increases the Pentagon budget or decides to invade a faraway country.
His optimism about government spending is due to his exposure to Modern Monetary Theory, a school of economics that says our panic over government budget deficits is delusional, a misguided and atavistic remnant of the gold standard. MMT has become increasingly influential on the left, giving progressives like Myerson a reason to believe that a high price tag shouldn’t stop the US from instituting wide-ranging social reforms like Medicare for all.
Modern Monetary Theory’s basic principle seems blindingly obvious: Under a fiat currency system, a government can print as much money as it likes. As long as country can mobilize the necessary real resources of labor, machinery, and raw materials, it can provide public services. Our fear of deficits, according to MMT, comes from a profound misunderstanding of the nature of money.
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