Theory & Other Problems Archives - Philosophy of Money

If you don’t like trade deficits – tax the rich?

12th April 2018

Austerity, Economic History, Money in Europe, Theory & Other Problems

Has the word ‘deficit’ done more damage than any other in economics? Deficits are bad, surpluses are good. In economics, nothing could be further from the truth. How can there be virtue, if every virtuous act r...

Values in economics

Eric Lonergan

21st January 2018

Theory & Other Problems

1

A philosophical aside I feel obliged to declare my biases up front. I've spent almost as much time studying moral philosophy as economic theory. Somewhat ironically, I decided to study economics after I had re...

MMT part III – conclusion, and a conversation with Ben Bernanke

Eric Lonergan

20th October 2017

Definitions of Money, Economic History, Monetary Policy, Theory & Other Problems

22

My last two blogs have revisited the issue of whether or not base money is a liability of the state. The issue played a central role in a discussion over the future of monetary policy at the Brussels think-tank...

MMT part II: a synthesis, an olive branch, and a defence of Twitter

Eric Lonergan

11th October 2017

Definitions of Money, Economic History, Monetary Policy, Theory & Other Problems

26

This is a short follow-up to my previous post, ‘MMT - sophistry or substance?’, and Simon Wren-Lewis’s ‘Why is MMT so popular?'. Summarising, I suggest the two defining characteristics of MMT are: (1) a theo...

MMT: school of thought or set of personalities?

Eric Lonergan

7th October 2017

Definitions of Money, Economic History, Monetary Policy, Theory & Other Problems

28

MMT revisited Simon Wren-Lewis’s recent post on why MMT is so popular makes a number of important points. The Twitter response to Simon’s post was fairly representative - to its credit, MMT has a committed c...

Raising rates is a stimulus

Eric Lonergan

4th October 2017

Helicopter Money, Monetary Policy, Theory & Other Problems

There are two broad categories of monetary policy instrument: 1) measures which are aimed at influencing market interest rates, and 2) transfers from the central bank to the private sector. ‘Conventional’ m...

Money and language

Eric Lonergan

17th September 2017

Definitions of Money, Theory & Other Problems

6

The great Scottish philosopher David Hume may have been the first to understand that the economics of money is closest to that of language. Money is one of the most essential social conventions, the other t...

Language and money

Eric Lonergan

17th September 2017

Definitions of Money, Theory & Other Problems

The great Scottish philosopher David Hume may have been the first to understand that the economics of money is closest to that of language. Language is perhaps the most useful social convention, followed by...

Democracy and minority rule

Eric Lonergan

9th July 2017

Theory & Other Problems

4

Democracy is an attempt to provide legitimacy for law-making and government. Legitimacy resides in obtaining the consent of those affected by decisions. Democracy is also a practical process - of public debate,...

Secular stability

Eric Lonergan

22nd June 2017

Economic History, Theory & Other Problems

1

The defining characteristic of US economic data since the financial crisis is not stagnation, but stability. We all look back on the Great Moderation with incredulity at the hubris of economists. But has realit...

If you don’t like trade deficits – tax the rich?

Values in economics

MMT part III – conclusion, and a conversation with Ben Bernanke

MMT part II: a synthesis, an olive branch, and a defence of Twitter

MMT: school of thought or set of personalities?

Raising rates is a stimulus

Money and language

Language and money

Democracy and minority rule

Secular stability

Reviews of Eric’s book

CNBC: market sell-off is ‘noise’

Monetary policy & babysitting: why rates are so low, and ‘what’s next?’