Posted Responses to My Substack Newsletter:

JL: Let’s see if I got this right: you’re proposing to subsidize the purchase of any good or service by having the central bank pay half the purchase price. Ever think about what happens to all these additional new dollars once received by the seller? May they be used to bid for other goods and services? And may such bidding again be amplified 2x by the central bank? What starts as a 50% discount is a virtual guarantee to hyperinflation in week.

Me: You’re not seeing it correctly. The consumer pays half of the price and the monetary authority pays the second half. The retailer receives no more money than they normally do per purchase. The consumer does save 50% of whatever the total cost is so their purchasing power is doubled, and the retailer is happy because now there is twice as much potential demand for their products and services. The retailer agrees not to increase their prices in order to opt into the discount/rebate policy. It’s wildly beneficial for the retailer and consumer so why wouldn’t the retailer want to opt in. And if they have some idiotic “principled” objection to such beneficial policy they can just opt out and then they will have to get 100% of their price from the consumer while the consumer can walk down the street and only pay 50% from their competitor. So its “an offer they cannot (and rationally should not) refuse.

JL: The money supply would grow quickly (essentially each year 50% of GDP would be added) due to the continued injections by the monetary authority. This would lead to hyper-inflation. Or in your scheme with fixed prices extreme shortages.

Me: Sorry, you’re stuck in Freidmanism and in the largely falacious orthodoxy of supply and demand both of which the policy program of the new monetary paradigm overturn. The new rules and regulatory framework of the new paradigm that enables high percentage cuts in corporate, personal and payroll taxes (and that will be replaced by very high taxation if they break the rules) will force enterprise to compete on price instead of allowing them to wallow in the current chaotically unstable system by committing the economic vice of price inflation. Money itself is at best a tertiary factor in inflation. Lack of a universally beneficial and well thought out policy and regulatory program and the clear identification of obvious and criminally insensitive attempts to cheat on it is the real reason it continues to be a problem.

Hyperinflations are very rare and generally require 4 things to occur before they take place: 1) Go to war, 2) Lose the war, 3) The winning side imposes onerous war debts upon the losing side which makes it politically palatable to attempt to inflate away such debt and 4) The private banks leverage up currency speculators who short the currency…and that is what actually initiates the hyperinflation. In the new paradigm both being the bank who leverages up speculators and the speculators themselves will be immediately arrested for such a blatantly anti-social act and not see the light of day for at least a couple of decades….and the general populace will be cheering the authorities along because they liked having the new paradigm double their purchasing power and they will not look kindly on those who would greedily try to eliminate it.

Scarcities will not be a significant factor because intelligent entreprenuers seeing the potentials of doubled purchasing power will prepare by upping production and productive capabilities. Secondly a doubling of purchasing power does not ipso facto translate into a doubling of consumption and economic throughput. Yes, the poor and unemployed will have a substantial uptick in consumption, but not everyone is going to eat twice as much as they do now and buy twice as many pairs of underwear as they have now. The likely long term effect will be a huge increase in savings and investment which will be an additional beneficial effect of the new paradigm.

We need to free our minds from orthodoxies. They are the end of actual thinking and the beginning of curmudgeonly mental unhappiness.

Monopolies are always problematic. Banks own a monopoly paradigm of DEBT ONLY for the creation and DIRECT DISTRIBUTION of new money TO THE INDIVIDUAL. This causes the continual build up of private debt and has always been the leading cause of individual and civilizational economic instability

The 50% Discount/Rebate monies are actually distributed to enterprise which has much precedent. The universal dividend monies are direct distributions of money/not credit, but the rationale for the dividend monies is that they are part of the individual’s cultural inheritance of prioductive capabilities built up over time by their forebears. Last time I looked there was no constitutional objection to receiving an inheritance of money.

It is tremendously stupid that we give a single business model (Finance) a virtual monopoly to create the economic life’s blood (money) of every individual and other commercial agent. But it is titanically stupid that we enable them a monopoly paradigm to create it ONLY as debt.

With that monopoly paradigm Finance has kept humanity on all fours for the entire history of civilization as Graeber and Hudson have well documented. And there’s no conspiracy about it…because there’s no need to conspire when you’ve been granted a monopoly paradigm which is the right to weield the power of the operant factor of an entire system/body of knowledge/pattern of thought. And unfortunately paradigms are like breathing, we’re normally unconscious of them, and when you stack up 5000 years of acculturated unconsciousness it’s no wonder even the most astute economists are unaware of the present monetary paradigm let alone be able to see the new concept that would beneficially and permanently change the entire character of money and economics.

It’s past time we stood up on our own hind legs and demanded the monetary freedom that the last several centuries of our cultural inheritance of the ever increasing abundance of productive capabilities has bestowed upon us. A freedom that, all by itself, the present monetary and financial paradigm denies us.

And it’s waaaay past time that we ended the bugaboo of inflation and the false orthodoxy that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon” by implementing beneficial price and asset deflation with a 50% Discount/Rebate policy at retail sale. That policy is powerful because it is the very expression of the new monetary and financial paradigm of Direct and Reciprocal Monetary Gifting.

I’m in full agreement with Michael Hudson’s assessment of Financial dominance being the primary economic problem in modern economies. He and virtually all of the present leading reform movements have surrounded the problem, however, they have missed the solution not out of inaccurate analysis but by not “upping their game” to paradigmatic/pattern analysis. Reforms are wonderful, good…and almost always easily gamed. To create permanent change you have to decypher the correct new paradigm concept and how best to implement it as policy. As Michael, Steve Keen, advocates of UBI, MMT and others have observed the core of the problem is regarding money, debt and banks/finance.

A few observations about the signatures of an accomplished paradigm change: 1) they are always in complete conceptual opposition to the present paradigm 2) they resolve the major problems that have grown up around the present paradigm 3) they totally invert the character of the present paradigm and hence the temporal universe character of its pattern 4) everything adapts to a new paradigm…not the other way around.

So what is the specific new paradigm concept? If the present paradigm for the creation and distribution of new money is Debt as in Burden to Repay Only (the word only designates the present paradigm as a monopolistic one) then according to 1 above the new paradigm is Monetary Gifting which is conceptual opposition to debt as burden to repay. This is why fiscal deficits, UBI/Universal Dividend, job guarantees, and debt jubilees align with the new paradigm because they are all monetary gifting. How might a policy of monetary gifting most efficaciously and macro-economically resolve the two biggest problems of the current paradigm, namely inflation and chronic individual scarcity of demand? The point of retail sale is universally participated in by every individual economic agent. Hence a beneficial policy at that point would have universal/macro-economic effect. So, a 50% Discount/Rebate policy at retail sale where the retailer grants the consumer a 50% discount on every product or service and the monetary authority rebates the entirety of that discount back to the merchant so as to make him/her whole on the overheads and profit margins would accomplish the following: 1) the terminal ending of inflation by (mind blowingly) implementing beneficial price and asset deflation. That single policy fulfills 2 & 3 above by inverting harmful, erosive inflation into beneficial and non-painful deflation. 2) This policy also: a] immediately doubles every individual’s purchasing power and b] potentially doubles the available demand for every enterprise’s goods and services thus solving the problem of chronic individual income and hence demand for production. 3) #4 above is important because presently we do face tensions between east and west as Michael and others have observed, and because historically the primary reason empires have invaded their neighbors is to steal their assets in order to attempt to stabilize their domestic economies. If the new paradigm stops inflation and monetary scarcity and paired with a policy of debt jubilee ends the build up of private indebtedness then we would be eliminating the major underlying cause of geo-strtegic tension to invade. Also, because the benefits of a new paradigm are so good and universally experienced such policies will eventually be adopted by everyone. So if the Chinese would adopt the new paradigm they would be able to satisfy their entire populace much more than they presently do, and if the US did the same they’d experience the same kind of uplift to the social contract. There are many other benefits and policies in the complete program as elucidated in my book.

Wisdom is the superlative human mental discipline. Science is wonderful, necessary, delicious and exists entirely within the digestive tract/mindset of Wisdom. Wisdom is the mental process of the integration of opposite truths, applicabilities, workabilities and the highest ethical concepts in the matter under analysis.

Wisdom is always an integration and application of the often considered opposite perspectives of pragmatism and ethics.

Wisdom insights are deep simplicities like: “Attitude is 99% of everything.” People may bemoan this truth, because it takes mental effort to overcome less than positive attitudes garnered either unconsciously over time or by negative experience, but the truthfulness of the statement itself cannot really be denied. The generally accepted pinnacle concept of Wisdom is Grace as in love in personal thought and action and/or in systemic policy. Graciousness is the supreme human experience and purpose.

Paradigm changes are the quinessential integrative phenomenon. Why? Because ironically new paradigm concepts are simply stated single descriptive and operant concepts…that change the character of and resolve the lingering problems in an entire pattern, that is, a complexity. In other words new paradigm concepts/changes are Wisdom insights, that is deep simplicites. In fact they are the very integration of the opposites of simple and complex. Hence paradigm concepts are Wisdom insights themselves.

The effects of every historical paradigm change have always been an aspect or aspects of the natural philosophical concept of grace. Examples:

There are paradigm changes and then there are mega-paradigm changes. A mega-paradigm change is one that is universally, continuously and beneficially experienced by the individual and that has spill-over beneficial effects into additional systems, bodies of knowledge and/or areas of human endeavor other than the primary area of the paradigm change. There has probably only been two mega-paradigm changes in the entire history of the human species. These were the emergence of self awareness and the change from nomadic hunting and gathering to agriculture, homesteading and urbanization. The paradigm change in the economy and the money system for the creation and distribution of new money from Debt Only to Direct and Reciprocal Monetary Grace as in Gifting will be the third mega-paradigm change.

In fact it may be the first mega-mega paradigm change because of 1) the length of time that the present monetary and financial paradigm has been in effect (the entire history of human civilization), 2) the constance and intimately personal nature of economics/exchange, 3) the change of power relationship to and the increased survival value for the individual regarding one of mankind’s greatest inventions, namely the tool of money and last but not least 4) the fact that it will create a constant temporal universe infrastructure and opportunity for humanity to self actualize two of the major aspects of the natural philosophical concept of grace, that is, gifting and gratitude.

Graeber’s book Debt: The First 5000 Years was extremely important because it helped raise the veil on the paradigm of debt. Paradigms/paradigm concepts are like breathing, 99% of the time we are entirely unconscious of it/them, but when you can’t breathe you suddenly realize just how important they are. Graeber, yourself and others like Michael Hudson, MMTers, Ann Pettifor, UBI advocates and Ellen Brown have the area of the problem well surrounded, namely “money, debt and banks”. You just haven’t completely crystalized in your minds the precise new paradigm concept and how to most efficaciously apply it to the economic system. It is notable that one of the reasons it took helio-centrism to be correctly acknowledged as the new reality was that originally it was less accurate than Ptolemaic cosmology. It took Gallileo’s observation of the moons of Jupiter and finally Kepler’s discovery of the elliptical nature of orbits to confirm its temporal universe reality and problem solving applicability. So it will be with the acceptance of the new paradigm for the creation and distribution of money and of personal debt. Find the point in the economic process where the new paradigm is universally participated in and experienced by every agent and you will macro-economically implement its benefits and problem resolving effects.

We’re in an increasingly disintegrative trend socially, economically and politically. The only way to stop a disintegrative trend is to integrate the interests of the apparently unresolvable opposing constituencies. When the darkness is most stark is whaen you know it’s time for a paradigm change. Why? Because historically a paradigm change is humanity’s most integrative phenomenon. Why is that? Because paradigm changes always beneficially integrate opposing seemingly unresolvable dualities. Also, a paradigm change is a single/simplemental concept like helio-centrism…or Monetary Gifting, that changes an entire complexity in the temporal universe and thus is ITSELF an integration of opposites.

So you can integrate your orthodoxies with those of the liberals and survive and thrive, or, stubbornly and idiotically, not do so and sit helplessly while the smelly stuff hits the fan in a titanic way for yourself and any of your progeny. The choice…is entirely yours.

JM: By 2050, 50 percent of all work will be done by machines, robots, AI. Thus, we’ll need UBI. Also, robots can be taxed.

Glad to see that you understand MMT.

Me: Correct. UBI conceptually aligns with the new monetary paradigm of Direct and Reciprocal Monetary Gifting. MMT does also, as what are fiscal deficits but monetary gifting to government contractors. The new monetary paradigm integrates and furthers the self interests of business and the consumer while simultaneously breaking up the dominance of the monopoly paradigm of Finance which is at the root of all of our current economic problems like inflation, the orthodoxy of austerity and compelling the individual to serve the system…instead of making the system serve humanity. Thus, appropriately applied, the policies of the new monetary paradigm are able to create a thirdness greater oneness of the intentions and goals of the all too often false dualism of capitalism vs socialism.

A 50% Discount/Rebate policy at the point of retail sale is the very temporal/economic expression of the new monetary paradigm.

Both Stephanie’s substack and Steve Keen’s substack (where I recently posted an affirmation of Keen’s mentioning that if properly understood Hegel ‘s dialectic is necessary in furthering economic change) also align with the new monetary paradigm. I’ve posted here enough without mentioning my own substack newsletter Wisdomics-Gracenomics: The New Monetary Paradigm and Its Policies which deals with the entire patterns of money and economics and which has the ability to integrate and accomplish the goals of all of the leading economic reforms. Let us bring wisdom and wisdom’s pinnacle ethical concept grace as in monetary gifting to modern economies.

Money’s creation is most basicly accounting. Currently the paradigm for the creation and distribution of money is Debt Only which marks it as a monopoly paradigm. MMT’s Fiscal deficits, as small as they are in relation to total money creation are contrary to the current paradigm in that they are gifts of revenue/money to government contractors. The banks and their allies obviously fight this fact because it points at their monopoly paradigmatic power.

In addition to MMT all of the leading reformists/movements either align with the monetary gifting concept or point at where the problem most clearly exists like:

Michael Hudson (debt jubilee/monetary gifting), Dr. Keen’s insight that neo-classical macro ignores money, debt and banks because if they didn’t they’d have to concede that the money system destabilizes the economy, David Graeber (5000 years of the unconscious acculturation of Debt Only), UBI (monetary gifting), Positive Money (monetary gifting) Ellen Brown’s Public Banking (bringing competition to the overweening power of private finance’s monopolistic monetary paradigm).

I would like to suggest a policy that perfectly mimics finance’s money creation accounting operation of equal debits and credits summing to zero, and that by its very point in the economic process has aggregative mathematical effect and universal benefit to virtually all individual and commercial agents. That policy is a 50% Discount/Rebate at retail sale.

A 50% discount at the point of retail sale (all of which discount would be rebated back to the merchant by the FED or another monetary authority mandated to do so) amazingly would macro-economically implement beneficial price and asset deflation. If we didn’t have to worry about inflation any more there would be no legitimate argument for fiscal austerity and hence we would be able to run the kind of deficits necessary to fund the mega projects necessary to confront climate change. A 50% discount at retail sale immediately doubles everyone’s purchasing power and so potentially doubles the demand for every enterprise’s goods and services. This would integrate the self interests of the traditionally opposed economic and political constituencies of business vs consumer and individual vs the system. It would also isolate the interests of the bourgeosie from finance therefore isolating the latter.

A universal dividend of say $1000/mo. paired with the 50% Discount/Rebate (in other words a guaranteed $2000/mo of purchasing power for everyone 18 and older) would enable the elimination of the payroll taxes for welfare, unemployment insurance and even social security that every working person and enterprise currently pay.

The retail discount/rebate policy fulfills and effects two of the historical signatures of paradigm change namely 1) complete conceptual opposition to the present paradigm (Copernican cosmological paradigm change: geo-centrism to helio-centrism. Current monetary paradigm: a) Debt Only as in burden to repay to Monetary Gifting and b) monopoly power to competition)

and 2) complete inversion of temporal universe reality (Copernican example: inversion of the positions of the earth and the sun. Current monetary paradigm example: inversion of wide spread austerity with inflation to universal relative monetary abundance and yet price and asset deflation).

I respect all of the insights of the theories and movements above. But please let us consider the integrative effects and ultimate efficaciousness that paradighmatic/entire pattern change analysis can produce.

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Hegel was indeed enlightened. His dialectic is a precise codification of the process and mindset of wisdom which being the intellectual impulse of integrating/synthesizing opposites is the superior human mental discipline. Lack/refusal to integrate the truth(s) in opposites leads to the obsessive-compulsive dualism and hence rigid orthodoxies we increasingly see today, particularly in economics and politics. Wisdom should not (necessarily) be confused with religion which far too often has ended up simply being the creation of another orthodox and contentious dualism. Again, wisdom is the integrative/synthesizing mental process.

New paradigms like wisdom insights are deep truthful simplicities in that they are single operant concepts, that applied, synthesize opposites and create and change entire patterns. They are cybernetics, helio-centrism and agriculture, homesteading and urbanization. Authentic new paradigm concepts are the ultimate mental and temporal universe integrative phenomena.

Let us have a new paradigm in economics that deals with what you Dr. Keen have correctly identified as the area that neo-classical macro would have us ignore, namely money, debt and banks.

Orthodoxy is the end of open mindedness and creative thinking. My orthodoxy is Wisdom, which being the mental process of integrating opposites in pursuit of a thirdness greater oneness of truths within the highest ethical consideration possible, is the ultimate anti-orthodoxy.