PA: “What I rarely see is explicit criticism of the capitalist system which underpins all of these global problems, and have never seen anyone even suggesting an alternate system as a solution.
Why is this?”

Me: Probably the combination of a lingering tribalism still extant since we went from nomadic hunters and gatherers to agricultural homesteaders and city dwellers, and the fact that humans so love their problems that they treasure them more so than solutions.

Obsessive dualism is both a signature of a failed paradigm and of the need for the historical process and effect of a paradigm change which is an integrative thirdness greater oneness of only the truths, workabilities and highest ethical considerations in the dualing opposing perspectives.

Integration is the very mental process of wisdom. Wisdom insights are deep simplicities. Paradigm changes are the quintessential integrative mental and temporal universe phenomena and logically wisdom insights They are also single concepts that strategically applied change the entire character of a complexity/pattern/system/body of thought/area of human endeavor, for instance nomadic hunting and gathering to agriculture, homesteading and urbanization and geo-centrism to helio-centrism, and thus logically they are deep simplicites.

Paradigms are also operant applied concepts. In other words they are the core problem (old/current paradigm) and the core applied solution (new paradigm).

Find the operant concept holding the deepest problems of the system(s) under analysis in continual suspension and identify the concept that resolves them via temporal universe application, and you’ve got what you want and what we need.

Dare I say I’ve found both the operant new concept and its most efficacious ways of application?

Yes.

R2000: H.L. Mencken: “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents… the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

Written 100 years ago this quote sums up US politics perfectly.

The US is entering the last years of their imperium because:

a courtier class responsible only to oligarchs has replaced genuine leadership and public participation;
US allies and the rest of the world can’t distinguish the US from odious tyrant as the US looks and acts like the worst kind of dictator;
American adversaries now look like soft beds of reason, restraint, and stability;
an immense US military is incapable of winning the smallest wars, or even retaining the allegiance of its junior officers;
praetorian guards are created loyal only to money and cruelty (BORTAC – US Marshals – Blackwater – DynCorp – Executive Outcomes – Sandline International);
the economy is used like a casino to enrich the unworthy;
children are used to punish immigrant families fleeing US imperial savagery in their own countries;
the most recent generations are the worst educated since 1776 as science, schools, libraries, an independent press, and dissenting voices are crushed by corporate design;
resurgent bigotry is aided by brutally stupid police and a corrupt justice system;
ruthless violence is blessed by empty prayers and Hollywood blockbusters;
smug disdain is displayed for any issue that doesn’t touch their own families, or their favourite sport;
vast numbers of citizens parade their ignorance around like they have just married a supermodel.

H. L. Mencken (1880 – 1956): “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”

William Casey (CIA Director 1981-1987): “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”

These are all signs of a society about to collapse with only a minor environmental disaster needed to start the landslide, out of the ecosystem armageddon certain to come.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), 1936: “We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace – business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.”

Americans have been lying to themselves for decades, if not centuries, so the logical conclusion has them electing proudly self-serving, bare-faced liars like Obama, Trump, the Shrubs, and Nixon. The world can no longer pretend US citizens know anything about the world, their own best interests, or the best interests of their longest allies and best friends. Americans can’t be expected to defend democracy, expand human rights, maintain an incorruptible rule of ‘law’, or manage a most important part of world’s economy.

Winston Churchill: “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.”

America has never been a democracy as the Constitution was designed to ignore everyone but rich, white males. US society has always been defined by greed, legal theft, racism, genocides, and lynch mobs. US citizens are so criminally witless they won’t support human rights by getting down on one knee. They would rather get down on both knees and beg.

George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796: “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.”

Voltaire: “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

Me: I couldn’t disagree with a single thing you said…except the cynicism, which on an ascending scale is about 5 microns above total apathy. Find the paradigm that needs changing and all of “tears in the night” will be “joy in the morning”.

We mustn’t fall for the false idea of “fourth turnings” which isn’t progress at all, but the same old empire disintegration/revolution which is simply the failure to perceive and effectively implement the new paradigm/evolution.

I’m four square in favor of profit making economic systems. What I’m not for is the domination of every other profit making business model by private finance’s monopoly paradigm of Debt Only as the sole form and vehicle for the creation and distribution of new money.

AK: Oh, Stephanie, there are days I just want to scream and this is one of them. I’ve been avoiding your newsletter throughout all the inflation talk, because I knew that every day would be a day I would want to not only scream, but perhaps try to kill anyone who uttered one more ridiculously false myth about inflation or economics in general.

When the Bidens went to Saint Croix for their holiday, I could not believe the missed opportunity. Saint Croix is, of course, where Warren Mosler lives, and I had this glorious fantasy of the Bidens enjoying a long, leisurely lunch at the Mosler’s. In my dream, I could see Biden’s eyes light up in that moment of comprehension – not unlike Luigi Spaventa’s did when he was the Assistant Treasury Secretary or Treasury Secretary in Italy and Warren, with a couple of questions, enabled him to see that the Italian Treasury was acting procyclical for absolutely nothing. I love that story.

But, as to the urge to scream or maim this morning … What can be done?

First, I thought of an open letter by the country’s thinking economists, but you’ve done that in support of child care relief. I haven’t followed up to see what, if any, effect that letter had or is having, but I’m certain it didn’t sway the hearts or minds of the millions of Americans who have such strong opinions about economics.

The way that misunderstood economic terms trigger reactions in the minds of the public has to be addressed. I mean nearly everyone in the entire country believes the false narratives of economics. Hell, most economists believe them. Changing people’s minds about these corruptive myths is an overwhelming endeavor. How do we do it?

When I think about this (and I think about it a lot), the only solution that keeps coming back, over and over again, is ADVERTISING. Yep, the good old American way. Too simplistic? I don’t think so; the brilliance of MMT is its simplicity, exactly as is the brilliance of Warren Mosler’s mind. Very few people have the ability to look at a thing as something that didn’t exist before and to apply pure logic to it. Warren has that kind of mind. As does advertising.

ADVERTISING is designed to cut through all preconceptions and apply a logical conclusion. The logical conclusion doesn’t even have to be the truth, as far as advertising is concerned, because in itself, advertising has no bias; it has only the parameters we assign to it, be they true or false. But when it’s good, advertising is simple and logical. It’s not easy to make it good, and acquiring converts to a macroeconomics seen through an MMT lense, will make it more difficult than usual because, well … economics.

Deeply entrenched misconceptions for the entirety of our lives. But what could be more challenging, more important, and more fun than creating that campaign? What’s the target group? Everyone? Do you create different campaigns for different target groups – age, economic status, culture, politics, etc?

Hey, the fascists have been doing it for as long as they’ve been around. Keep it simple. Capture minds. Kill everyone!

Me: “When I think about this (and I think about it a lot), the only solution that keeps coming back, over and over again, is ADVERTISING.”

You are absolutely right!
“What’s the target group? Everyone?”

Yes! And what is the single point in the entire economic process that is universally participated in, making any policy implemented at that very point both macro-economically/aggregatively effective and relavant? Retail sale. That is why a 50% Discount/Rebate policy at retail sale is so paradigm changing all by itself. It immediately doubles everyone’s purchasing power, potentially doubles the available demand for every enterprise’s goods and services and as a kicker…ends the biggest present time economic problem everyone is beefed about, namely inflation…by (amazingly) implementing BENEFICIAL price and asset deflation!

And all we need to do is advertise these empirical, temporal universe, universally effecting, macro-economic facts and benefits. All we need is a platform for that paradigm change. It even implements what MMT and every other leading economic reform movement want, handle inflation while increasing fiscal deficits and increase individual demand without causing inflation. Throw in a $1000/mo. universal dividend for everyone 18 and older for life and it even satisfies conservative/libertarian agendas because if every adult is guaranteed $2000/mo. of purchasing power…what are we bothering to pay payroll taxes for welfare, unemployment insurance and social security???

Hit people directly and beneficially right in the pocket book and it’s imminently real to them. Talk about the national debt as if it really doesn’t matter (and as we all know here it doesn’t) and you have to confront 6000 years of the acculturation of the civilization-long paradigm of Debt Only as the sole form and vehicle for the creation and distribution of new money.

Stephanie, are you reading what Alexis and I have posted here?

“Why if you wanted these things didn’t you pass legislation in the first two years of the Trump Administration when you held the Senate, House, and the White House?”

Undoubtedly because at least some republicans (not the freedom or chaos caucus) understand that guys like Steve Keen have mathematically proven that without fiscal deficits the economy will inevitably slide into recession. Hence their political calculus is let’s pretend we want a balanced budget to pander to our idiocracy while not doing the economically sane thing. After all, all we actually care about is gaining and holding political power…by doing the bidding of Finance which is that the necessity for a new monetary paradigm NEVER BECOME A CONSCIOUS THOUGHT IN THE MINDS OF THE POLIS.

All of the things you list are true, but even if there was some way to resolve those issues without a paradigm change (in other words there isn’t any way to do so) their beneficial effects would be minimal and likely fleeting.  Genuine paradigm changes are PERMANENT. That is historically confirmable. Everything adapts to a new paradigm, NOT the other way around. Republicans, democrats, libertarians and even the Stupid caucus want big change. It’s just that they have not figured out how to actually accomplish it in a way that integrates the best of the agendas of the opposing right/left duality. The new monetary paradigm and its major policies does so in spades. 

I like Mish. He’s very, very astute regarding the operations of the current economy within the present paradigm of Debt Only. Way back in 2007 I realized that his prediction that we were headed for a big housing deflation and so I was able to sell our Mexican condo at the top of the market. So we can often heed his advice…but his advice as well as anyone else’s that doesn’t confront the necessity of a new monetary paradigm…will never permanently resolve the major problems of modern profit-making economies. You have to find a way to temporally implement the new paradigm concept in such a way that it serves its historically verifiable integrative of opposites phenomenon.  In the interests of the economy, the nation and every individual and commercial economic agent in it I would love to have an honest, informed and non-insulting discussion here with Mish on the policies of the new paradigm. 

The entirety of “mathematical-deductive analytical formalism” is only (potentially) helpful up to the point where it drops its reductionistic methodology in favor of paradigmatic/operant concept analysis and then figuring out how to most efficaciously implement the newly discovered new paradigm concept.

Accomplishing that makes erudite dunces out of every analyst still mentally holding onto the old/current paradigm. So has it been since humanity acquired self-awareness and hence also became aware of the reality of ethics, since nomadic hunters and gatherers learned agriculture and started homesteading and urbanization and since helio-centrism replaced geo-centrism.

So will it be when analysts recognize the old/current operant but problematic economic concept of Debt Only for the creation and distribution of new money and discover the best ways to implement Abundantly Direct and Reciprocal Monetary Gifting.

Science is wonderful, necessary, beautiful and delicious…and it exists entirely within the mindset/digestive tract of wisdom. Wisdom insights are always deep simplicities that are the result of the thorough integration of the truths in opposites resulting in a true thirdness greater oneness of the truths in the seeming problematic duality. That is how I have always thought of the Electric Universe paradigm, and this video is an excellent presentation of that paradigm and the process of wisdom.

Reasonable speculation can be a good thing that leads to innovation, but purely financial speculation is one of the major banes in our highly financialized economy. You’re critique of neo-liberal macro that they ignore “money, debt and banks” is spot on, and I really like your PLLL policy. However, why not integrate both price and asset deflation and debt jubilee beneficially into the debt based system with a 50% Discount/Rebate policy at retail sale and a 25-50% debt jubilee policy at the point of loan signing, the jubilee percentage being higher for an industrial purpose and/or an ecologically sane consumer big ticket item.

The Discount/Rebate at retail sale perfectly mimics the Banks’ money creation/accounting process so the effect is beneficial price and asset deflation for the consumer and as the retailer’s discount is rebated back to them they get both their full price plus a potential doubling of demand for their goods and services. Pair this policy with a $1000/mo. universal dividend for everyone 18 and older and you totally eliminate poverty with $24k/yr. guaranteed purchasing power which would enable us to eliminate all payroll taxes for welfare, unemployment insurance and even social security (people who have paid social security taxes for many years would still get a sliding scale of SS check).

As you’re implementing beneficial price and asset deflation by (amazingly) a huge increase in demand that shuts the mouth of every pundit of fiscal austerity and would enable both large decreases in taxation percentage as a futile way to control inflation and open the possibility of funding the mega-projects necessary to confront climate change. These are all ways that such policies integrate the self-interests of traditionally opposed economic and political constituencies.

You could prevent inflation by business models before retail by taking away their tax cuts if they arbitrarily inflate and also taxing any revenue they might garner by such inflation at a rate of 100%. Finally, I would suggest creating a new government department called the Department of Product Innovation, Price Competition, Boycotting and the Public’s Bully Pulpit which would have monthly or even weekly press conferences to point the finger at gamers of the new beneficial policies.

The ancients were smarter than every civilization post Rome because they had periodic debt jubilees. So why not make jubilee a permanent continuing part of the economic process with the 25-50% debt jubilee at point of loan signing? The deepest problem economies since forever have faced was the recurring and inevitable build-up of private debt. Let us end that human civilization-long reality. If the private banks can’t live with the policy, then create a truly public national banking system which doesn’t need to make a profit and is willing to abide by the gracious policies of the new monetary and financial paradigm…and resign private banking to the dust bin of history.

What say ye?

MR: Steve, yawner!

Lots of margin calls – – especially ones  involving well-connected clients – – are never made.

NYSE open positions don’t have to be closed for 28 days.  NYSE specialists can naked short traded issues as long as the position is closed by the end of the trading day.  DTCC is owned by the banks. They own clearing, settlement and the rules governing them. Margin interest is a small cost of doing business.

The NY Fed refuses to publish overnight bank data, though required by statute. 

Dark pools, synthetics, derivatives, off-book transactions – – if there were complete data for these exposures – – would reveal the banking system insolvent and has been for years. 

We’re way past 1929. Why? ‘Greenspan put’.

We live in the age of  captive monetary administration, bailouts for insiders and white collar welfare masquerading as financial employment.

Market discipline and moral hazard apply to people like us, not to the British PM, Congress, regulators, administrators and their masters in the financial community.

With unlimited and unaccountable monetary authority, these central planners can abuse public administration and keep the financial ‘circus’ ball in the air indefinitely. 

A market meltdown, which Wall Street will orchestrate, only occurs if bailout is certain. Which it is.

Z.zzzz…..

Me: “We live in the age of captive monetary administration, bailouts for insiders and white collar welfare masquerading as financial employment.”

Correct. And the only way to end that is to change the entire pattern…instead of horse shitting around with mere palliative reforms. The core of the core problem is private finance’s monopoly paradigm of Debt Only as the sole form and vehicle for the creation and distribution of new money. Discover the new paradigm concept and how it can be most efficaciously implemented in the economic process and voila!: what happens with every historical paradigm change occurs, namely, the complete mental and temporal universe inversion of present realities. (Examples: 1) Copernican cosmological paradigm-change from geo-centrism to helio-centrism and the inversion of the positions of the earth and the sun. 2) Nomadic hunting and gathering to agriculture, homesteading and urbanization. 3) The dominance of the paradigm for the creation and distribution of new money of Debt Only which enforces chronic individual, systemic and fiscal monetary austerity along with chronic erosive price and asset inflation to individual, systemic and fiscal monetary abundance and beneficial macro-economic price and asset deflation by integrating the policies of Direct and Reciprocal Monetary Gifting strategically into the economy and the Debt ONLY system.

All any new paradigm concept needs in our technologically advance world is a platform to communicate its transformational benefits.

The primary problem with capitalism (and every other economic system) is the ethic it is driven by. Change that in a significant/applied paradigm changing way and it will alter nearly everything else.

As:

1) the current zeitgeist of Power, Profit and Control is in fact essentially a false/non-existent/non-application of an ethic

2) Power, Profit and Control without an ethic will inevitably lead to domination and corruption

3) every paradigm change has historically been an expression of an aspect or aspects of the natural philosophical concept of grace

4) which is the active form of the universally recognized supreme spiritual value AKA love

5) A primary aspect of grace is Redemption…

Thus, the best possible new applied paradigm concept/ethic for capitalism, and in fact the overall new zeitgeist should be Redeemed Power, Profit and Control.

I have been a student of all of the present leading economic reformers and learned a lot from them. However, no one but myself is analyzing on the operant concept/paradigmatic level when it comes to economics and the money system.

I have written a book that presents the entire policy program of the new paradigm, but a single policy that is the very applied expression of the new paradigm will immediately double everyone’s purchasing power, potentially double the demand for every enterprise’s goods and services and last but not least forever end the biggest present time economic issue, inflation…all in one fell swoop. There are many other benefits possible with the new paradigm that reformers aren’t even aware of.

All a new paradigm/pattern needs in our technologically advanced era to become the “idea whose time has come” is a platform to communicate its incredible benefits. Will Joe be that platform by interviewing me about it and how I happened to come to realize it?