Cynicism, despite being apparently a mature perspective on matters is probably the second worst intellectual disease of modernity. Why? Because its stops action before it even can begin which encourages apathy which is complete mental and physical surrender.

Deficits funded by treasuries are simply a way of making the world safe (kinda) for the private banks and the oligarchs, and of course re-inforces the wielding of their de-stabilizing monopoly paradigm for the creation and distribution of all new money which is Debt Only. If instead our existing public bank, the FED, simply funded the Treasury’s deficit without bonds and also the policies of

1) a 50+% Discount/Rebate at retail sale which would create beneficial price and asset deflation and

2) a reasonable monthly universal dividend then the money system and economy would be tremendously democratized, stabilized and synergized as much money in the hands of the individual accompanied by price deflation is the very definition of “good economic times”. Then,

3) allow commercial agents to increase their prices at a rate of 3% per annum while making the retail discount at least 53% and

4) also index the discount percentage to an accurate assessment of monthly actual inflation and

5) tax any commercial agent’s revenue garnered from inflation above 3% per annum at a rate of at least 100%, and finally

6) require that a sliding scale percent of gifted money/purchasing power be invested in Eco-Energy R & D bonds at a rate of 5-6% which would mitigate consumption while creating a gift of investment as its funded out of a gift of purchasing power created by the retail discount policy.

Strategic Gifting: The new monetary paradigm.

So here’s the process of the 50% Discount/Rebate at retail sale: Every retail enterprise gets an account with the central bank so when they agree to reduce the price of virtually every one of their goods and services by 50% the central bank can rebate the entirety of their retail sales discounts back to them making them whole on their entire price. Voila! Beneficial price and asset deflation so if you make $50k you can now potentially purchase $100k of goods and services. Then, you make the retail discount permanently 53% and allow enterprise to raise their prices 3% per annum and tax any further increases in prices at a rate of at least 100%. You also index the retail discount to an accurate and honest monthly rate of inflation including for food and petroleum so if the monthly rate of inflation is 5% the retail discount is 55%. Then, you implement say a $1000/mo. universal dividend to everyone 18 and older and have every adult register for an account at the central bank. That way with the 50% Discount/Rebate policy every adult has $24k/yr. of purchasing power for life…and you can eliminate the payroll taxes for welfare and unemployment insurance. Finally, as the retail point of Finance is one’s auto, insurance, mortgage or other big ticket item monthly payment you enable either the bank or the central bank to create 50% of those monthly payments including half of the escrow payments so you buy a $500k house at retail sale for $250k and if your monthly mortgage payment is say $2000…you only have to pay $1000/mo. And the kicker is the banks actually make more profit…because with the above policies virtually EVERYONE is creditable.

Visionary. Its the opposite narrative but not the opposite point of E. M. Forster’s The Machine Stops. Personal chosen purpose replaces the monopoly economic paradigm of Employment ONLY. And as every paradigm change’s beneficial aspects have always been an aspect or aspects of the natural philosophical concept of grace like unity as in the enlightened transformation of the inward deadness of inward mental abstraction ONLY to coming focusedly but effortlessly into an integration with whatever is in the present moment including abstraction, thirdness/resolution instead of obsessive duality/opposition which puts blinders on merely scientific/systemic analysis and left unresolved has inevitably resulted in conflict, etc. etc. etc.

And yes, because EVERYONE must participate in the economy to survive, a Wisdomics-Gracenomics/Dividend economy guaranteeing relative abundance is freeing as opposed to abundance for the sake of abundance, read greed…is probably a first essential step in such a change in paradigm and zeitgiest.

Lots of good insights and policy recommendations there, but it still lacks the insight that the deepest problem of economics is the present human civilization-long monopoly paradigm/ applied concept for the creation and distribution of all new money which is Debt Only and which is wielded by Private Finance.

Ask yourself this: What is a job guarantee? Its a form of Monetary Gifting. What is a UBI? Monetary Gifting. What is interest on treasury bonds? Monetary Gifting, albeit a very undemocratic form of Monetary Gifting…like a 50% Discount/Rebate policy at retail sale would be because EVERYONE participates in and/or is effected by the price at retail sale so its a direct, continuous and universal form of Monetary Gifting.

Finally, do even a cursury conceptual/philosophical analysis of the beneficial effects of historical paradigm changes and you will be delighted to discover that they have always been an aspect or aspects of the natural philosophical concept of grace…like GIFTING for instance.

This is why the MMT community needs to consciously FURTHER align itself with and level up to the need for a Wisdomics-Gracenomics. https://www.amazon.com/Wisdomics-Gracenomics-New-Monetary-Paradigm-Policies/dp/B08X7MZ4KH/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1552358772&sr=1-1-catcorr

Me in response to a gas lighter on this thread: I admit I’m a troll for the deeper level of analysis of looking at the concepts that create systemic realities rather than merely analyzing systemic problems themselves without looking for the paradigm concepts as well. All I want is for MMTers to integrate their reductionistic systemic analysis with the holistic level of paradigmatic analysis. And I bend over backward to emphasize my agreements with MMT’s policies that align with what I see as the core concept…as you can see in my original post. So I’m puzzled by no response from Stephanie and negative responses from others, especially because you would think progressive thinkers would be open to such inclusiveness being the effect of orthodox exclusion themselves.

DB: Steve, I appreciate that you may not understand that if you string together a sentence such as, “ integrate their reductionistic systemic analysis with the holistic level of paradigmatic analysis.” It is going to make some people physically ill and that is not a very nice thing to do to people.

Me: Thats what a dictionary is for, plus I think your estimate of the vocabulary of most people here is too low. And if I had said: We need to do what happens with all paradigm changes which is to solve problems by changing a single applied concept…I’m sure you would say: “Oh, thats entirely too simple.”

DB: No, stringing that sentence together is also just as ridiculous. I think you’re completely misunderstand. It’s not that you speak at a high level. It’s more that you sound that you never got out of the seventh grade and are performing as what you think an intellectual should sound like.

It’s comical Steve.

Me: Problems are complicated, but their solutions, after thorough analysis generally boil down to the discovery of a single key factor. Its paradoxical and its called a wisdom insight. If you don’t like how I express myself, then just do the simple algebra and double entry bookkeeping in the policies I suggest…like a good MMTer, and discover how they fix inflation, chronic austerity of individual demand, financial instability etc. etc. Its so much fun exposing irrelevant critiques and seeing solutions to problems.

A very timely post. What we need is a Wisdomics-Gracenomics because wisdom has always been associated with “the third resolving way” and because with an even cursury analysis of historical paradigm changes it becomes apparent that the beneficial effects of same have always been an aspect or aspects of the natural philosophical concept of grace. https://www.amazon.com/Wisdomics-Gracenomics-New-Monetary-Paradigm-Policies/dp/B08X7MZ4KH/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1552358772&sr=1-1-catcorr

False theories AND old paradigms survive because theories are frameworks mostly describing problems while new paradigms are single new applied concepts…that resolve the anomalies of the present paradigm, but without consciously looking for the SPECIFIC new concept and how to apply it, its simply missed.

Theoretics are good and necessary, but if one doesn’t analyze the concepts behind the theoretics then the deeper problem of the anomalous realities the present paradigm creates and enforces usually gets lost.

You were on the right track almost 10 years ago when you stated: “Neo-classicals ignore/misunderstand debt and the money system because if they did they would have to admit that it de-stabilizes economies.” You would have been much better off to analyze the realities that new private debt enforces (the burden to fully repay) and also that new money can ONLY be created as debt that is, a paradigm concept of Debt ONLY which makes it a concept exactly analogous to the Roman Catholic Church’s paradigm of Salvation Via Roman Catholic Sacraments ONLY. In other words, the word ONLY designates it as a monopoly paradigm.

Yes, a universal dividend and the other policies of the new monetary and economic paradigm is the path we must envision and implement. The current monopoly monetary paradigm for the creation and distribution of all new money must be broken up. An aspect of that monopoly paradigm is what you are specifically referring to which is Earned Income Only…except for the oligarchy which is Earned Income and Unearned Income…in other words MONETARY GIFTING. So lets democratize income and break up all of the dominating effects of the current anomalous monetary paradigm.

WB: Is this an empirical argument or an “a priori” one? I ask because: Aren’t empirical arguments supposed to show the evidence? (I don’t see any numerical or quantifiable data.)

Me: Its both actually. The 50% Discount/Rebate policy at retail sale is imminently empirical because it is an expression of the algebraic equation -50% of price + 50% of price = 0 loss of revenue because full price is received by the commercial agent and yet every individual agent gets a 100% increase in purchasing power. It makes purchasing power flow down hill like water does in the real world…and reverses/mitigates the de-stabilizing upward flow of price and oligarchic accumulation of money.

The idea of a universal dividend was first raised by a very clear minded person, C. H. Douglas of Social Credit fame as our “cultural heritage of increased technological and productive capabilities” which is an a priori insight that is sadly still little acknowledged.

So every retail enterprise gets an account with the central bank so when they agree to reduce the price of virtually every one of their goods and services by 50% the central bank can rebate the entirety of their retail sales discounts back to them making them whole on their entire price. Voila! Beneficial price and asset deflation so if you make $50k you can now potentially purchase $100k of goods and services. Then, you make the retail discount permanently 53% and allow enterprise to raise their prices 3% per annum and tax any further increases in prices at a rate of at least 100%. You also index the retail discount to an accurate and honest monthly rate of inflation including for food and petroleum so if the monthly rate of inflation is 5% the retail discount is 55%. Then, you implement say a $1000/mo. universal dividend to everyone 18 and older and have every adult register for an account at the central bank. That way with the 50% Discount/Rebate policy every adult has $24k/yr. of purchasing power for life…and you can eliminate the payroll taxes for welfare and unemployment insurance. Finally, as the retail point of Finance is one’s auto, insurance, mortgage or other big ticket item monthly payment you enable either the bank or the central bank to create 50% of those payments including half of the escrow payments so you buy a $500k house at retail sale for $250k and if your monthly mortgage payment is say $2000…you only have to pay $1000. And the kicker is the banks actually make more profit…because with the above policies virtually EVERYONE is creditable.

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Yes, lets have a sliding scale percentage “tax” of GIFTED money (read a gift of investment) by having the central bank float 5-6% bonds to fund R & D eco-energy bonds.

1) with the 50% Discount/Rebate at retail sale and the clearly known and enforceable 100% tax on inflation above 3% per annum the heavy handed and ineffective FED funds rate becomes irrelevant.
2) It mitgates consumption while encouraging saving
3) Its rational action on the part of government as opposed to irrationally doing nothing or irrationally doing fracking instead of proactively addressing the ultimate issues of energy and the ecology.