Oct 31, 2021
Welcome to episode 95 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with progressive video journalist and stand-up comedian, Graham Elwood, about the debt ceiling, #MintTheCoin, and the myth that "printing money causes inflation". Graham and I first spoke in June 2018, when I introduced him to MMT [parts one and two], only four months after discovering it myself. Although primitive, our initial talk has been seen by thousands and every now and then, I still receive kind emails from people who happen to catch it. The experience was special especially because viewers can witness Graham’s eyes open up more than once.
(As a brief aside, neither Graham nor I realized that he was actually introduced to MMT eight months earlier than that, when a patron submitted an article written by Stephanie Kelton. Although the term MMT never comes up.)
In the middle of our conversation, we talk about the very common myth of “printing money causes inflation" I still have much to learn, but I think I hit on some important points, and put enough out there to call the myth into question.
The heart of our conversation, however, is on the false debt ceiling crisis and its only immediate solution, which is #MintTheCoin. We start off by discussing the true difference between national debt and personal debt. We then talk about where the debt ceiling came from, and how it’s seen from several different contexts and perspectives. And how, except for those who wish to deceive, it’s multiple layers of nonsense.
We end with #MintTheCoin, which is the only legal solution available right now, which the president can do by merely deciding to do it. It’s a ridiculous solution, but would end the crisis immediately and legally, and would prevent real world suffering from millions of people. The platinum coin, however, has the potential to do much more than end the next debt ceiling crisis. In the words of Joe Firestone, the author of the only full-length book on the subject, a big enough coin would be “a revolution“ that “would change politics for the forseeable future.“
Our conversation is based on two of my MMT resource posts, links to which you can find in the show notes. My posts are based on the works of Joe Firestone, Rohan Grey, and others:
And now, onto my conversation with Graham Elwood. Enjoy.
Resources
- My video appearances with Graham (where the audio for today’s episode comes from):
- Graham’s full MMT playlist on YouTube