CPI nowcast for May reporting low ..read more

No not so fast there buddy. ..  According to MMT the US government is “borrowing money!” from the tax exempt foreign divisions of these multinationals… It’s not just transferring retained earnings into foreign UST accounts at the Fed as part of a scheme to reduce overall corporate tax liabilities… that’s not what is happening.. I wonder how many people know these “buybacks” are mostly unpaid taxes distributed to investors in US ? In the case of $AAPL profits are kept offshore in 0% tax countries like Ireland, then $AAPL issues bonds in #US to finance these buybacks and when the bond ..read more

  Have to see if this large month end settlement pattern continues…. It may be that first of the month fiscal transfers are getting so large these days that they are destabilizing reserve assets at Depositories… so Treasury might be scheduling most of the settlements the day before to reduce reserve balances within the same regulatory period as the first of the month… Treasury issuance is not “borrowing!” despite what MMT asserts… Treasury issuance is skewed this month. There are net paydowns and one large settlement on month-end. If we exclude month-end, there's a net paydown of $108 ..read more

You know that scene in The Big Short, when after the collapse there's a distinct vibe of "man that was so obvious, how were people so impossibly stupid?" If you are loaning money to the Federal Government (ie if you own government bonds), the *only* reason you should feel… https://t.co/KgutE7xeIv — Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) May 3, 2024 ..read more

Trump getting ready to go to war with the Democrat Monetarist morons who currently run the Fed... He probably wants rates back at zero like Obama had for 8 years…  This would be a catastrophe if it ever happened. It’s being reported by the WSJ so it’s legit. If Trump lowered rates into an inflationary crisis it would create a lot of pain. Especially for the middle class. pic.twitter.com/FTLfEQ1Qmu — QE Infinity (@StealthQE4) April 27, 2024 ..read more

  Shots fired: Japan has always been a favorite talking point for the #MMT crowd, who claim Japan's huge debt load is totally fine. It isn't. Japan is in a currency crisis because its debt forces the BoJ to keep interest rates pinned. A huge warning sign for debt aficionados in the Euro zone... pic.twitter.com/mnO6RUQgnq — Robin Brooks (@robin_j_brooks) April 28, 2024 ..read more

  So what now we have Art Degree MMT Economics people teaching rudimentary Finance and Accounting Science 101 like this is some big revelation or something?  Big deal … ? assets___________BANK________liabilities + reserves + bank deposits What happened? ? — Dirk Ehnts (@DEhnts) April 15, 2024 ..read more

  But these JPM people are not winning the Art Degree argument though: JUST IN: ?? JPMorgan says high interest rates are driving inflation higher - Bloomberg pic.twitter.com/ui89mAh6RG — Radar? (@RadarHits) April 10, 2024 This guy is winning the argument: .@lhsummers, former US Treasury Secretary and Wall Street Week contributor, says he's not surprised inflation rose again in March, but he says an interest rate cut in June by the Federal Reserve would be dangerous https://t.co/VVbO71W83N pic.twitter.com/enjnKsEm5Z — Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) April 10, 2024 ..read more

It’s Wednesday and we have discussion on a few topics today. The first relates to the new agreement between the European Parliament and the European Council that was announced on February 10, 2024, which purports to reform the fiscal rules structure that has crippled the Member States of the EMU since inception. The reality is that the changes are minimal and actually will make matters worse. I keep reading progressives who claim the EU fiscal rules are no longer operative. Well, sorry, they are and the temporary respite during the pandemic is now over and the new agreement makes that very cle ..read more

Today, I am fully engaged in work commitments and so we have a guest blogger in the guise of Professor Scott Baum from Griffith University, who has been one of my regular research colleagues over a long period of time. He indicated that he would like to contribute occasionally and that provides some diversity of voice although the focus remains on advancing our understanding of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and its applications. Today he is going to talk about what responsible government spending should look like. Anyway, over to Scott … William Mitchell — Modern Monetary Theory What is respons ..read more