Introduction At first glance, it appears that industrialization, with its rampant overproduction and overconsumption, stands as the primary antagonist in our climate crisis narrative. However, this surface-level perception overlooks a more profound shift that lies beneath: an epistemological revolution birthed in the European Enlightenment. This era marked a pivotal transition in our relationship with the planet, as perceptions of Earth evolved from a nurturing entity to a resource ripe for exploitation. This essay seeks to unravel this transformation in thought and its subsequent paving of th ..read more

2024 WEA Conference: CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRACY 80 YEARS LATER: Looking at capitalism today in light of its past and possible future We are going to close the Discussion Forum https://capitalismanddemocracy2024.weaconferences.net/papers/ with a Webinar meeting to be held on Wednesday, March 27th, between 4:00 pm  and 6.30 pm UK time zone. Platform: Google Meet (xef-kpdf-ibw) 4:00 pm UK time zone Welcome  and introduction of the Conference Leaders Dr. Arturo Hermann and  Dr. Maria Alejandra Madi Panels Authors Papers/ Titles 4:15 to 4:45 pm UK time zone   &nb ..read more

By John Haly and Dr. Martha Knox-Haly, originally published at Auswakeup Media. We now go on to part two of our discussion of the concept of a “Mismatched Unemployment Inflationary Rate” (MUIR), which would use a federal job guarantee to bridge the gap between full employment policies and the inflationary risk associated with mismatched skills driving up production costs. We now look at how the components of a full employment policy can offset the inability of western governments to end needless unemployment. [Here’s a link back to part one.] When governments do facilitate a full employment ap ..read more

By John Haly and Dr. Martha Knox-Haly Any monetary sovereign government can address unemployment through social and political means, giving the working class a functional financial safety net. What stands in the way, however, is the political establishment’s lack of will and refusal to renounce neo-liberal ideology, which uses the unemployed as a bargaining chip for the capitalist class. In this two-part analysis, the requirements for genuine full employment are reviewed. The concerns about getting a job, keeping or leaving a job, and the anxiety of finding another generate concerns in the wor ..read more

Modern economics uses “scientific” methodology, under the assumption that economic laws are invariant across time, space, and society. In previous posts, we saw how this leads to loss of precious insights about money gained from historical experiences (Monetary Economies: A Historical Perspective, Lessons from Monetary History: The Quality-Quantity Pendulum). In this post, we will discuss the modeling strategy we will use to derive lessons from history which extend beyond the particular historical context from which they are derived. Modern Economics uses nominal models (the as-if me ..read more

In the previous section, we saw how economic theories changed from classical to Keynesian to Monetarist over the course of the 20th century. These changes were driven by historical events. Taking this historical context into account deepens our understanding of economic theories. This contrasts with conventional methodology of economic textbooks, which treats economic theories as scientific laws, which are universally applicable to all societies. In this section, we describe one of the central lessons which emerges from the study of money over the millenia. The Battle of Methodologies (Method ..read more

I am planning to write a textbook on monetary economies. I will draft it section by section and chapter by chapter, and put down the drafts here for feedback and comments. The first section is given below – it is an introduction to the topic, and provides some motivation for the study, as well as hints of the methodology to be adopted. Introduction & Motivation A Monetary Economy is one in which the use of money is essential to the functioning of the economy. That is, without money, people would starve, and massive amounts of economic misery would result. Since monetary economies have domi ..read more

I recently gave a talk to students of Modern Money and Economics of Sustainability at Torrens University. The video of the talk is provided below. I have also written up some notes about this talk which clarify some points only sketched briefly in the talk, and provide links to more detailed discussions. Reversing the Great Transformation The following writeup provides some details and background missing from the talk, and also links to related materials: The transition from a traditional Christianity based society to secular modern society which took place in Europe over the course of the tw ..read more

Despite the ongoing expansion of renewable energies, a substantial shortfall persists between the investments currently being allocated and those that are necessary. The inadequacy of both public and private investments to fulfil the necessary criteria is regrettable. In 2023, climate change was a topic that was explored at a few summits prior to COP 28: The G7 Summit in Hiroshima aimed to address global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and energy crisis. They pledged to achieve a 1.5°C global temperature rise limit, halt biodiversity loss by 2030, and ensure en ..read more

2021 marked the 50th anniversary of the “weekend that changed the world”, when US President Richard Nixon suspended the convertibility of the dollar into gold. From a monetary point of view, since then there has been continued dominance of the dollar as a vehicle for international transactions. However, Is the dollar as the world’s reserve currency under attack? The dollar’s dominance in global markets is still significant, with its role in trade invoicing, international debt, and cross-border non-bank borrowing outstriping that of the US. This dominance has been attributed to the absence of a ..read more