Thread by @ActivistMMT

First, the federal government doesn't "print money." It issues currency. It does this by making accounting entries bigger and, when it collects revenue via taxation/bond sales, it reduces those same numbers. It "expands and contracts balance sheets."👇

https://twitter.com/ReedCoverdale/status/1339567446303240194

👆This is how all federal revenue and spending works, and has always worked, since the first dollar was issued around 222 years ago. This is the case regarding funding laws, purchasing and selling gov't securities, QE, and etc. There are no exceptions.👇

👆Giving a physicality to federal money it is plainly incorrect and highly misleading. Physical money is only created (actually, literally printed or minted) in response to citizens explicitly requesting it from a bank teller or ATM. Before that point, it's purely electronic.👇

👆Projecting a physicality onto money implies scarcity. MONEY IS NOT SCARCE. Real resources are scare, not money. Banks and the government create and destroy every second of every day. (You may think that's a bad thing, which is fine, but it is the reality.)👇

👆Money is scarce TO US as currency users, of course, but not to the issuer. We obviously, primarily, use their money. If the United States government is overthrown and stops existing, unless the new gov't chooses to honor it, all US dollars instantaneously become worthless.👇

👆Inflationary pressures are caused by spending outpacing productive capacity – spending, not money. Pretending we (actually) printed $100 trillion, put into a rocket, and then shot to the moon obviously cannot cause inflation. Nor can money invested or otherwise not spent.👇

👆Only spending money can cause inflation. Therefore, "creating money causes inflation" is simply not true.👇 forbes.com/sites/johnthar…

👆This is especially true if production can be ramped up to meet that new spending, money can be taxed away (or otherwise not spent) to reduce it, and any number of other things can come into play.👇 citizensmedia.tv/mmt-inflation-…

👆All of the above is equally true in the United States (the current reserve currency), the United Kingdom (the former reserve currency), Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and etc. (none of which has ever been the reserve currency).👇 citizensmedia.tv/mmt-petrodolla…

👆#MMT describes how our monetary system actually, currently, already, and **has always** worked. To say "MMT people want even more [printing to outpace production]" is something you made up.👇

https://twitter.com/ReedCoverdale/status/1339567446303240194

👆#MMT absolutely does demonstrate that many things are possible to do safely, as demonstrated in these four resource and inflationary impact studies:
1. Medicare For All: dropbox.com/s/wkqfesmcnega…
2. A truly-bold Green New Deal:👇 levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_931.pdf

👆3. Cancelling all student debt: levyinstitute.org/pubs/rpr_2_6.p…
4. The MMT-designed federal jobs guarantee: levyinstitute.org/publications/?…

Not just "safely," but highly beneficial – not to mention desperately needed by millions.👇

👆However, the #MMT project itself recommends three things, and three things only:👇 citizensmedia.tv/mmt-three-poli…

👆Too many people say with supreme confidence various terrible things they think #MMT is, does, or says, and quite often they're just making stuff up (or believing someone else who's making stuff up). For actual MMT, start here.

/end citizensmedia.tv/mmt

FYI, a substantially fuller version of the above can be found on reddit: reddit.com/r/mmt_economic…

Huh! WILL THE LEARNING NEVER STOP?!

https://twitter.com/wbmosler/status/1340247502667264000