Thread by @jasonhickel

I'm excited to share this new piece—a radical proposal for how global South countries can achieve economic decolonization and human-centered development, using a combination of MMT, industrial policy and debt default. See what you think: newint.org/features/2021/…

"The existing approach to 'development' will never work because it is not designed to work. It is designed to maintain Northern access to cheap labour, raw materials, and markets in the Global South."

Governments can use MMT to reclaim their resources and labour to focus on meeting domestic needs rather than servicing Northern consumption, with universal public services, food sovereignty, energy sovereignty, and a public jobs guarantee, ensuring decent livelihoods for all.

To the extent that this approach is precluded by international creditors, governments can make strategic use of debt default. Pursuing energy and food sovereignty, and introducing capital controls, can help mitigate any fallout.

"All of this would release Southern governments from the grip of neo-colonial power. The steps I’ve suggested here amount to a kind of unilateral decolonization; in other words, a throwing off of colonial power."

Throwing off imperialist exploitation would also help address the ecological crisis. "Northern countries would be forced to consume less (ie find ways to meet human needs with more modest amounts of resource use), and the rate of capital accumulation would decline."