Relearning Economics Profile picture
Jan 4, 2023 16 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Loanable Fund vs Endogenous Money.

A short film stylized in an old fashion silent movie-type format and utilizing the #Minsky #systemdynamics software.

Download Minsky for free: sourceforge.net/projects/minsk… (1/16)
Let's start with what you learn in the textbooks and hear on the news. It's the loanable fund's fallacy. (2/16)
The aggregate banking sector is broken into 4 accounts.

1. Reserves (Assets)
2. Customer1 Deposits (Liability)
3. Customer2 Deposits (Liability)
4 Bank Equity (Equity)

Note the initial conditions under each account. (3/16)
Image
Notice all rows must balance to zero, as per the rule of double-entry bookkeeping. The loanable fund's fantasy says customer 1 loans to customer 2. (4/16) Image
Since the bank facilitates this loan, they charge customer 2 interest. (5/16) Image
The bank kindly pays a portion of the interest to customer 1. (6/16) Image
The loan is repaid and the cycle begins all over again. (7/16) Image
Other than being fundamentally flawed as pointed out in the 2014 Bank of England paper titled: "Money Creation in a Modern Economy". (8/16)

The loanable funds model fails to address aggregate demand in the economy via the money creation process. (9/16)
Now let's take a look at how bank loans really work using endogenous money theory. First, we have to add a new account called "Issued Loans". (10/16) Image
The bank issues a loan, but this time it creates an asset under "Issued Loans". At the same time, the bank simultaneously creates a liability by marking up "Customer 1 Deposits". (11/16) Image
As before customer 2 pays interest to the bank for the loan. (12/16) Image
Finally, the loan is paid back to the bank canceling out both the asset and the liability. (13/16) Image
Imagine opening your monthly bank statement and seeing all your money is gone because it was loaned out! That's what neoclassical economists would have you believe with their loanable funds model. (14/16)
This school of thought forces us to reduce (or slow the growth) of the money supply during economic slumps. Thus reducing aggregate demand right when that demand is needed. (15/16)
This also creates an environment where too much lending happens in boom times, causing financial bubbles and system instability. (16/16)

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More from @RelearningEcon

Oct 7
We're told central banks fight inflation by raising rates.

But rate hikes don't "cool" the economy, they just change who gets paid.

So why is it that interest rates don't actually control inflation.
🧵1/12 Image
The textbook story: higher rates → less borrowing → lower demand → lower inflation.

Simple, right?

Except it rarely works that way in reality.

BIS (2023), The Transmission of Monetary Policy Revisited
🧵2/12
First, interest income.

When the Fed raises rates, it pays more interest on reserves + Treasuries.

That means more income for banks, funds, and wealthy asset holders.

Not a drain, a fiscal expansion.

Fullwiler (2017) Interest Rates and Fiscal Effects of Monetary Policy
🧵3/12
Read 12 tweets
Sep 27
Every time deficits rise, someone cries "money printing."

Sounds scary, but it's a misleading metaphor.

Here’s why deficits aren’t printing presses, and what they actually do.
🧵1/12 Image
Story: gov't spends → prints money → inflation.

Reality: spending credits bank accounts, creating deposits, matched by Treasuries. Balance sheets, not printing presses.

Fujiki (2001), Budget Deficits and Inflation - BOJ
🧵2/12
Actual "printing press" inflations, Weimar, Zimbabwe, came from collapsing output + foreign debt. Deficits were a symptom, not the cause.

Reinhart & Rogoff (2011), From Financial Crash to Debt Crisis - NBER
🧵3/12
Read 12 tweets
Sep 20
Balanced budget rules sound responsible.

In reality, they make recessions worse.

A thread.
🧵1/12 Image
The idea is simple: governments should not spend more than they tax.

No deficits, no "irresponsibility."

But economies don't work like households, and enforcing a balanced budget creates vicious cycles.
🧵2/12
When recessions hit, private spending falls.

That's when governments need to step in, raising demand, supporting incomes, and stabilizing the economy.
🧵3/12
Read 12 tweets
Sep 10
Treasury auctions sound like "the market funding the government."

But peel back the layers, and you'll see: all primary auctions are settled with reserves created by the Fed.

A thread.
🧵1/13 Image
Every week, the Treasury issues new securities at auction.

Primary Dealers are OBLIGATED to bid. Indirect bidders (pension funds, foreign central banks, asset managers) now take 90% of the allocations.
🧵2/13
But here's the key: all bids clear through Primary Dealers with accounts with the Fed.

Indirect bidders and some Primary Dealers don’t have accounts at the Fed. They place orders through dealers.

Settlement happens inside the Federal Reserve’s payment system.
🧵3/13
Read 13 tweets
Sep 7
What is wealth? Different schools of economics give very different answers.

A thread.
🧵1/13 Image
Classical economics (Smith, Ricardo):

Wealth = produced surplus.

It comes from labor applied to nature, creating output beyond subsistence.

The central issue is distribution: who gets profits, wages, and rents?
🧵2/13
Neoclassical economics:

Wealth = utility embodied in goods & services.

Focus shifts from production to exchange.

Here, wealth is whatever satisfies preferences, measured in prices.
🧵3/13
Read 13 tweets
Sep 3
The "crowding out" myth: government deficits don’t squeeze private investment.

They create net financial assets.

A thread.
🧵1/12 Image
The textbook story:
Gov borrows more → supply of loanable funds falls → interest rates rise → private investment gets "crowded out."

It’s tidy. It’s also not how modern monetary systems work.
🧵2/12
Reality: when the federal gov runs a deficit, it injects more net financial assets into the private sector.

Treasuries are just safe interest-bearing assets created by public spending.
🧵3/12
Read 12 tweets

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