Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Darren Quinn | Modern Money Educator & Analyst Profile picture
Darren Quinn | Modern Money Educator & Analyst
@AusMMT
I am a self-taught economist championing MMT macroeconomics. I am on a crusade for public economic enlightenment, even the experts can't resist my wit.
Sep 3 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
1/10 What if your financial struggles aren't a personal failing, but the predictable outcome of a system designed to keep you insecure? 🤯 Let's deconstruct the "Heptahedron"—the 7 hidden forces shaping your economic reality. A thread. 🧵👇 #hetecon #econ 2/10 Meet Sarah. She works two jobs, has two degrees, and still lives paycheck to paycheck. Her story isn't unique—it’s the story of millions. We're told her choices are "rational," but are they really choices if they're forced by a broken system? Image
Aug 30 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
💡 "Taxes fund spending" vs "Taxes delete money the government created" - these aren't just different phrasings. They represent completely different understandings of how modern monetary systems actually operate. The difference is profound... 🧵 1/ Traditional view: Government collects taxes → puts money in treasury account → spends that money. Like a household budget. Problem: this isn't how it works operationally. Government spending creates new money; taxes destroy existing money. 🏦 2/
Aug 30 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
🌍 "MMT only works for the US because of the dollar's reserve status" - one of the most common critiques. But this misunderstands both MMT and how currency hierarchies actually function. Let's unpack this... 🧵 1/7 MMT applies to ANY country with monetary sovereignty: their own currency, floating exchange rate, little to no foreign currency debt. The US has advantages, but MMT's core insights about fiscal space aren't exclusive to reserve currency issuers. 💰 2/7
Jul 23 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Is a trade surplus a real 'win' or just a number on a spreadsheet? My latest post walks through the balance sheets to prove the MMT insight: the accounting reality is all about real resources, not just money. #MMTtrade #Accounting 🧵 1/6 darrenquinn.substack.com/p/the-accounti… Step 1: The 'Real' Cost. Before any money changes hands, an Australian exporter uses up real domestic materials, labor, and energy. This is the true national cost of an export—real resources that are now gone. 2/6
Jul 22 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
What's the real cost of a country's exports? Is it the dollar amount on the invoice? 💰
Or is it something much more fundamental that balance sheets can prove? Let's follow the money AND the resources to uncover a core #MMT insight. 🧵 1/10 Imagine an Australian company (AMEM) makes $1M AUD worth of mining parts. Before a single dollar is sent, they must use real Aussie resources:
•Raw Materials 🪨
•Thousands of labour hours 👷
•Gigawatts of energy ⚡
These are now locked into the export goods. #Trade 2/10
Jul 3 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Yes. Let's explicitly break this down, @ProfSteveKeen 🧵 1/10 #MMT Also lets consciously acknowledge that your position has already shifted @wbmosler



2/10
Jun 30 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
A lot of debate about MMT and international trade circles back to the phrase: “Exports are costs, imports are benefits.” Critics call this a dogmatic slogan—but that misses the point. 🧵(1/10) This phrase isn’t a policy prescription or a rigid rule. It’s a 'pedagogical tool'—a way to challenge the old idea that trade surpluses are always good and deficits are always bad. (2/10)
Oct 11, 2024 • 15 tweets • 2 min read
0/14 I never really understood the concept of a "buffer stock" (gold, wheat, unemployment, employment, etc). Why is it necessary? How does it work? What are the mechanisms at play? A very central concept in MMT analytical frameworks... from @debaterinchief @debaterinchief 1/14 Let’s start with Sam’s thread: buff.ly/4f0Wkbi especially this post: buff.ly/4eXcHW5 🧵
Apr 28, 2024 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
TAXES

In the MMT framework, taxes serve several key purposes, but it's important to note that they are not primarily about raising revenue to fund government spending, as is often assumed in conventional economic thinking. 1/20 Image Firstly, taxes help to create a demand for the currency. Since the government requires taxes to be paid in the currency it issues, this ensures that people need to obtain and use that currency. This is a foundational aspect of MMT.
Feb 19, 2024 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
My new piece explains how Modern Monetary Theory (#MMT) has a strong track record of accurate economic predictions and insights. 🧵
@stephaniekelton @StephanieKelton MMT correctly warned that countries borrowing in foreign currencies were vulnerable - proven right by the 2008 Euro crisis. /2
@stevenhailaus
Feb 13, 2024 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
The Nature of Money 🧵

Understanding the nature of money is a critical starting point for comprehending #MMT. Money is not a physical commodity with intrinsic value. It is a legal and social construct. /1 Image This means that money's value and utility are derived from the legal frameworks and social agreements within a society. /2
Jun 11, 2023 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
He has BLOCKED me but @profholden once asked for a “formal theory” of MMT. Well here it is. The model examines two claims of Modern Monetary Theory: 1) The government determines the price level through the prices it pays when it spends. 2) Deficient demand results when the government does not supply enough currency to meet private demand. #MMT 🏛️💸
Aug 21, 2022 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
No we need to talk about access to & availability of resources as per your old colleague

I think the Nordic model is likely the correct model but not for accounting of revenue but for its broad based (sometimes progressive) VAT & inclusive social wage since it’s income tax scales are flatter than Australia’s.
Apr 24, 2022 • 61 tweets • 8 min read
Scott Ferguson is an MMTer, so next up we have Geoff Hodgson Hodgson is friendly towards the State Theory of money but does not think that is the whole of it
Dec 17, 2021 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Now I know who the non-heterodox economists in the book are, lets start with Can Heterodox Economics make a difference? by @PhilArmstrong58 again. I'll be making relational references to #MMT Victoria Chick makes the point that Post Keynesians should emphasise the spending comes first. This is completely #mmt consistent
Dec 17, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I admire the goals of UBI advocates but when set low enough it's just a social security transfer payment system & when set high enough it runs into an inflationary index problem As for bullshit jobs, yes there are some, but I think we will disagree what they are. Most are there for our social protection.
Dec 2, 2021 • 54 tweets • 15 min read
MMT FAQs THREAD #MMT

1. What is Modern about Modern Monetary Theory? In this context the word “Modern” is used in the same context that Keynes has used it.

The State, therefore, comes in first of all as the authority of law which enforces the payment of the thing which corresponds to the name or description in the contracts.