Companies and governments are racking up massive debts to cope with the impact of COVID-19. Apart from grants for a month or two of partial salaries, the approach has largely been to extend easy short-term credit to those people and businesses struggling to survive. We can expect, once an initial amnesty on repayments has passed, many of these companies will go to the wall, adding to the massive peak in unemployment. How can economies grow when individuals are piled high in debt and governments are forced to use austerity to repay their massive spending programs. Steve Keen has argued that debt needs to be written-off, even before the Corona crisis. Now seems like the right time for society to discuss the benefits of a debt jubilee. The only downside seems to be a significant reduction in the size of the finance sector. Can we live with that? Or, perhaps they can shift their emphasis to more productive investments.
Finance
Steve Keen at the OECD: Can we avoid another economic crisis?
Steve Keen’s presentation to the OECD New Approaches to Economic Challenges forum. Watch here
Economics
Macro n Cheese: Bill Mitchell – Trade, Foreign Exchange and Modern Monetary Theory: A Field Guide
Listen here For non-economists to learn essentials such as the balance of payments, currency exchange, and trade between nations, presentation matters. The brilliant Bill Mitchell, as always, distills complex concepts in such a way that […]
Climate Crisis
Tim Jackson: Prosperity without Growth
Capitalism is broken. The relentless pursuit of more has delivered climate catastrophe, social inequality and financial instability – and left us ill-prepared for life in a global pandemic. Tim Jackson’s passionate and provocative book dares […]
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