The Job Guarantee And Modern Money Theory

The contributors to this edited collection argue that a flexible Job Guarantee program able to react to an economy’s fluctuating need for work would stabilize the labor standard, the value of employment in relation to money. During economic downturns, the program would expand to provide more public sector jobs in response to private sector layoffs. It would then contract when economic growth offered private sector employment opportunities. This flexible full employment program would create a balanced, perpetually active labor force, providing the macroeconomic stability necessary to define a functioning labor standard. Just as the gold standard measured the worth of money against gold reserves, John Maynard Keynes argued, so a labor standard ought to measure the value of money in terms of its labor equivalent. However, he failed to account for the fact that, unlike a gold standard, a labor standard does not have any kind of surety that money will continue to match its value in paid work over time. Together, the contributors argue that full employment would provide this missing security and allow authorities to define the value equivalencies of money and labor, the way that money once represented its exact equivalent in gold.

A New York Times Bestseller The leading thinker and most visible public advocate of modern monetary theory -- the freshest and most important idea about economics in decades -- delivers a radically different, bold, new understanding for how to build a just and prosperous society. Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country. Kelton busts through the myths that prevent us from taking action: that the federal government should budget like a household, that deficits will harm the next generation, crowd out private investment, and undermine long-term growth, and that entitlements are propelling us toward a grave fiscal crisis. MMT, as Kelton shows, shifts the terrain from narrow budgetary questions to one of broader economic and social benefits. With its important new ways of understanding money, taxes, and the critical role of deficit spending, MMT redefines how to responsibly use our resources so that we can maximize our potential as a society. MMT gives us the power to imagine a new politics and a new economy and move from a narrative of scarcity to one of opportunity.

This second edition explores how money 'works' in the modern economy and synthesises the key principles of Modern Money Theory, exploring macro accounting, currency regimes and exchange rates in both the USA and developing nations.

This timely collection will be the first of its kind to focus on the practical application of the government job guarantee (JG) for both developed and developing economies. Global case studies include: United States, China, Ghana, Argentina, Ireland, Iceland, and India.

'Understanding Modern Money' exposes flaws in the foundations of mainstream macroeconomics and suggests a better way to formulate policy that will benefit everyone living in capitalistic societies.

One of the most enduring ideas in economics is that unemployment is both unavoidable and necessary for the smooth functioning of the economy. This assumption has provided cover for the devastating social and economic costs of job insecurity. It is also false. In this book, leading expert Pavlina R. Tcherneva challenges us to imagine a world where the phantom of unemployment is banished and anyone who seeks decent, living-wage work can find it - guaranteed. This is the aim of the Job Guarantee proposal: to provide a voluntary employment opportunity in public service to anyone who needs it. Tcherneva enumerates the many advantages of the Job Guarantee over the status quo and proposes a blueprint for its implementation within the wider context of the need for a Green New Deal. This compact primer is the ultimate guide to the benefits of one of the most transformative public policies being discussed today. It is essential reading for all citizens and activists who are passionate about social justice and building a fairer economy.

This book offers a rigorous, detailed, and balanced analysis of the various contributions to the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) debate, incorporating both the arguments of proponents and those who point to its limitations and obstacles. Modern Monetary Theory has soared in popularity, particularly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent impacts on the economy which have led to deeper discussions about monetary and financial systems, fiscal and monetary policies, inflation, and employment. The main characteristic of Modern Monetary Theory is that it offers a revolutionary way of thinking about all these issues, allowing us to abandon many of the myths that conventional economic theory installed in the collective imagination. Breaking down these false beliefs is an essential requirement for thinking and devising economic policy proposals that allow full employment to be achieved without suffering worrying inflation rates. However, this approach has also attracted many criticisms and it is also instructive to consider these in more detail to reach a fully rounded conclusion about the potential or merits of MMT. Written to be accessible to the non-economist, this book will be of great interest to readers from across the social sciences, and outside of academia who want to gain a fuller understanding of the Modern Monetary Theory phenomenon.