Debunking Economics - the podcast

The UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants government departments to focus on buying British, The UK state spends roughly £300bn to £400bn a year on public procurement—and currently treats it merely as a bureaucratic exercise to secure the absolute cheapest upfront contract, rather than using it as an economic driver. Steve says it’s a step in the right direction, but ...

Unless you are one of the tech bros, it is difficult for anyone to push on with innovative ideas, probably why the world seems reliant on the US for the next big thing. If you not running a Megacap getting money for a new idea is virtually impossible, particularly in the early stages. Even government schemes are focused on reducing risk, to the pint that they offer little more t...

There’s only one reason a government issues bonds. It’s so their account with the central bank is not overdrawn. It’s only regulation that stops the central bank from saying a rapidly expanding deficit is fine. After all, it’s an indicator of how much government money has gone into supporting the private sector. But economists and finances see that as monetising finanacing, and ...

A listener (Doug) left a comment on YouTube saying I assume Phil intends to play "devil's advocate" when he speaks as though taxes are necessary for money issuance by governments with sovereign currencies. He’s worried that it might confuse new listeners to the podcast. So this week, Phil and Steve get stuck into the more contentious side of MMT – how government spending creates...