RadioMMT

We return to our conversation with labour market political sociologist, Dr. Victor Quirk. This is a conversation about the "Political Aspects of Full Employment" as inspired by a paper written by economist Michael Kalecki, published back in 1943.You can find the first part of this two-part conversation in our previous episode #77.In the first part of our conversation we talked about how mass unemp...

Poverty, vilification, and social isolation. Unemployment causes untold damage to individuals, families and communities. You might think we would want to minimise these harms by minimising unemployment. Since at least the 1940s we have known how to run an economy on genuine full employment (less than 2% unemployment). So why don't we? We speak with Dr. Victor Quirk, about how this battle over full...

Why is it when ordinary workers are awarded a small pay increase in line with cost of living increases that business cries, "Inflation!", while at the same time demanding that their perks and ever increasing profit margins, essentially pay increases, are good for the economy? As radio station 3CR turns 50 years old, Anne & Kev discuss the recent minimum wage increase, the dubious aspects of mainst...

We review the Australian Federal Government's 2026 annual budget, and focussed on:The Good: the reversal of neoliberal tax policies that have been driving up property prices since 1999.The Bad: the austerity shown by the government buckling under pressure from the RBA.The Ugly: the way disabled people have been scapegoated to meet imaginary budget balances. ShownotesPublic Money. Public Good.publi...

Bonds! So very confusing and so misleading. An instrument deliberately used by orthodox, conservative economists to lead us down a very unnecessary garden path. We pull back the misinformation to explain why they probably do more harm than good. Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck.  Additional AudioToo Many Things, by Ed Kuepper, from the album Starstruck. The P...

If we understand the federal government does not tax us in order to get its spending money, then why does it tax us at all? Anne and Kev tackle this question with the help of presentations given by Professors John Quiggin and Bill Mitchell at a Queensland Fabians event. Shownotes Public Money. Public Good. PM Exceeded Cabinet Decision by Paul Malone(The Canberra Times, 4 December 1984) Tax Innovat...

Standing in line for hours to get your government-issued potato? Or enjoying a fantastic work-life balance on a 3-day work week? Student of ecological economics, Harry Rosson, joins Anne for a conversation about de-growth. But first we had to strike down some of those hoary old debt-monsters. ShownotesPublic Money. Public Good.publicmoneypublicgood.net How popular is ecosocialist transformation? (...

Kevin & Katy re-examine banking and credit. What happens when we remove banking from our economic system? Can our economy survive without bank credit? They discuss the lunacy that is monetary policy. The government's bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has decided to steal from the poor and give to the rich, in order to curb inflation by increasing interest rates. This of course, leads into...

We have an economy that uses a monetary system to co-ordinate how we make and acquire stuff. And if you have a monetary system, you need banks. Kev and Kent talk about this role banks have, and how their potential to create an economy that works for everyone is so distorted by the profit motive that it sabotages our collective wellbeing.  Shownotes Theme MusicPleading Ignorance, by Ed Kuepper, fro...

We wrap up Kevin's interview with Prof Bill Mitchell, who surmises that capitalism's profit driven agenda is incapable of solving the problems it has created. Capitalism, and its "market-based solutions", cannot provide the urgently needed climate change repair and sustainability. In discussion with Kev, Anne realises that MMT is turning her into a socialist. Anne then hooks into the Australian Of...

We continue our conversation with Professor Bill Mitchell, and explore where money comes from, and the fiscal capacity (ability to spend) of a currency issuing government. Unusual circumstances often require ideology be laid aside to reveal the real functioning of an economy. To this end we discuss the origins of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in the USA, and when this crisis reached Australia,...

Despite the hysteria of mainstream economists, Japan's economy seems to be doing okay. So why does Professor Bill Mitchell (co-founder of Modern Monetary Theory) want to shock the Japanese economy? Bill talks about his ongoing work at Kyoto University, where he is involved with a team of academics who advise the current Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi. We discuss the currency-issuing capac...

We all use money. We have some sort of understanding of how to use it and how to lose it. It defines so much of what we can and can't do. But what is it and where does it come from? It turns out that we actually don't have a very good understanding of what money is. Katy and Kev start the conversation and try to figure what money is, and how it's been captured by corporate interests. Show NotesKat...

MMT is simply an analysis of how our economy actually operates. So how come some people, including so-called economic experts and authorities, don't get it? Katy and Kevin explore the conflict that economic orthodoxy faces when presented with the facts. Show Notes Katy Swain is a student of Modern Money Lab's graduate course in the economics of sustainability. Katy blogs here. Theme MusicPleading...

The grandaddy of all economic lies is known as the "barter myth". It sounds so innocuous. Yet it continues to do great damage. At the core of mainstream academic economics, are economic models, known as "general equilibrium" models. At the very core of "general equilibrium" models lies the "barter myth". This misleading myth prevents us from understanding the system we all participate in every day...

Retired civil engineer, Ray Maxwell, was hearing some pretty strange things coming out of MMT. So he took a good look into Modern Monetary Theory. Ray emerged with a one-page answer to "what is MMT", along with some fightin' words:austerity is murder (what's more, murder committed by our government)a job guarantee is essential to a civilised societyapplying the insights of MMT to address global wa...

You can use MMT to get out from under austerity. You can spend money to create resources. You can reclaim your monetary sovereignty. A truly inspiring conversation with a pro-independence Scots-speaking Scot. Empower yourself via Jim's online course: MMT101 - Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) – What, Why & How. Show Notes MMT101.ORG – Modern Monetary Theory Podcast MMT101 – Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)...

Australia’s current climate target is net zero by 2050. The science shows that net zero, by 2035 has the strongest chance of preventing massive disruption to the global climate system. Can we make such a radical change to our economy? Can we do it rapidly, without hurting people? James Rosier speaks with Marcus Champ about what tools the federal government once used, and still has, to meet an exis...

The 1970s was a fork in the road. At the New Economic Vision forum, held at Victorian Trades Hall Council, policy analyst Emma Dawson, and economist Bill Mitchell, each give their overview of the road we took, and whether we can do better than how the national economy currently serves us. What did Bill accept? And what is Emma's theory of change? Show Notes "Presumably, there is an irreducible res...

Union leaders, community activists, policy writers and academics got together to discuss ideas that would form part of a Just Transition away from endless growth driven by fossil fuels. No, this was not the Labor government's economic roundtable. This was a grassroots forum, leading the way by moving beyond talk about taxing rich people so we can take the necessary urgent action. We can't de-grow...

Mark Diesendorf brings us the good news and the bad news, when it comes to tackling the multiple crises we face. The good news is that it is doable. The bad news is we are doing only half of what needs to be done. We are increasing renewable energy usage, but we are not doing planned de-growth, that is, decreasing total energy usage. The good news is, we know what to do about that. The bad news is...

How do we push the federal Labor government to enact more progressive policies, such as discarding the inhumane policy of keeping tens of thousands of workers in unemployed poverty in order to keep inflation under control (in accordance with the odious and dysfunctional economic theory, the NAIRU)?One way is to build a labor movement that champions progressive economics. We speak with Colin Long, ...

Do you think physical cash is "dirty" or "obsolescent"? Fake news and disinformation are skewing our attitudes towards cash. This is our monetary system under attack. Are we being herded like sheep into the privatised money chute? Is anyone defending the public good? Renegade analyst of monetary systems, Brett Scott, explains what the "war on cash" tells us about the imperatives of capitalism. The...

Brett Scott is an independent thinker, when it comes to money and monetary systems. He has dabbled in the dark arts of the fin-tech sector, and helped create alternative currencies. After listening to Brett, you might resist assuming the government is like a giant squirrel, madly storing up dollars to get through the winter. Show Notes Altered States of Monetary Consciousness (substack)"I explore...

Anne and Kev thank our (known and unknown and known unknown) donors for our successful Radiothon 2025. Kev has spent days wrestling with his spreadsheet in preparation for looking at what happened when Australian treasurer Peter Costello paid down the government debt. Anne fries what's left of Kev's brain in the tech-bro fantasies of astronomical crypto wealth, courtesy of a conversation between P...