Comments on: Waiting for crisis http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/ "from henceforth none be so hardy to tell or publish any false News or Tales, whereby discord, or occasion of discord or slander may grow between the King and his People, or the Great Men of the Realm." Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:02:26 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: mikebeggs http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/#comment-551 mikebeggs Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:34:41 +0000 http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/#comment-551 Hey Mark, Don't get me wrong about Brenner, I think his stuff's great but not the complete explanation he thinks, and I do think the manufacturing overcapacity thing is way overstretched. It's been refuted quite convincingly I think. 'Economics of Global Turbulence' is really good, but I think anyone who reads it should also read the debate it stirred up, especially the two volumes of Historical Materialism devoted to it. I don't agree with the CofFEE line about money. Bill Mitchell argues that because the state prints cash it controls the whole monetary system. I see states as powerful strategic actors within the monetary system, not in a commanding position above it. A capitalist government can print whatever numbers it likes on the bills but it can't control what they exchange for. In this case the argument seems to be a false move from an identity (that deficits must equal credits in the economy as a whole) to a causal statement. It is a weird coincidence though that government deficits were replaced by private deficits. I don't know if there's anything to explain or how to explain it. The more I read about finance the less I feel I know. Hey Mark,
Don’t get me wrong about Brenner, I think his stuff’s great but not the complete explanation he thinks, and I do think the manufacturing overcapacity thing is way overstretched. It’s been refuted quite convincingly I think. ‘Economics of Global Turbulence’ is really good, but I think anyone who reads it should also read the debate it stirred up, especially the two volumes of Historical Materialism devoted to it.

I don’t agree with the CofFEE line about money. Bill Mitchell argues that because the state prints cash it controls the whole monetary system. I see states as powerful strategic actors within the monetary system, not in a commanding position above it. A capitalist government can print whatever numbers it likes on the bills but it can’t control what they exchange for.

In this case the argument seems to be a false move from an identity (that deficits must equal credits in the economy as a whole) to a causal statement. It is a weird coincidence though that government deficits were replaced by private deficits. I don’t know if there’s anything to explain or how to explain it. The more I read about finance the less I feel I know.

]]> By: Mark http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/#comment-545 Mark Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:10:36 +0000 http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/#comment-545 Louis, Mike does actually link to that MRZine post in the first line of his post. Moreover, those clips on there are really unsatisfactory, cutting off Brenner in particular just as he's getting going, IMO. Louis, Mike does actually link to that MRZine post in the first line of his post. Moreover, those clips on there are really unsatisfactory, cutting off Brenner in particular just as he’s getting going, IMO.

]]> By: louisproyect http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/#comment-541 louisproyect Sat, 05 Jan 2008 13:03:59 +0000 http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/#comment-541 A more complete version of the debate is here: http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/bg020108.html A more complete version of the debate is here:

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/bg020108.html

]]> By: Mark http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/#comment-538 Mark Sat, 05 Jan 2008 09:57:49 +0000 http://scandalum.wordpress.com/2008/01/05/waiting-for-crisis/#comment-538 I don't really know how to call this. Certainly interesting stuff. Replacement of public debt by private debt – well, those guys up at CofFEE in Newcastle argue that the running of public surpluses simply forces individuals to borrow to make up the shortfall where the government expenditure used to be. I don't know if this is right. It's interesting that in the US even though the government is spending like a drunken sailor, consumer debt is still completely out of control, though this might reflect the fact that Bush squandered so much of the surplus on upper-class tax cuts. I don’t really know how to call this. Certainly interesting stuff.

Replacement of public debt by private debt – well, those guys up at CofFEE in Newcastle argue that the running of public surpluses simply forces individuals to borrow to make up the shortfall where the government expenditure used to be. I don’t know if this is right. It’s interesting that in the US even though the government is spending like a drunken sailor, consumer debt is still completely out of control, though this might reflect the fact that Bush squandered so much of the surplus on upper-class tax cuts.

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