want to live beyond the corporate nineteen fires cry. that is the question of this special series of comp solution. economist stephanie kelton was in the process of burning. she's just published her book the deficit in which she- hello graphically different monetary policy can give birth to people's economic. most people

including almost all politicians and economists think that countries should run the budgets like households and businesses they should not spend more than they earn through the taxes they collect. you are in a columnist with a different vision care talk about. sure well let's start with thiidea that the vernment to operate its budget the warehouse school operates its budget we hear getting public officials wilme- say b. you are responsible of them to spend more than they earn that the should set some money aside they should save for the future pay down debt avoid of borrowing- and so forth and so on and therefore what makes sense at the dividual level mak sense at

the public leve as well for the governme as well and you know people hear it and it seems intuitive because the finances that were most familiar with are of course our people talk to us about the government's budget using language that resonates with us that reminds us of our own personal finances it seems sensible and we sa well of cour that's the wayhe government should operate its budget and the reality is that it get everything backwards exactly wrong the biggest difference between the federal government and everybody else is that the government has something the rest of don't have. a it is the issue were of the currency and the rest of us all right wn i say when i so households privatey users businesses even munical

governments inhe us state and local governments across australia canada provinces provincial government well they're all currency urs they can a d have to ve within their means ty are revenue money they can have bil out of coming due that they cannot affordo pay but the currency issuer is different. and because the currency or she where is diffent you go stop his budget different from the rest of us so. it means that whatev the government that is that the federal government education that is state needs more money it can basical bring more money in circulation we now they i mean so even printing anymore nowadays as computer work at the federal reserve bank. now but then you know the immediate answer you would get this that that will bleed okay that will lead to inflation because they have too much money in circulation. and the prices go higher and then people become poor. so how do

you protect against them. well you're absolutely right to recognize that the relevant constraintnovernment spending i inflation maybe that's the risk that we should be worried about not insolvency not running out of moneyot being. uble to pay the bills se that stuff aside and let's focu on what we want the gornment to do where do we want the government spending do we have does that our. and economy has the capacity to safely absorb that new spending so here's what i mean. if you are in a very depssed economictate wre there are lots of idle rources unemployed people. factories operating well below their capacity idle machines you have a lot of stuff lying around nobody wants to use including labor. government can safely

comen any way those resources program putting people to work repairing rebuiing infrastructure for example. a yes those people would b paying even they would be paid inew money created as par of that spending program. and with that new income they would turn around and spend some of that moneyack into the economy right so the question is how much total snding not just government spendingut how much total spending cammy economy handle. before it runs out of room before it hits its inflation constraint well the answer is. you can continue t saly spend up to the point of full employment and no further information that you want the federal government to receipt. that its-ts job enough. in fact is to create a full employmentconomy. and not try to do more than that so there's

a natural. inherent check on the amount of spend. th we be done. once you get to full employment you've reached the limit the problem is really not address don't work there's always work as you just said you know the roads need to be maintained and bridges need repairs and- whatever else bomb is says the money to pay for that work. so now you're saying in that particular situation which you know. we can just make sure tha these people get paid to do the work that needs to be done. and did the money come so the guy o. is it as simple as that. yes it is. it is- well you know if you look the u. s. because obviouslyin are ramping up spending to deal with no corona virus in the economic fallout and so forth but here in the u. s. congress has moved four pieces of legislation very quickly and

one ofhem was pretty substantial two point two trilon dollarst was called the chairs act now congress didn't get togher lawmakers didn'tome together and say all right everybody we need to come up with two point two trillion dollars. that didn' ppen all they did wasrite a bill andhen vote for that piece of legislation and that legislation effectively ordered upwo point two trillion dollars from the federal reserve because that's how it works cgress has the power to spend moy it does not have and you pass theill andhe votes o the spending and the payments are carried outy the vernment's fiscal agent by the federal reserve. and the federal reserve makes the payments kills me order for doars o behalf of the u. s. treasu by using the computer keyboard to create digital dollar and credit the appropriate bank accounts so that's where all of that money is coming from and we can do it

in times of emergency like today b we could also do it in more normal times we could fund infracture in exactly the same way the limit again. is the economy's capacity to safely absorb whaver spending congress has authorized so today congress here it has a box office they run all their lives you know potential programs on walls first through a bunch of dogs to make sure that impact is and then there you know they're going to see whether there's enough money. to pay for it and all that you're saying this it's actually the exercise what you should have done a bunch of the shift inftion. when long may sent a bill over to this by office called the can. budget office or cbo yeah there basically asking cbo f the least. useful feedback one could possibly get what ty ask is tels if it will add to the deficit tell us if it

will increase the debt trajectory over the- forecast horizon. that is not the estion or those a t questions that i would ask if i was doing. in infrastructure. i would send myill over to cbo and i would want to know hey i want tspend two trillion dollars modernizing upgrading repairing america's crumbling infrastructure i haven't i haven't offset tax increas to quote unquote pay for it i didn't cars money out of some other area the budget. i think th i can spend two trillion ov four years five hundred billion a year let'sayor the next four years. and that the economy could safy hane that spending that inflati wouldn't rise above the fed's 2%arget that unemployment wod go down tt growth would pick up i think this is a good bill. tell me if i'm right. yeah that's what i would ask cbo. but all this leads to a growing. national debt as with

so my other things i have a different way of looking at things so i just come at it from a different angle. so when it's the deficit i say w don't we insist on calling it a defici it's every bit as much as surplus as it is a deficit. so that's the first poi if the government runs a deficit let's say it spends a hundred llarsnto the u. s. economy but itnly taxes ninety dollars bac out. with a label at aovernment defit but what we forget is that the deficit is making a ten dollar deposit into some part of the onomy. tha ten dollars is a surplus in some other part of our economy and the reality is the national debt. is nothing more than a historical record. of all of the dollars the government spent into the economy and did not tax back. that are crently. being seen. in the- of u. s. it's part of

our well if you're lucky enough to own some of these things the part of your wealth are your savings. you don't owe someone something you own something. it could be done today you know after the elections are going to be another government that has a different color and then wants to do other things now baby that is democra want to spend more money on. education healthcare whatever thingshat they think are necessary. but they also talk about raising taxes because they are very concerned said whatever that programs are that'll beingaid for i mean you are touching. and then the results are gonna bring you some. and he always had to explain how he was going to pay for all the big things is going to do so that's thinking is still very much there the point is. what do you say to democrats now and factor in the position because you e plies. on the vine so whereas the republicans to pass their tax cs all they had to do was

convince enough of their colleagues. to vote for tax cuts one five. both for the tax cuts and you're done. picked to fights and s my message to them is don pick unnecessary fights. there is very oen engh low hanging fruit. and the low hanging fruit is the non inflationary fiscal space that's available to you. that you could safy increase spending get what you want with out the need to pair that spending with tax increases. whole thing harder to accomplish so but it. you will language you use think you could say from your perspective that you don't need to raise taxes things to spend money as a government the only thing you should be concerned about is whether you cause inflation. well if you're just if yore gonna bon and then say it better than i do. is that right

it can be as simple as that i an it is. going yeah i'm i'm over complicating you're absolutely right it is as simple as that so but then what i mean taxes those instruments and- what is the role of tax them. why do we pay tax. well lots of reasons so wonder why and s takes you back to the very beginning right whi is how does the government get its otherwise intnsically worthless. unit of account that called the dollar how did you t people to rk and do diffict things in order to earn this intrinsically worthless unit of account well. they make us pay our taxesith it son the first instae taxes are importantecause ey help the gernment- make its own currency valuable to the rest of us buthen once the currency is in use and everybody is working and

producing in order to earn this ing and p taxes and- then taxes do a variety of. other things are important one. the government collects tax. to reduce spending power so that i ha less income and less ending power did not because they need theollars but because they want me to have fewer dollars. one of the reason is to make space for the government's own spending so the government c spend on military education and infrastructurend oth things without cating inflation in the economy. they get to put some in by makg sure that they i takeome out right some is taken away from me. axes are important if government is concerne about dtribution if you lookround and you see the levels of income and weah inequality. that look the way ey did- prior to the great depression and that concerns you and you say. i think this is not only bad for the way our economyunctions but bad or the where democracy works are in and of themselveseme.

problematic you can use the tax system to address rht and get it those concentrations not thathe government needs jeff bezos's money but because the government might decide that. that's too much well for any one peon-axes are useful for incentivizing and disincenti icing behavior so you might. change taxes or introduce new taxes because you wa people to- behave in ways that are less carbon intensive. right morning couragereen investments and discourage- get activities taxes are really important for lot of reasons what they aren't too. important for at was paying the bills for the federal government. so often that is not a problem to make that very clear- private that is a problem a lot of people have a lot of problems credit card bills you know college tuition whatever. it is

the storage product that. can yourom policies hello relieve. you knothere's a lotf researchut there on ts that shows. in fact as the economy has drifted toward greater and greater income and wealth inequality. that those folks right in the middle he become to finance consumption becau the cost of college education skyrocketed people borrow to put their kids through college government can help. make public colleges and universities tuiti free at levi at the strength health care more than five hundred thousand families. filed for bankruptcyue to medical related costs that they can't pay every year medicare for all i mean you can use to student loan debt cancels you so there government policy could address private that you do talking your book about- you know always available employment you will not be on the board because there is a guaranteed by the federal government. that even if you get let go in whatever job you may house

there's always work that you can apply for that you can actually do when you get a- mimum wage and you you will justet. i likehe idea of universal basic services and that's what fdr was tking about everyone should have the right. to aob at a living wage to hethcare to education to a secureetirement right these bic this shld be o basics. that shoulde afforded to all of us but in terms of job how would that work. wellto it works like a public auction in the labor market if you n't have job and you can't find o anywhere else in the economy. you can walk into o the u. s. known as- american in job cters youalk into one of these things and you say. i don't he a j and i want one and they are at the ready on the shelf. r. aumber o jobs that the comnity has already decided. it once it values and

it dean. that right stevie's are the things that we want done in our community you get to look through that. and you get to match up. your interest yo skills the time to walk part time do you want full time do you like to work outdoors d you like twork with your hands you wt to. y kw there are jobs theret the read and the worker is matched to a job and you walk in unemployed and you walk out with t job. so this system replaces unemployment benefits there's no need for that ymore you know there is something in economics we- refer to it as frictional unemployment. it's somebody loses a job b it expects to be quickly re red to find employment somewhere else maybe they need six weeks twelve weeks fifteen wee. to lo ound and you go on the job interviews a hot buthey'll find a job. they dotant to enter pubc service employment private sector work. the new unemployment insurance program should remainhere and they shoulde able to- take

unemployme benefits while they continue to see job in the private sector nothing wrong with that. and that can operate in shoul alongside the public option in the labor market for people who either didn't weren't successful lking for a job and then eventually end up in public service employment or those who just say. you know i want this kind of tailored community work a i going to go direcy into the public service. john program so the standard politicians and you know people like me and you know that we have a hard time sort of. starting to understand what you're saying. but why do many of thear economists that i end up interacting with are also political animals. in a sense they play in washington beltway polital theater. and fosome ice just back there i an expectation. that u mmhm.

don't ups the- merit thank you are there in part. to safeguard an protect certain ideas and- so i don't know s much that it's that they disagree with the operation but the description that we provided. but maybe that they don't like where they see. theoncludes th how how a better derstandg might open the fldgates to more pressure beingrought to bear on lawmakers to use the budget in ways that. better serve the public good. so i will read you this qte which i kind of was missing in your book which i'm sure you know it. this one hundred forty seven it's well enou the people of the nation does not do not uerstand our banking banking and monetary system for if they did it i believe that would be a revolution before torrow rning. ihink a lot of peop don't think the public can handle. a clearonest

conversation about where money comes from because- you know there. i think it's important in some sse for policymers to cmunicate with voters about money in ways that reinforce the idea that money that fiction word to.ecause if disintegrate how would they ever in a sense tell voters no i mean the way that that politicians today. communicate with voters as ey say you know my constient comes to my town hall and yells at me because i'm not bringing in enough of farm subsidies are doing infrastructure or whatever for right bringing that bring home and my condition all i ate i identifies with you i wish i we've got this national debt.

and if those excuses were taken away from them. then what uld they say they would have to say. those are my values i don't share those values i don't want to vote for that because i don't believe the government should guarantee health care so i can hide behind. these myths and mis misunderstandings abo there's not enough moneyhat deficit the debt it's thereet out of jail free card in a sense if we take the coastal for fourth. in the resolution read would be because- that. if that would be more money people would not have been unemployed. right people wouldn't hav gone hungry people would have been unemployed this is what i mean when i say it's gratuitous suffing the way that our government has runhe budget. the way tt has run public policy the way that it has use and misus the pow of the public purse has led to decades

of gratuitous suffering. it seems like there's a perfect storm building for you it is already buildg up that people realize that the how does a need for big change that's why the sound the scams she would come so far. but even now- you know with with the divine and rising yes from the north and west side all those ideas will come go with him to sell based and opportunity for change now we have this virus. is this. the more you've been wting for. i hope so because i'm tired of waitingit's here- no i mean look if we are. not going to do in this moment what we can do to. we almost forty million people just in this country have lost job there is i think an eectation that many indtries will come back

or wl come back only as a you know shado of their former selves man of these job losses are permanent. what are we gog to do are w going to n policyheay rebrand policy inhe wake of the financial crisis whe we drag out a recovery ove the course of a decade where most of the jobs that come back come bac of that were losthat's whatob happened last time so we replace these jobs with even more inferior jobs that we don'teal wi the inherent problems and- vulnerabiliti in terms of addressing income and wealth inequality health care supplies i mean. this is an opportunity it reay is with the pieces are falli apart and we have i think two options we can pick up the pieces and try to re assemble them to look le they look before we c pick up the pieces and put them together in new and different ways. that protect us and push us toward a

future where people have better more secure more stable employment and we improve lives going forward that's what i hope will do it. thank you stephanie thank you very vision thk you for your work. thank you for having. hello my name's. information its a problem. six this solution statend see. can't solutions is presented by the world business academy on behalf of chest capital. the nineteen corporate response tracker just cap is tracking the best practices of corporations serving the needs

of their- end of the communities they serve in this time. see other best largest employers are treating stakeholders amid the coronavirus crisis. just ■x■xo7ñ;ñ;?k

>> welcome to global 3000! a refuge from global warming? why duluth in the north of the usa is considered a “climate haven.” giving a new life to surplus fabric. a start-up in thailand that's bringing sustainable solutions to the clothing industry. but first, we look at how responsible clothes production is still the exception to the rule. at chinese fashion giant shein, overproduction and surplus stock are “part and parcel” of the system the global textile and apparel