Economic Policy after Brexit and COVID-19: Taking Control
Online event organised by The Full Brexit on 29 October 2020, featuring Professor Costas Lapavitsas and Professor Bill Mitchell.
Britain is in its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The costs of the coronavirus pandemic continue to dwarf even the most exaggerated Remainer predictions of the costs of leaving the European Union.
But neoliberal shibboleths have also been shattered, with the government intervening to save jobs and businesses, while even the EU has set aside its treasured state aid rules (despite continuing to try to force the UK to abide by them).
At the same time, governments around the world seem short on imaginative ideas to reboot the economy. The priority seems to be trying to restore a pre-crisis system that was already failing millions long before COVID-19. So how do we really “build back better”?
How do we avoid a slow, jobless recovery – a degraded “new normal”? What policies and programmes are required to allow working people to take control of their lives, and enjoy a more prosperous and fulfilling future?
Join two world-leading experts to debate these crucial issues:
- Professor Costas Lapavitsas, renowned economist, former member of the Greek parliament, and author of The Left Case Against the EU (Polity, 2019), and
- Professor Bill Mitchell, one of the leading lights of Modern Monetary Theory, and co-author, with Thomas Fazi, of Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World (Pluto, 2017).
Bideoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VNJwsoVLk4&feature=youtu.be
Economic Policy after Brexit and COVID-19: Taking Control seminar – October 29, 2020
(In http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=46286)
The group at The Full Brexit – ran a seminar last week on October 29, 2020. The date is contestable because for me it was early next morning on the Friday (30th).
For me it was a case of doing two seminars on the same day in Europe (Thursday 29th) but for me across two days (Thursday night late and then Friday morning early). Such is life at present in this Zoom-COVID era.
Thanks to Dr Lee Jones for all his work to organise this. His efforts were much appreciated. We had originally planned an event in London in May. I had met Lee in February in London at a workshop I ran and I was due to return in May for other commitments. But the virus intervened and so we finally agreed that it had to be a virtual event.
(…)
It was an interesting discussion and I think it highlighted some of the major differences that still exist on the Left of the political debate between an MMT economist and a more traditional Post Keynesian (Marxist) economist.
For example, Costas thought governments should be issuing large tranches of debt to fund a post-COVID reniassance. The arguments are that debt is cheap so why not use it.
I dispute that position because I think it just feeds into the narrative that governments are financially constrained and the issuing debt just offers the pretext for all the liars to pillory any government that dares increase the debt ratio to the level that would be required to spend enough to deal with the crisis.
The debt wouldn’t be funding that spending but that truth would be obscured in the public debate.
So why would progressives fall into that trap.
It would be better for progressives to highlight what is actually going on.
That is, that central banks are buying massive amounts of public debt and effectively ‘funding’ the deficits and breaking all the taboos and scare tactics that the conservatives use to avoid the public finding out that the government is just funding itself – right and left pocket stuff.
I would be out on the parapets demonstrating to the public that this is what is happening and applauding and elevating the central bank governors to hero status for saving our nations and all that stuff.
Use what is going on to break the myths.
But if you watch the video which records the whole evening then you can make up your own mind on these issues.
Thanks again to Lee and also to Costas for a very civilised debate.
Gehigarria Brexit (maiuskulaz, beti maiuskulaz) dela eta:
Azkenak:
Brexit eta geroko egoera berriaz
Eta Euskal Herrian, nola ikusten da Brexit?
Zer dio Brexit-i buruzko aferaz hemengo sasi ezkerra guztiak?
Lotsagarria! Erabat! Goitik behera!
Aipatu ezina!
