The assassination of the Iranian general Soleimani is almost certainly not because of some geopolitical strategic calculus by Trump. Two reasons will back up this observation. One, Trump is according to many mental health professionals not capable of such reasoning anymore and, two, according to many geopolitical analysts the risks far outweigh the advantages for … Continue reading “President Trump should be submitted for a Psychiatric Evaluation”
Tag: Politics
On Money: The Libra versus Sovereignty
A US-based progressive monthly, The Nation, just published an article about the Libra by MMT enthusiast Rohan Grey, titled: “Facebook Wants Its Own Currency. That Should Scare Us All. Instead of embracing Facebook’s Libra, we should be rallying for a public option for digital currency.” This is an interesting article and deserves close scrutiny for several … Continue reading “On Money: The Libra versus Sovereignty”
Richard Wolff’s Trajectory beyond MMT into SMR
Introduction Recently I watched two episodes of the progressive Thom Hartmann Program in which the host discussed banking and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) with the Marxist economist Richard Wolff [1, 2]. Following are the pertinent points I came away with, which developed into a little article, in which I will try to make the case … Continue reading “Richard Wolff’s Trajectory beyond MMT into SMR”
Dutch Report on Money and Debt and its Reception by Ons Geld
On January 17, 2019, a research institute of the Dutch government, The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), offered its report on banking and money-creation to the Dutch government [1]. The report was commissioned by the government after a motion in the Dutch parliament in March 2016 during a debate, which itself was triggered … Continue reading “Dutch Report on Money and Debt and its Reception by Ons Geld”
Ons Geld and the Road to the WRR Report
Ons Geld (Our Money) is a Dutch foundation promoting sovereign monetary reform. Its motto is “Money Creation for the General Welfare” and proposes four changes to the current, dysfunctional money system, which proposal is basically the same as what for example The American Monetary Institute [1] and The Alliance for Just Money [2] propose in the … Continue reading “Ons Geld and the Road to the WRR Report”
Paying for the Green New Deal
Open Letter by Nick Egnatz to US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14). Dear Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, You have proposed an individual income tax rate of 70% on earnings in access of $10 million per year. This to fund a proposed progressive agenda of transitioning to clean renewable energy, expanded Medicare for All and tuition free public university … Continue reading “Paying for the Green New Deal”
Re-proportioning the US Senate: Back to a 1780 Fairness
The following is an exercise in calculating proportions of senators per amount of citizens in the USA. I will be comparing the smallest and largest states in the years 1780 and 2010. My conclusion is that the system is out of balance and propose a possible redress. According to the 1780 census the smallest state … Continue reading “Re-proportioning the US Senate: Back to a 1780 Fairness”
On Trump: Some Thoughts on the Anonymous NYT Op-ed
On September 5 The New York Times took the unprecedented step to publish an anonymous opinion piece titled “I am a Part of the Resistance in the Trump Administration“. According to the NYT the op-ed was written by a “senior official in the Trump administration“, who claims that there is an organized ‘resistance’ operating at the … Continue reading “On Trump: Some Thoughts on the Anonymous NYT Op-ed”
Labor Day and Monetary Reform
Labor Day might be the appropriate day to confirm the establishment of an activist organization promoting economic and social justice by reforming the US monetary system. Its name is the Alliance for Just Money. The goal is to bring the money system back under sovereign, constitutional control away from the commercial banks which have abused their … Continue reading “Labor Day and Monetary Reform”
Modeling the Financial-Economic System and how to make it Sustainable
Two economic researchers, van Egmond and de Vries, at the Sustainable Finance Lab (University of Utrecht, the Netherlands) developed a dynamics model in which the financial system is explicitly included. Their working paper is titled “Dynamics of a Sustainable Financial-Economic System”[1] and it also addresses a sovereign monetary system. After Yamaguchi in 2010 [2] and … Continue reading “Modeling the Financial-Economic System and how to make it Sustainable”