LPE Originals

Reconstructing the Algebra of Race and Rights

I follow Patricia Williams, Angela Harris & Aysha Pamukcu, in arguing universal rights, to basic income and other resources, are insufficient but necessary ingredients for justice. Indeed, I argue for permanent, non-discretionary funding of these rights. No one truly knows how much money the U.S. government spends encoding and encasing private property rights, much less private capital’s rights to coordinate or contract. In many ways, these costs are “baked into” society. So, ultimately, should it be for rights to income, healthcare, housing, education, employment for all.

LPE Originals

The Deficit Myth: Banking Between The Lines

“Now, the rest is up to us because we are responsible for each other and to each other.  We are responsible to the future, and not to Chase Manhattan Bank.” –– James Baldwin This post is part of our symposium on Stephanie Kelton’s The Deficit Myth. You can find the full symposium here.  Several commenters have argued that…

LPE Originals

Predatory Lending and the Predator State

NB: This post is part of the “Piercing the Monetary Veil” symposium. Other contributions can be found here. Like most advocates of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), I didn’t embrace the paradigm because I dig late-night chats about accounting identities. Rather, I found it while pursuing economic justice (following the lead of Angela Harris, Emma Coleman…