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Brad DeLong's avatar
Nils's avatar

Re: Allen & Nichols in your May 20th piece, when can we start calling out journalists and those who masquerade as journalists, who use the phrase "some [seconomists/Democrats/people/~other vague characterization~] are saying..." ? It is total BS, showing either utter laziness or utter mendaciousness, and is utterly misleading.

Also, and I hesitate to ask this, what is your take on MMT? Is it wishful thinking, or is it as valid as the older theories they oppose?

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Philip Koop's avatar

"People think that they are getting a good deal when they pay the financial sector, even though the overwhelming evidence is that they are, in fact, not"

The problem with this take is that ordinary consumers are, in fact, getting a much better deal for financial services than they did before financial liberalization. The real money in finance is made off the backs of corporations, and investing rich people's money.

But despite what Michael Lewis would have you believe, the executives of large corporations are not patsies. I think a more promising line is principal-agent conflict. A financial service paid for by stakeholders may be beneficial for the people who have the power to contract for it. Remember the old Dilbert cartoon, the one where the investment banker tells the evil little dog CEO "I can help you loot this place and escape"? (https://dilbert.com/search_results?terms=%22loot+this+place%22)

To be fair, that does not seem inconsistent with Fischer's analysis.

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