MMT paired with UBI. You can essentially wipe out all debt by printing as much money as you need, but compensating for inflation by covering everyone's basic living costs. It seems like one of the only plausible ways forward into post-capitalism.
There would be serious, worldwide repercussions involved in tanking the USD.
And by flooding the economy with cash, UBI would make the problem worse, not better. Surrounding economic variables (prices, supply, cost of labor, exchange rates, etc.) would ensure that the UBI wouldn't be enough to support people. A planned economy is not the solution either - see every time that's been tried in history.
The only solution is a long-term, consistent commitment to conservative fiscal policy -- reducing unnecessary government spending, reducing the debt, balancing the budget and working within it, etc. Anything less is inviting economic trouble.
> A planned economy is not the solution either - see every time that's been tried in history.
In case you haven't noticed our current economy also does not work. We are going to have to move to a new system sooner or later. Technology and productivity have reached a point (or are near the point) of being able to provide the basic living essentials to all citizens. The longer we delay accepting that, the more pain we'll all be in for.
> In case you haven't noticed our current economy also does not work.
Define "work". The problems I know of have to do with improper or incorrect governing, not the structure of the economy. These are problems with government:
- Minimum wage has not been inflation-adjusted over the years
- Antitrust legislation has failed to be enforced. The US government of 1920 would not tolerate the conglomerates, mergers, and anti-consumer practices of companies today.
- DAs around the country (and federal prosecutors as well) are failing en mass to prosecute crime.
I agree those are huge problems! They don't have anything to do with your proposed solution of conservative fiscal policy though. Government spending isn't the issue, corruption and centralization of power is. That we keep ending up with a handful of billionaires who have an insane amount of influence over our society is partially the fault of the government as you point out.
The economy is the problem. It doesn't accurately model externalities that we now know are important (climate change) or that we've always known were issues (inequality). The economy can be doing great and all of that value can be captured by a few people at the top, who then wreak havoc on everyone else. All the while the eco-sphere gets toasted because extracting value from natural resources at an ever increasing pace is also good for the economy.
Both the environment and wealth inequality have hit or are very close to hitting the breaking point. My original point about MMT was that we'll need a radically new system to fix the problem. The one we have can't be brought there through the control mechanisms that exist.
MMT paired with UBI. You can essentially wipe out all debt by printing as much money as you need, but compensating for inflation by covering everyone's basic living costs. It seems like one of the only plausible ways forward into post-capitalism.