Nathan Tankus
Paying for the #GreenNewDeal#Thread 7
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
Managing Inflation, pt. 3
by @NathanTankus
1/To ensure labor’s cooperation, #GreenNewDeal should prevent profiteering. In WW2, we used an Excess Profits Tax to promise labor that price & wage regulation wouldn't be to Business’s benefit. pic.twitter.com/slWZbww1h4
2/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
We can manage demand without manipulating interest rates. Bankers are not particularly good at deciding who to lend to, so we can regulate demand by regulating credit and bank lending more stringently. This was a non-fiscal payfor during WWII and should be again. pic.twitter.com/BaKeZgw9Yc
3/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
Thoughtful credit regulation is one way to manage demand. Such regulation will need to account for the fact that we are already mired in private debt. It is over 100% of GDP. This big load of private debt means we have a lot of room for noninflationary public spending. pic.twitter.com/zYXkh9rA2c
4/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
There are two main ways to get less spending- increase saving rates or raise tax rates. This big load of private debt means it is easy to raise saving rates. During WWII, it took a liberty bond drive. Today, we can just ask people to pay off their credit card. pic.twitter.com/ZPcCAX5S1E
5/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
Many ordinary people are scared of tax increases. They say ‘I can’t make ends meet now, how can I afford a tax increase?’ We need to show them that these aren’t paper promises, and then, in a second GND, we can talk about a new round of spending with some fiscal payfors. pic.twitter.com/N6w2tZeSsQ
6/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
Another part of price regulation should be making sure that someone is not suddenly hit with a gigantic bill. Inflation may be "low", but if you need insulin and lack decent insurance, then *your* inflation rate is hyper-inflationary. pic.twitter.com/lfrylfuK0C
7/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
People don't just care about some weighted average of prices. They care about the actual price that they're going to pay. They care about the outliers. The outliers are the difference between being bankrupt or not. pic.twitter.com/mskno6mKH7
8/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
We have lots of tools available for managing inflation. And ultimately, the mobilization that the Green New Deal calls for would increase the availability of all basic necessities: housing, food, energy, transportation, education, healthcare.
9/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
The things to do for the #GreenNewDeal also just literally improve our communities. WW2 output was military goods & services - not housing; not trains; not billions of trees planted. This gives us a huge advantage. pic.twitter.com/BRyIkVZiLm
10/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
The #GreenNewDeal commits to a high-climate-skilled labor force. As a constant component of our macroeconomic policy we will train up environmental engineers, electricians, teachers, tradespeople, researchers, et al., and at the same time, create the demand for their labor. pic.twitter.com/3LGnJ2I1p3
11/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
An employed reserve of workers is much more attractive to the private sector than unemployed workers. #JobGuarantee pic.twitter.com/EUGBRp00CC
12/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
Price regulations are an important tool for disciplining big business and thus managing inflation, whereas conventional war-time price controls are options for a second or third GND. For now, we have other tools: price regulation, credit regulation, antitrust pic.twitter.com/W7ZYhsRzGf
13/#GreenNewDeal means empowering unions, improving all aspects of employment, and devoting our efforts to producing what we collectively need and fulfilling a vision of a peacetime full employment economy. pic.twitter.com/XMIS5KFinF
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
14/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) January 15, 2020
For the full video: https://t.co/OkD4LNE18J
Managing Inflation, pt. 3
by Nathan Tankus @NathanTankus
start time: 6h:41m
Previous threads in this series: https://t.co/zS0wEljJfK
Please stay tuned for our next thread!