Rohan Grey (I)
Paying for the #GreenNewDeal#Thread 3
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
The Federal Budget, pt. 3
Rohan Grey @rohangrey
1/
On #JobGuarantee logistics: If we can productively employ every 5 year old in a school, then we can productively employ every 25 year old in a public works program. pic.twitter.com/CmLWKF0zec
2/#GreenNewDeal #JobGuarantee detractors frame its innovative use of federal budgeting as a wild experiment to be feared. But the USA has a long history of experimenting with its monetary system. Actually, this experimentation is partly why we declared independence from Britain. pic.twitter.com/F5T8ZgbvNz
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
3/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
During the Civil War, Lincoln’s administration created greenbacks. Some called it crazy, and there was a backlash and retreat from those ideas after the war. But the Populists & William Jennings Bryan revived debate: "you will not crucify us on a cross of #gold." pic.twitter.com/KKhZyrnGJz
4/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
FDR took us off the domestic gold standard during the New Deal. Nixon took us off the international gold standard in the 1970s. The idea that we can't think differently - or that monetary system politics are somehow new or scary or untested - is just bad history. pic.twitter.com/RAOCIm5GbC
5/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
Think different about our monetary system not just for a #JobGuarantee #GreenNewDeal. Do so to dismantle the pernicious myth that money spent by the federal government is taxpayer money. Pernicious because it justifies and reifies racism, sexism, classism, and imperialism. pic.twitter.com/gF15MTDIu5
6/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
In the USA and other monetary sovereigns, tax revenues do not constrain federal spending. But people deny this reality with fallacious interpretations of budget statutes. pic.twitter.com/RvpFYI48bR
7/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
Another reaction to the insight that federal spending and taxes are operationally decoupled is to raise concern about interest on the debt. But interest payments are a policy choice. The Federal Reserve could set interest payments at zero. pic.twitter.com/oOIy3RZde3
8/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
Even if Universal #BasicIncome frees us from employers, we can't be productive members of society if those employers retain access to all the means of production.
The #JobGuarantee empowers the 99% to say: we're the ones doing the work, so we build our economy how we want. pic.twitter.com/OWsPEeeXNg
9/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
By understanding what is possible in a #JobGuarantee economy, we can improve our lives significantly. Every single work of art, book, song, joke fits on a pocket device. We can share this wealth with every person on Earth, if we will it. #creativecommons #freesoftware #free pic.twitter.com/4p5tXju9Lg
10/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
The 1% are powerful, but they are still only 1%. Money does not grow on rich people. The best way to take the power back is to make the rich obsolete. pic.twitter.com/k1hI0Thhop
11/
— Paying for the Green New Deal (@payforgnd) November 28, 2019
For the full video: https://t.co/OkD4LNE18J
The Federal Budget, pt. 3
by Rohan Grey @rohangrey
start time: 2h:58m
Previous threads in this series: https://t.co/zS0wEljJfK
Please stay tuned for our next thread!