The 2024 Democratic loss stems from failing to articulate an economic vision for the working class. It analyses voting trends showing Democrats losing their traditional base—lower-income, rural, and non-college-educated voters—while gaining affluent, suburban ones. 

Notebook LM generated. The Credit Theory posits that money's essence is not as a physical commodity, but as a social relation representing debt/credit. All participants in a monetary system engage in these relations, settled by transferring abstract value. The Tax Driven Money approach, a specific form of credit theory, argues that the government's power to levy taxes and demand payment in a specific unit of account drives the value and general acceptability of money.

This AI generated podcast delves into Hobbes' classic treatise on liberty, emphasizing that true freedom isn’t an inherent quality but rather the absence of external constraints. An Obama-esque reflection ties these philosophical concepts to the Founding Fathers, showing how such debates continue to shape American political thought by balancing individual rights and government responsibility.

Google Notebook LM generated: This document by Nicholas Kaldor provides an overview of the concept of an expenditure tax, as detailed in the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations' 1974 report. The report examines the historical context, theoretical underpinnings, administrative feasibility, and potential applications of an expenditure tax. This tax, is fundamentally different from an income tax because it taxes what individuals spend rather than what they earn. 

Google LM generated:This article examines Max Weber's approach to the Methodenstreit, a late 19th-century debate in economics about methodology. It contrasts Weber's integrated method, which combines historical context, empirical evidence, and theoretical models, with the more deductive and ahistorical views of economists like Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises.  Ultimately, we explore the ongoing tension between theory and empirical observation in economics.

An 2007 Nation article by Chris Hayes about the current state of the economics discipline read using the Kokoro AI generated voice. 

A Google NotebookLM generated podcast: The Cambridge capital theory controversies debated the validity of neoclassical economics' aggregate production functions and the measurement of capital, ultimately questioning whether the rate of return on capital is determined by its marginal productivity, and whether comparative statics can adequately analyze processes of economic growth.

Google LM generated podcast: This Levy Economics Institute working paper surveys heterodox economic theories of money's value, rejecting orthodox views linking it solely to scarcity or price levels. The paper integrates several heterodox approaches: reinterpretations of Marx's labour theory of value by Graeber and Foley; Keynes's liquidity preference theory as developed by Minsky and Kregel; and  MMT perspective on sovereign currency. 

This excerpt from Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation explores the concept of simulation and its impact on reality. Baudrillard argues that simulation has superseded representation, creating a hyperreal where signs no longer refer to a deeper meaning but exist as self-referential systems.

Google LM generated: David Graeber explores the concept of "culture as creative refusal," arguing that many cultural forms arise not organically but as conscious rejections of other cultures' values.  The essay proposes that understanding history requires recognising these acts of cultural rejection and their ongoing influence. The author ultimately suggests that the seemingly disparate elements of Malagasy culture are better understood as a unified, defiant response to external powers.

This article argues that using the phrase ”taxpayer money” is harmful because it perpetuates a myth that only certain groups of people contribute to society, particularly wealthy, white, and male individuals. The author contends that the phrase reinforces the idea that taxation is theft, and that government spending is somehow stealing from “taxpayers” rather than utilising public money for the benefit of everyone. This, the author argues, reinforces the idea that “taxpayers” are the ones who deserve to be protected by the government rather than the public at large, and it reinforces a politics of faux-populism that benefits the wealthy at the expense of the poor. The author further explains that public spending is not about collecting money but about creating new money, and that using public money for the benefit of everyone, including the less wealthy, is the correct and ethical path forward. Sources: https://www.splinter.com/the-dangerous-myth-of-taxpayer-money-1819658902, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/04/taxpayer-dollars-the-origins-of-austeritys-racist-catchphrase/

NotebookLM generated podcast:  Fascist politics uses nostalgia and fabricated narratives of a glorious past built on “traditional values” to garner support for its authoritarian and hierarchal ideology. T

This working paper from the Levy Economics Institute proposes a policy solution to the problem of involuntary unemployment in the United States: the Job Guarantee (JG). This comprehensive policy document explores the concept, objectives, and design features of the JG program, arguing that it is a superior policy option to the current system of unemployment benefits. The paper begins by defining full employment as a situation where anyone of legal working age who wants to work can obtain employment at a living wage with decent working conditions. It then examines the conceptual understanding of unemployment, identifying it as a monetary problem, a failure of the public sector, and a moral failure. The paper proceeds to outline the objectives of the JG program, including providing decent jobs on demand to all who wish to work, guaranteeing a basic human right to employment, creating job opportunities in close proximity to the unemployed, and serving the public purpose. It then details key program features, such as its permanent but voluntary nature, living wage guarantee, local administration, federal funding, and its role as a safety net and transitional jobs program. The paper further explores the expected benefits of the JG, including the elimination of involuntary unemployment, raising the income floor, establishing a labor standard for the economy as a whole, stabilizing inflation, improving income distribution, and disrupting vicious cycles in the labor market. It also emphasizes the economic, social, and environmental benefits of the program. The paper delves into the design and implementation aspects of the JG program, discussing its short- and long-run operation, preparedness response through Community Jobs Banks, preventative features, program budget and funding mechanism, administrative agencies and project-executing organizations, and participatory democracy. It also details types of jobs that could be created under the JG, with a particular focus on a ”National Care Act” that addresses environmental, community, and individual care needs. Finally, the paper explores popular support for the JG, addressing frequently asked questions about the program’s size, wage, cost, funding, administration, potential displacement of existing work, job types, potential for corruption and abuse, and its effectiveness as a countercyclical stabilizer. The authors argue that the JG is a necessary policy solution for addressing the complex issue of unemployment, offering a more humane and effective approach to economic stability and social progress. Paper: www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_902.pdf