Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
If public power repeatedly stands behind private finance when it fails, shouldn’t that same power be directed toward employment, productive capacity, and human need? So why isn’t it?
Economist Eric Tymoigne returns to the podcast to examine the rapid growth of private credit and private equity through Hyman Minsky’s theory of money manager capitalism. Eric argues that the expansion of payment-in-kind interest, securitization, layered leverage, and dependence on rising asset prices are signs that Ponzi finance is becoming increasingly embedded in private markets, making the financial system more fragile. He warns that efforts to “democratize” these markets by opening them to ordinary savers will broaden the pool of investors available to absorb risks and losses (which should really be borne by the wealthy.)
The conversation then moves from financial instability to political economy. Through an MMT lens, Eric explains the enormous potential capacity of a currency-issuing government to contain financial crises, sustain incomes, and direct investment toward public purposes. Again we must ask why it doesn’t happen. This raises the deeper question of whose purposes the state serves. Steve and Eric discuss public investment, community banking, the federal job guarantee, the influence of wealth on political decision-making, and the limits of electoral democracy in a capitalist system.
Eric Tymoigne is an Associate Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon; and Research Associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His areas of teaching and research include macroeconomics, money and banking, and monetary economics.
Find him on Twitter @tymoignee
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome And Guest Intro
01:59 Why Private Credit Matters
05:02 Money Manager Capitalism Explained
06:32 Defining Private Credit Markets
08:21 Minsky Fragility Framework
12:41 Signs Of Ponzi Finance
15:11 Retailization And Engineered Liquidity
19:50 Hidden Leverage And Securitization
23:18 MMT Lens On Crisis Response
25:52 Preventing Crises With Regulation
29:55 Liquidity Vs Solvency Backstops
31:43 Great Depression Lessons
34:21 Bank Holiday And FDIC Reforms
36:12 Letting Markets Liquidate
36:48 Selective Bailouts
37:31 Public Housing Fix
38:29 Financialization Debate
40:18 Retailization Risks
42:06 Beyond Regulation
43:31 Minsky Public Investment
44:18 Community Banks Jobs
49:14 Elite Capture Politics
56:47 MMT Public Purpose
58:19 Organize For Change
58:42 Cynicism Progressives
01:01:54 Book Plug Farewell
01:03:34 Support The Show
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
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We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Write for Real Progressives
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Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
If public power repeatedly stands behind private finance when it fails, shouldn’t that same power be directed toward employment, productive capacity, and human need? So why isn’t it?
Economist Eric Tymoigne returns to the podcast to examine the rapid growth of private credit and private equity through Hyman Minsky’s theory of money manager capitalism. Eric argues that the expansion of payment-in-kind interest, securitization, layered leverage, and dependence on rising asset prices are signs that Ponzi finance is becoming increasingly embedded in private markets, making the financial system more fragile. He warns that efforts to “democratize” these markets by opening them to ordinary savers will broaden the pool of investors available to absorb risks and losses (which should really be borne by the wealthy.)
The conversation then moves from financial instability to political economy. Through an MMT lens, Eric explains the enormous potential capacity of a currency-issuing government to contain financial crises, sustain incomes, and direct investment toward public purposes. Again we must ask why it doesn’t happen. This raises the deeper question of whose purposes the state serves. Steve and Eric discuss public investment, community banking, the federal job guarantee, the influence of wealth on political decision-making, and the limits of electoral democracy in a capitalist system.
Eric Tymoigne is an Associate Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon; and Research Associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His areas of teaching and research include macroeconomics, money and banking, and monetary economics.
Find him on Twitter @tymoignee
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome And Guest Intro
01:59 Why Private Credit Matters
05:02 Money Manager Capitalism Explained
06:32 Defining Private Credit Markets
08:21 Minsky Fragility Framework
12:41 Signs Of Ponzi Finance
15:11 Retailization And Engineered Liquidity
19:50 Hidden Leverage And Securitization
23:18 MMT Lens On Crisis Response
25:52 Preventing Crises With Regulation
29:55 Liquidity Vs Solvency Backstops
31:43 Great Depression Lessons
34:21 Bank Holiday And FDIC Reforms
36:12 Letting Markets Liquidate
36:48 Selective Bailouts
37:31 Public Housing Fix
38:29 Financialization Debate
40:18 Retailization Risks
42:06 Beyond Regulation
43:31 Minsky Public Investment
44:18 Community Banks Jobs
49:14 Elite Capture Politics
56:47 MMT Public Purpose
58:19 Organize For Change
58:42 Cynicism Progressives
01:01:54 Book Plug Farewell
01:03:34 Support The Show
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Donorbox
donorbox.org/each-one-teach-one-3
Write for Real Progressives
realprogressives.org/submit-an-article
Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
Subscribe to our Substack:
realprogressives.substack.com
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
#mmt
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
Please help our Real Progressives efforts in spreading and become a monthly donor!
At PayPal
paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
At Patreon
patreon.com/realprogressives
Write for Real Progressives
realprogressives.org/submit-an-article
Visit our website:
realprogressives.org
Listen to our podcast:
realprogressives.org/macro-n-cheese-podcast
We believe all materials used in this video fall under Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
