Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 14 hours ago
Did you think we had abandoned MMT? Well, after a few weeks of tackling some rather prickly topics, we’re back to strictly non-controversial macroeconomics. Heh heh. Just kidding. Don’t get too comfortable.
Our old friend Randy Wray is back, bringing his somewhat optimistic belief that a sound reality-based agenda might possibly succeed in the upcoming Congressional elections. But more on that later. First, he and Steve need to dissect Trump’s latest imperialist venture against Iran and expose the bipartisan lie that there are just enough of your tax dollars to pay for war; when it comes to affording social programs, the cupboard is bare.
Claims of scarcity are pure ideology. MMT has taught us that the federal government faces no dollar constraints. The real cost of war is measured in diverted labor, wasted resources, destroyed infrastructure, and the steady cannibalization of society’s productive capacity. Not to mention human lives, disabled veterans, and a chain reaction leading to starvation in the Global South.
Back to Randy’s guarded optimism, which Steve does not share. Rather than smooth over their differences, they lean into them.
Randy believes an anti-neoliberal program could win congressional seats. It would require candidates to break out of the fiscal austerity frame. Steve counters by referring to the Gilens and Page study – showing policy has near-zero correlation with popular will – and a class-lens analysis of manufactured consent. He sees a theatrical oligarchy, not a reformable political system. Since both parties serve capital, there is no electoral path. No possibility of reallocating resources from bombers to bread.
The conversation represents an unresolved, essential tension inside the MMT-Marxist synthesis: is monetary sovereignty a tool for working-class liberation blocked only by bad ideas, or is the entire political theater designed to ensure those ideas are never acted upon?
L. Randall Wray is a Senior Scholar and Professor of Economics at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, and Emeritus Professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is one of the developers of Modern Money Theory and his most recent book on the topic is Understanding Modern Money Theory: Money and Credit in Capitalist Economies (Elgar, 2025).
Find his work at levyinstitute.org/people/lrandall-wray
#learnmmt #doge #austerity #neoliberalism #bondmarket #wariniran #taxes #daycare #politicaltheater #militaryindustrialcomplex
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
03:16 Why Write This Paper
07:17 Daycare Scam and Devolution
13:09 Taxes Aren't Funding
16:04 States vs Federal Spending
18:16 Bond Market Doomsday Myth
23:57 Eisenhower on Real Costs
26:40 Opportunity Costs and Veterans
29:40 Democrats and Austerity Trap
33:10 How GOP Broke Government
36:43 Neoliberal Era and Clinton
44:44 Desensitized Political Theater
49:39 War Fallout and Food Crisis
50:46 Hopeful Vision and Midterms
52:21 Wrap Up and Support the Show
Weaponize Knowledge with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
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paypal.me/RealProgressives/25
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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.
Did you think we had abandoned MMT? Well, after a few weeks of tackling some rather prickly topics, we’re back to strictly non-controversial macroeconomics. Heh heh. Just kidding. Don’t get too comfortable.
Our old friend Randy Wray is back, bringing his somewhat optimistic belief that a sound reality-based agenda might possibly succeed in the upcoming Congressional elections. But more on that later. First, he and Steve need to dissect Trump’s latest imperialist venture against Iran and expose the bipartisan lie that there are just enough of your tax dollars to pay for war; when it comes to affording social programs, the cupboard is bare.
Claims of scarcity are pure ideology. MMT has taught us that the federal government faces no dollar constraints. The real cost of war is measured in diverted labor, wasted resources, destroyed infrastructure, and the steady cannibalization of society’s productive capacity. Not to mention human lives, disabled veterans, and a chain reaction leading to starvation in the Global South.
Back to Randy’s guarded optimism, which Steve does not share. Rather than smooth over their differences, they lean into them.
Randy believes an anti-neoliberal program could win congressional seats. It would require candidates to break out of the fiscal austerity frame. Steve counters by referring to the Gilens and Page study – showing policy has near-zero correlation with popular will – and a class-lens analysis of manufactured consent. He sees a theatrical oligarchy, not a reformable political system. Since both parties serve capital, there is no electoral path. No possibility of reallocating resources from bombers to bread.
The conversation represents an unresolved, essential tension inside the MMT-Marxist synthesis: is monetary sovereignty a tool for working-class liberation blocked only by bad ideas, or is the entire political theater designed to ensure those ideas are never acted upon?
L. Randall Wray is a Senior Scholar and Professor of Economics at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, and Emeritus Professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is one of the developers of Modern Money Theory and his most recent book on the topic is Understanding Modern Money Theory: Money and Credit in Capitalist Economies (Elgar, 2025).
Find his work at levyinstitute.org/people/lrandall-wray
#learnmmt #doge #austerity #neoliberalism #bondmarket #wariniran #taxes #daycare #politicaltheater #militaryindustrialcomplex
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
03:16 Why Write This Paper
07:17 Daycare Scam and Devolution
13:09 Taxes Aren't Funding
16:04 States vs Federal Spending
18:16 Bond Market Doomsday Myth
23:57 Eisenhower on Real Costs
26:40 Opportunity Costs and Veterans
29:40 Democrats and Austerity Trap
33:10 How GOP Broke Government
36:43 Neoliberal Era and Clinton
44:44 Desensitized Political Theater
49:39 War Fallout and Food Crisis
50:46 Hopeful Vision and Midterms
52:21 Wrap Up and 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.
