The GIMMS team would like to share with you all our thoughts and impressions of the very first European MMT conference which took place in Berlin over last weekend. It was a brilliant opportunity to meet so many passionate and enthusiastic people who share the same objectives to raise awareness of how money works in the real world. Such an understanding will be essential if we are to address the pressing challenges we face in tackling the scourge of poverty and inequality and the fundamentals of human and planetary survival.
More than a hundred delegates attended from across Europe and further afield with representatives from Italy, Spain, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Poland and the USA. Our thanks go to Dirk Ehnts and his team who put such a lot of hard work into organising this event and delivered such an interesting and thought-provoking programme. It proved to be the perfect opportunity not only to share ideas and experiences but also to plan for a future in which MMT sits at the heart of public understanding and debate and forms the basis for developing public policy and decision making at a governmental level.
The economic research, which spans over a century and represents a vast body of work by dedicated economists and other experts, has laid solid foundations for a serious challenge to the neoliberal paradigm. The two MMT conferences already held in the US and now this one in Berlin is positive proof that the modern money framework is beginning to pose a real threat to the mainstream view and as such marks an important milestone. It offers a welcome opportunity to engage the public in a discussion about how we can create a new economic, social and ecological paradigm to ensure our common future.
The sessions on finance, housing, employment, poverty and climate breakdown were stark reminders that citizens are crying out for political leadership with an economic agenda centred on the needs of people and our planet and our common public purpose goals.
A common theme running through conference discussion was how MMT activists from across Europe could work together to create a vibrant and committed community, organising and collaborating across borders. Over two days at NGO workshops, (including GIMMS), wide ranging discussion took place aimed at developing strategies to create a more economics savvy public and reinforce an awareness of the harmful and unnecessary consequences of austerity policies both in the UK and in Europe. People have shown themselves to be hungry for an alternative paradigm and the door is now well and truly more than ajar for change. It was inspiring, therefore, to see the enthusiasm of Modern Money activists ready to rise to the challenge of opening up a real and vital public discussion about how we can create a society which puts public purpose and social well-being at its heart. Watch this space!
Given the fast-moving events in the US with the arrival of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez onto the political scene and the rise of the Sunrise movement, it was no surprise that there was a lot of discussion during round table and other sessions, and over coffee about the Green New Deal and the Job Guarantee. The GIMMS team gave a presentation on the JG in the UK focusing on challenging the workfare mentality and austerity politics which have done so much damage to citizens leaving the vulnerable to their own devices and people struggling to survive on low wages, unable to find secure employment or just left on the economic scrap heap to fend for themselves. The fact that human beings are viewed as expendable in the greater scheme of this market dominated world is a shocking comment on governments who have been persuaded that they are simply human ‘ballast’ to be thrown overboard to keep the economic ship afloat and inflation at bay. Wherever it happens in the UK, the US or in Europe it is a moral failure of governments not to mention very bad economics.
In this context discussion revolved around how a Job Guarantee programme could be developed to serve a modern context to ensure that the most vulnerable people and workers are not left behind as nations transition to a Green economy. The JG and the Green New Deal were seen as complementary concepts aiming at addressing the key issues of our time. A JG was also seen as offering hope to the vast number of young people in Europe who, since the Global Financial Crash, have found themselves facing an uncertain economic future at home or having to move far from family to secure their prospects. Young people who have been sacrificed unnecessarily on the altar of austerity and a dysfunctional Eurozone.
Delegates also had an opportunity to attend a performance of the film PIIGS directed by Adriano Cutraro, Federico Greco and Mirko Melchiorre. This is a documentary film investigating the causes and effects of austerity imposed by the European Union on its subject countries especially in Southern Europe. It focuses, in particular, on the grave effects of cuts to public spending in Italy which have affected public services delivered by charitable organisations dependent on the public purse for funding. You can watch a short clip with English subtitles here or rent the full movie for £3.00.
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/
Finally, and to the sound of loud trumpets GIMMS used the Conference as an opportunity to make two exciting announcements. Well exciting for us! Firstly, the team was delighted to welcome the appointment of an advisory board whose nomination will allow us to draw on the vast body of knowledge and expertise that has been accumulated by them over decades. We extend a very warm welcome and look forward to working with them and benefiting from their advice and support in achieving our aims. If you want to know more about the advisory board members please follow the link here.
https://gimms.org.uk/about/
Also, as part of the on-going development of GIMMS objectives we announced the launch of our new database of academic MMT research material for those who, after having got to grips with the basics, are interested in a more in-depth study of the subject. This is a project in progress and will contain a growing list of academic papers by the leading proponents of MMT which will be accessed through Zotero which is a free, open-source, reference management package managing bibliographic data and related research materials. It aims to offer a one stop shop for those wishing to extend and improve their knowledge. To access what is currently available you can follow the link here.
https://www.zotero.org/groups/
In conclusion and as Harry S Truman noted:
[Wo]men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
We are at one of those crossroads in history and it is time for us all to be courageous whether as individuals or as leaders to change things for the better and give our children the future they deserve.