Ep117 [2/3]: Brian Romanchuk: The common tactics of bad-faith critics

Welcome to episode 117 of activist. Today's part two of my three-part conversation with author, financial analyst, and applied mathematician, Brian Romanchuk. Last week in part one, we talked about his journey to MMT, and his 2021 book, Modern Monetary Theory and the Recovery. Today, and next week in part three, we talk about the various techniques used by bad-faith critics of MMT. More broadly, these are some of the things simple bullies do, when they'd like their followers to think they're not bullies. This interview was inspired by chapter five of Brian's book, his recent appearance on MMT Podcast, and my own post of good-faith critiques. (A list of the audio chapters in today's episode can be found at the bottom of this post.) This interview inspired me to write a new post summarizing the techniques Brian and I discuss today, plus my own definition of a good-faith critique. These techniques are not exclusive to MMT, of course, but Brian and I share several anecdotes, and link them to actual MMT critiques and critics. And now, let's get right back to my conversation with Brian Romanchuk. Enjoy. Audio chapters 3:17 - Trillion dollar coin, needle in a haystack, institutionalism 6:43 - Good-faith critique- a definition 12:26 - Critiques come from the overwhelmingly dominant school (hrespecs) 14:48 - "MMTers ignore X" 21:39 - An MMT supporter was wrong (or a jerk) 27:40 - Newbies and "taxes don't fund spending". 30:12 - MMTers are deliberately deceitful and they keep changing their positions. (Calvinball) 39:42 - I will only view a child through their report card. 42:09 - Thomas Palley's household analogy 44:23 - MMT is wrong, because if it were right, it would be bad. (Just don't like the politics.) 48:28 - Duplicate of introduction, but with no background music