This tweet storm by MMT economist Stephanie Kelton nicely sums up empirical facts about fiscal policy in a sovereign floating fiat money system that conventional wisdom tends to be nescient or ignorant about:
1/We can think of the US government as the scorekeeper for the US dollar.
— Stephanie Kelton (@StephanieKelton) December 7, 2016
3/When it collects taxes, it subtracts $ points from others.
— Stephanie Kelton (@StephanieKelton) December 7, 2016
5/It can never run out of points. pic.twitter.com/0GL1Kx47CG
— Stephanie Kelton (@StephanieKelton) December 7, 2016
7/IOW, government surpluses are only possible because of prior deficit spending.
— Stephanie Kelton (@StephanieKelton) December 7, 2016
9/Many people (economists included) celebrate(d) the Clinton surpluses.
— Stephanie Kelton (@StephanieKelton) December 7, 2016
11/Deficits matter, but not the way most people think. https://t.co/7vYhiRyhd5
-The End
— Stephanie Kelton (@StephanieKelton) December 7, 2016