Historical Evolution of Money and Debt

Econintersect:  A series of lectures on the workings of modern monetary systems has gotten underway at Columbia University in New York City.  The first lecture featured two speakers who are contributors to Global Economic Intersection, Michael Hudson and L. Randall Wray, who presented a review of  “The Historical Evolution of Money and Debt” and was moderated by William V. Harris, William R. Shepherd Professor of History and Director, Center for the Ancient Mediterranean, Columbia University.  In the opinion of Econintersect, it is unfortunate the Prof. Harris acted more like a third lecturer than a moderator and in his remarks provided little connection to what the two lecturers who preceeded his remarks had to say.

Here is the documentation accompanying the video at You Tube:

Moderator: William V. Harris, William R. Shepherd Professor of History and Director, Center for the Ancient Mediterranean, Columbia University

Speaker 1: Michael Hudson, President, Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends and Distinguished Research Professor, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Speaker 2: L. Randall Wray, Research Director of the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability and Professor of Economics, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

About the Seminar Series:

Modern Money and Public Purpose is an eight-part, interdisciplinary seminar series held at Columbia Law School over the 2012-2013 academic year. The series aims to present new perspectives and progressive policy proposals on a range of contemporary issues facing the U.S. and global macroeconomy. Seminars will feature a mix of academics and practitioners on topics ranging from the history of debt and money and the structure of the financial system to economic human rights for the 21st century.

More information is available at the seminar series website.

Below is the video of the first lecture.  This video is 1 hour and 45 minutes long.  Watching it is worth every minute spent.

[video:youtube:0zEbo8PIPSc]

Following is the program for the remaining seven lectures in the program:

2. Governments are not Households: Implications of Monetary Sovereignty and Stock-Flow Consistent Accounting

Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2012, 6.15pm
Location: Room 104, Jerome Greene Hall, Columbia Law School

Moderator: Thomas B. Edsall, Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism, Columbia University
Speaker 1: Stephanie Kelton, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Speaker 2: Warren Mosler, President, Valance Company, Inc.

3. Design Defects and Policy Failures: An Institutional Analysis of the Eurozone Crisis
Sponsored by the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law and Public Policy

Date: Friday, October 5, 2012, 6.15pm
Location: Room 104, Jerome Greene Hall, Columbia Law School

Speaker 1: Marshall Auerback, Global Portfolio Strategist, Madison Street Partners, LLC
Speaker 2: Yanis Varoufakis, Professor of Economic Theory, University of Athens

4: Debt, Deficits or Unemployment? Identifying Real Threats to Growth

Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 6:15pm
Location: Room 104, Jerome Greene Hall, Columbia Law School

Speaker 1: John T. Harvey, Professor of Economics, Texas Christian University
Speaker 2: Jan Kregel, Program Director, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College & Professor of Development Finance, Tallin University of Technology

5. Money, Democracy and the Constitution: Revolutionary Experience in the United States

Date: Friday, January 25, 2013, 6:15pm
Location: Room 104, Jerome Greene Hall, Columbia Law School

Moderator: Gillian Metzger, Vice Dean and Stanley H. Fuld Professor of Law & Co-Director, Center for Constitutional Governance, Columbia University
Speaker 1: Christine Desan, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Speaker 2: Farley Grubb, Professor of Economics and History, University of Delaware
Speaker 3: Woody Holton, Professor of History and American Studies, University of Richmond

6. Independence or Marriage? Interactions between Monetary and Fiscal Policy

Date: Friday, February 8, 2013, 6:15pm
Location: Room 104, Jerome Greene Hall, Columbia Law School

Speaker 1: Marc Lavoie, Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa
Speaker 2: Scott Fullwiler, Associate Professor of Economics, Wartburg College & Adjunct Lecturer, Presidio Graduate School

7. Rent-Seeking, Instability and Fraud: Challenges for Financial Reform

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 6:15pm
Location: Room 104, Jerome Greene Hall, Columbia Law School

Moderator: Harvey J. Goldschmid, Dwight Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Speaker 1: William K. Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Speaker 2: Lynn E. Turner, Managing Director, Litinomics
Speaker 3: Michael Norman, Chief Economist, John Thompson Financial

8. Guaranteed Employment or Income? Economic Rights for the 21st Century

Date: Friday, March 8, 2013, 6:15pm
Location: Room 104, Jerome Greene Hall, Columbia Law School

Moderator: Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg, Professor of Social Policy, Adelphi School of Social Work & Co-Chair, Columbia University Seminar on Full Employment, Social Welfare and Equity
Speaker 1: Philip L. Harvey, Professor of Law and Economics, Rutgers University
Speaker 2: Pavlina Tcherneva, Assistant Professor of Economics, Bard College

John Lounsbury

Sources:

• Modern Money & Public Purpose 1: The Historical Evolution of Money and Debt (You Tube, 22 September 2012)

• Modern Money and Public Purpose (2012-2013 Seminar Series on Contemporary Issues in Law and Political Economics, Columbia University)

• Modern Money and Public Purpose – Upcoming Seminars (Seminar Series Website)