Strike Debt Bay Area Book Group

Strike Debt Bay Area proudly hosts a non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, and How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century.

For our July discussion we will be reading the first two chapters of 'The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy' by Stephanie Kelton. (Find it at your local bookstore or through this site.)

Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country.

Kelton was chief economist on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee (minority staff) and an advisor to the Bernie2016 presidential campaign. Kelton is a regular commentator on national radio and television and speaks across the world at large gatherings of people interested in global finance, political economy and public policy. She has superb connections in all areas of print and broadcast national media. Her op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg.

We will also be reading two shorter pieces, following up on themes we have taken up in previous readings:

• The Neoliberal Era is Ending - What Comes Next? by Rutger Bregman
• From Banks and Tanks to Cooperation and Caring.