The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Jordan Klepper & Ronny Chieng On Whether Trump Already Violated His Gag Order | Stephanie Kelton
Episode Date: April 24, 2024Jordan Klepper and Ronny Chieng tackle Jesse Watters labeling Trump being forced to sit in a courtroom for eight hours a day as cruel and unusual punishment and Joe Biden's controversial claim that hi...s uncle was eaten by "cannibals" in New Guinea. Plus, Desi Lydic gives live updates on Trump's endless string of gag order hearings. In today's world, you need a car where you can sit in the front seat and record yourself going on an unhinged rant. That's where Rant-A-Car comes in. You provide the rant, we'll provide the car. Also, Stephanie Kelton, bestselling author of “The Deficit Myth” and professor of economics and public policy, talks to Jordan and Ronny about changing our understanding of government spending through MMT, or Modern Money Theory. She also explains how the national deficit is not a number to be fearful of, but can be put to good use, and how government finance is far more flexible than you might think.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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You're listening to Comedy Central.
From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central. It's America's only source for news. This is the Daily Show with your host Jordan Clepper and Ronnie Chang. Welcome to the show.
I'm Jordan Clapper and he is Ronnie Chang.
Hey, hey, I can speak for myself.
Can you help me say this next by?
I definitely can. We got so much to talk about tonight.
Joe Biden gets into a fight with Papua New Guinea.
Tick tc might be banned forever and we find out why people are yelling at your car.
But first, Donald Trump is being gag and tortured,
so let's watch it, you perverts,
and our ongoing coverage of America's most tremendously wanted.
Today was the second day of Trump's hush money trial,
and the first witness was the editor of the National Inquirer. He testified that second day of Trump's hush money trial, and the first witness was the editor
of the National Enquirer.
He testified that to help Trump win the 2016 election, he would buy scandalous stories about
Trump and then bury them.
And what a great job he did.
I can't think of a single Trump scandal.
Or they could even get into that, they had to hold a separate hearing to find out if
Trump violated a gag order when he threatened jurors and witnesses.
And that hearing did not go well for Trump.
It was a pretty wild and intense hearing on Donald Trump's gag order.
It all turned into a very heated exchange between the judge and Trump lawyer Todd Blanche,
who argued that Trump is being very careful.
Well a clearly frustrated Judge Mershaw responded, Mr. Blanche, you're losing all credibility
with this court.
Minutes after the hearing ended, Trump attacked the judge on social media, calling him
a kangaroo court.
Wow.
This guy is incapable of keeping his mouth shut for two minutes.
As Trump ever considered paying himself hush money?
But think about it.
But this is a complicated issue about balancing rights.
Basically, the prosecution's argument is that a juror has the right to feel safe while
serving on Donald Trump's jury.
While Donald Trump's argument is that that juror lives at 34 West 52nd Street and maybe someone should pay that juror a visit and straighten him out.
This gag order is serious. Trump might have to pay up to $1,000 per violation. Yeah, $1,000,
that's not going to stop Trump from talking. Okay, you got to deal with this like any other tantrum. You've got to give Trump an iPad with cocoa melon on it and th. And let th. And th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thii's, thiol-a' thiol-a' thiol-a' tho' tho' tho' tho-a' thu-a' thu-a' thu-a' thu-a' thu-a' thu-a' thu-a' thu-s, thu-s, th. th. th. th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi-s. And, thi-s thi-s'-s'-s'-s'er'er'er'er'er'er'er'er'er'er'er'er'er'er's tho'er'er's thr-I's thr deal with this like any other tantrum you got give trump an iPad with cocoa melon on it and let him zone out okay then he's
gonna expect cocoa melon whenever he's upset okay well we'll deal with that
later all right we just need him to stop now it's so noise I can't even
think in this house okay it's not what Dr. Becky would want to Dr. Becky
this is not what Dr. Becky would want. Anyway, for more on the results of the gag order hearing, let's go to Desi
Leidick.
Dizzy.
Now, now that the gag order hearing is over, they can get back to focusing on the actual
trial, right? Unfortunately, no, because during the gag order hearing, Donald Trump made
a jerk-off motion, so they needed a gag order hearing to see if that violated the gag order hearing, Donald Trump made a jerk off motion, so they needed a gag
order hearing to see if that violated the gag order before they could get back to the
first gag order.
Oh, but then after that, it's all set?
No, because during that gag order hearing, the judge heard Trump saying, I'm Judge Peepheed.
And when the judge asked, did you just call me Judge Peephead, Trump said he was just rehearsing for a community theater production
where he plays a judge named Peephead.
So then they had to have a hearing about that.
But once that's done, the actual case.
Yes, but no.
Because during that hearing, Trump made another jerk-off motion.
But then he said it wasn't a jerk off motion, so they need a quick hearing to determine how he jerks off.
Then a hearing about whether he made the jerk off motion, then Judge Peehead, then the
first jerk off hearing, then the gag order.
And then the actual case?
What case?
The hush, the hush money case.
Oh, nobody remembers that.
Keep up with the news cycle, Jordan.
You're at the desk for God's saying.
Yes, thank you, Desi.
We'll check back in with you later.
Now, clearly, Trump thinks he's being treated unfairly in this trial, and he's not the only one.
Something to get ordered is just the start of the oppression Trump is facing.
Okay, Jesse, let me start with you.
The prosecution says this is election fraud and they say pure and simple, is it?
I call it pure evil.
So they've taken away his freedom of speech and now they've taken away his freedom of movement.
I mean, they had more allowances for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Oh, okay.
That sounds wild.
But I think Jesse Waters is a reasonable man
because I was kicked in the head by a horse last week.
So, let's hear him out.
How is Trump being treated worse than the mastermind of 9-11?
The guy needs exercise.
He's usually golfing.
And so you're going to put a man who's almost 80, sitting in a room like this on his butt
for all that time.
It's not healthy.
He needs sunlight.
And he needs activity.
He needs to be walking around.
He needs action. Do that. Are we talking about Donald Trump or an old English sheepdog?
You can't keep him cooped up all day, he needs time outside or he'll pee on the couch?
Look, we all know how Donald Trump loves exercise because of this trial, he's been morbidly obese
for the last 40 years.
Yeah.
I mean, though, would Trump even want fresh air and exercise?
These actually sound like the punishments the judge would give Trump if he's convicted.
Yeah, I know, he's like, fresh air and exercises, give me the death penalty.
But listen, I'll give Jesse Waters the benefit of the doubt because I was also kicking
the head by the same horse. So, let's let him continue. This isn't law fair. It's torture. They're making a 77 thee se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se se sea. the the the the the. the the. thii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. tre. their tre. thi. thi. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. the the the the tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tr. tre. tre. tre. tre. tre. tre. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. fair, it's torture. They're making a 77 year old man
sit inside a dingy room for eight hours straight, four days a week. Wow.
Eight hours a day, four days a week, it's literally torture. Or as the rest of
the world calls it, a job. A part-time job, to be fair. I mean this is the same guy who's asking to be president of the United States.
I mean, that's got to be at least a 40-hour-a-week gig.
I mean, is he going to get overtime?
Also, I thought Trump was supposed to be the young, vigorous candidate in the race.
Now what, he needs sympathy.
Suddenly, he's a poor elderly man, crippled by the weight of his own body, pulverizing his bones into dust against the chair.
You know what?
Get that horse back out here because I want to give Jesse one more chance.
They're telling the entire world all the wackos, this is where the former president's going
to be, at this date, at this time, surrounded by high-rise buildings.
Yes, it's very dangerous for people to know Trump's exact location, which is why he lives
in a nondescript building with his name on the front.
The Trump campaign also tells us where he's going to be and exactly when.
They're called Trump rallies and it's how I know where to go to get yelled at.
And you know the worst part about him being on trial is that they're just treating him
like some kind of criminal defendant. Today the former president of the
United States if he leaves court to go to the restroom, jail. If he calls the
prosecutor corrupt, jail. If true moves or says anything, they scream jail. If he
makes us recycling, jail. If he scratches his crotch, jail. He gets a high score on the SAT, jail. He scratches his crotch, jail.
He gets a high score on the SAT, Yale.
His favorite Batman, Christian, Bale.
Yeah.
His favorite vegetable?
French fries. Yeah, yeah.
Definitely not kale.
No. But he is going to jail.
He's going to go jail.
Meanwhile, with Donald Trump trapped in the courthouse, it was a perfect opportunity for Joe Biden
to seize the initiative.
And, hey, man, you got the campaign all to yourself,
Mr. President, time to press your advantage.
The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
has angrily denied a false claim by President Biden
that his uncle was eaten by cannibals during World War II. He flew those single-engine planes as reconnaissance over war zones.
He got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be,
there were a lot of cannibals for real in that part of New Guinea.
You're going to lose the election.
Look, at some point we all get to an age where we confuse our own
life story with the plot of Indiana Jones. It happens. It happens. No, it's true. I mean,
the man's 80, okay? We all have grandparents who tell crazy stories. Like, my grandfather
told me that he once wrestled a mountain lion with his bare hands. Oh, yeah. My grandfather
told me that he cheated on my grandmother through their marriage marriage and had a second family. Get out of here, Grandma, you're goofful.
And can I just say, even if this story was true, Americans are no position to criticize how anyone
else eats, okay? These cannibals eat people. Yeah, well, you know what? We eat subway
sandwiches to lose weight. Right? But what a cannibal to eat people out of a wreckage? I mean, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, get th, get tho, get tho, get tho, get tho, get tho, get out out out out out out out out out out out out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out, you, get out, get out, you, get out, get th. Get, get th. Get, get th, get th, get th, get th, get th, get th, get th, get tho, get tho, get tho, get tho, get tho, get eat people. Yeah, well, you know what? We eat subway sandwich just to lose weight. Right?
But what a cannibal even eat people out of a wreckage? I mean, that's like their
version of eating roadkill. Yeah, I know. You want the, you want to eat like pasture,
raise, grass-fed humans. And, and by cannibals, I just run with it.
Like, don't f-fee with us or put your dick on the Kaiser room.
Yeah.
That's fair.
That's fair.
Anyway, Biden apologized to the Papua New Guinea prime minister by inviting him to a dinner
with Pete Budagege will be served over rice for the balsamic reduction.
All right. Before we go, let's shut back in with Daisy Liding down at the courthouse.
Desi.
Dizzy.
Okay, so, uh...
Any updates on the gag order hearing?
Actually, yes.
The Democrats are now asking for a new gag order.
What did Trump do this time?
No, they're asking the judge to issue a gag order on Joe Biden. It's really the only way to to to to to to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to stop to to to to to to to to to to to do this time? No, they're asking the judge to issue a gag order on Joe Biden.
It's really the only way to stop him telling uncle cannibal stories.
Wait, the Democrats are asking Biden to...
But if Biden has a gag order won't that affect his ability to the campaign?
Yes. At this point, the DNC feels strongly that that's his best shot at winning. Otherwise, his strongest supporters will be cannibals,
and that's a dwindling voting block for obvious reasons.
All right, Desiliting, everybody.
When we come back, we'll find out the best way to yell in your class, don't go away. streaming soon on Paramount Plus.
This is Dr. Frazier Crane. I'm listening.
He's back again.
Hey dad, I got a question about punctuation. Ooh! No, stay on task.
And he's more Frazier than ever.
How do I look? Rich. Just what I was going for.
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Do you really think we would trade John for white Zinfandel?
Or any wine?
Frazier, new season streaming September 19th on Paramount Plus. Welcome back to the Daily Show.
There's a new bill making its way through Congress this week that could ban Tick Tock in the U.S.
And that would be a big loss for a lot of people.
Tick Tock isn't just the viral dancing app anymore.
It's also one of the main places people go to share opinions about the news and culture. Opinions like this. So little did I know that
Taylor Swift was literally gonna prove the point that I was making in the
videos I made a few weeks ago so let's talk about that 1830s line in her
latest song. I also want to do it while talking about the abortion law in Arizona from 1864. Yeah, yeah, she really just jumped that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that's that that to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to. to. to to. to. to. to. to. to. to to to. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to t. tel. tel. tel. tel. tel. tel. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tell. tel law, which means the first two seconds
of that video has more tonal variety than Taylor's entire new album.
Am I right, Jordan?
Don't get me involved in this.
Two thumbs up, Taylor Swift.
Way to go.
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People are going to start identifying as hamburgers?
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Looks like you reserved a sedan to go ape shit on target for pushing the trans agenda on children. They got t-shirts with bribles on himself and theedies by little Nazix who worships the
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When we come back, Stephanie Kowles will be joining us on the show, so don't go away. Streaming soon on Paramount Plus. This is Dr. Frazier Crane.
I'm listening.
He's back again.
Hey dad, I got a question about punctuation.
Ooh! No, stay on task.
And he's more Frazier than ever.
How do I look?
Rich.
Just what I was going for.
Oh my God, they traded your baby for wine.
Do you really think we would trade John for white Zinfandel or any wine?
Frazier, new season streaming September 19th on Paramount Plus.
Welcome back to the Daily Show. Our guest tonight is a professor of economics and public policy and the author of the best-selling book, the deficit myth.
She's featured in the new documentary, and the author of the best-selling book, The Deficit Myth.
She's featured in the new documentary, Finding the Money.
Please welcome, Stephanie Kel welcome. Thank you. Stephanie, it's a fascinating documentary.
I will say, you are setting out, correct me if I'm wrong, to fundamentally change how
people see money.
Yeah.
That's a big ask.
And we got about seven minutes. I think a
place to start is with MMT, right? MMT. If you can help us define what MMT is
and I think what the narrative, with the narrative you're hoping to get
across with MMT. What is the new economic narrative? It's no longer pull
yourself up by your bootstraps. What is MMT telling us? So in economics is widely known as the dismal science, right?
Because it's-
You gotta get better branding.
Well, that's what MMT is trying to do, better branding.
Because in the dismal science, it's all about scarcity.
And we can never have the things that we want, because there's always this really intrusive problem which is how are you going to pay for it? Where is the money going to come from?
And the problem is that we treat money like just any other scarce good or
service in the economy and what MMT is doing is saying, hold on a second, we're
not on a gold standard anymore. We have this thing called a Fiat currency and it does make a f because a Fiat currency sort of opens up space
and it's kind of like, wait, is money real after all?
And so MMT is an economic framework that tries to have an honest conversation, that talks
to people like grownups, not insulting people by telling them that you have to treat the government's
budget like a household budget and speaking down to people.
We want to be honest about the government's budget like a household budget and speaking down to people. We want to be honest about the monetary system we have today, the capacities of the government
to spend when you have a fiat currency and you're not tying your currency to gold and
promising to convert into something that you could run out of like physical gold.
So we're opening up a conversation where there are still limits and you still have to make choices, but we can have an adult conversation about how the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the government the government the government the the government the government the the their the government tho tho the government the c. the ca the ca. the ca. the ca. the ca. the ca. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c..... the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government the government their, th. the. We. We're to.e.e.ea.ea. We're tea.ca. We're, the the the the the the the the the the the government to make choices but we can have an adult conversation about how the government
can actually operate its budget when it doesn't face the same kinds of
constraints that a household or a business faces. I mean I guess by that I
think that the big headline with this as well is the way we look at what
the deficit means correct? Yeah. Like I hear deficit, you hear it in the news, you hear every politician talking about it, deficit equals bad. And the major narrative of MMT, a
monetary, the modern monetary theory, is deficit good, correct? Every deficit is
good for someone in purely financial terms and I'll tell you why. Because you're
right. We use this word and it sounds inherently like something's gone
wrong. If somebody's in deficit, there's a problem, right? You don't want to turn on the
sporting game and find the announcer saying that your team is going to have to come back
and overcome a seven-run deficit if they're going to win the game. It's always a bad thing,
but actually, if you think about what the government deficit is, it's just just just just just two numbers. That's all it is. So what, yeah.
What a relief?
Well, I guess we'll find that.
Is everything fine?
Does everything fine?
It's fine in the sense that it's just a benign mathematical, like it's the difference
between two numbers. It's not even higher order math, right? It's just how many dollars the government spends into the economy year versus how many they take back out mostly through taxation. So simple
math, if they spend a hundred dollars into the economy and they only take
$90 back out, we label it a government deficit and somebody records it as a
minus 10 on the government's ledger. What we forget to do is to recognize if they
put a hundred in and only take 90 out, somebody gets. ten ten ten ten te te te te te te te te th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the their their their their their the, tho-orough thoer-moer-moe thoe thoe their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the, the is to recognize if they put 100 in and only take 90 out,
somebody gets 10.
So the government's deficit is matched or mirrored
by a financial surplus in some other part of the economy.
Wait, hang on.
So did you guys meet backstage or something?
Because what the hell? What is MMT?
What does MMT stand for?
You handle?
So it's modern monetary theory.
And so again, the currency, we're not on a gold standard,
we're in the modern Fiat age.
So we have to-
What's Fiat?
Well, is a good car that you get?
What you're walking around with?
What you're walking around with, we think of that as money, right?
And we can use it to transact, we can use a buy and sell thing, we can use it to make purchases,
we can use it to make purchases of goods and services.
Okay, and money is good.
It's good to have.
Okay. This is what the government expects us to hand over at the end of the day and payment of that. Money is good.
I'm with you so far.
But let's do this.
What about that government deficit that you just mentioned, right?
And I said every government deficit is good for someone.
Why? Because it's just a financial deposit into some other part of the economy.
The question is good for whom and good for what? The government can increase its deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit deficit the deficit the deficit to the deficit the deficit the deficit to the deficit the deficit the deficit to the deficit the deficit to the deficit is the deficit is the deficit is the the the to to to to the the, the, thoe, the, the, thoomea, thoome, thoome, thoome, thooma, thooma, thoome, thoome, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, thi is the, thi is what is what is what is what is what is thooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. thoooo. feed hungry kids, tackle the climate crisis, fix crumbling infrastructure. All of those
things are ways to use a government deficit that might have desirable results for people and
for the economy. So money is good. Deficit is good. I'm with you so far. So what's the bad? What's the problem here? Well, a big part of the problem is the way that we we we we we we we we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've that we've th. th. th. th. th. the way the way the the thi. the the c. the the climate the climate the climate the climate the climate the climate the climate the climate the climate the climate the climate the c. the c. the climate the c. the c. Yeah, the c. Yeah, the c. Yeah, the c. Yeah, the c. Yeah, the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. the c. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. ta. ta. ta. ta. the. the. the. the, the problem here? Well, a big part of the problem is the way that we've been taught to think about these
things, to try to stamp out deficits, to reduce them, to view them as inherently dangerous.
They're not inherently dangerous. And as I just said, they can be used to help us accomplish important goals in the economy. Okay. So. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. the. the. the. the. th economy. Okay, so for example if I go to Caesar's Palace and I borrow like
$200 in my credit card I put it on red and I lose everything. That's good. That's
bad. Wait why is that bad then? But doesn't the casino? What why do you? It's good for
the casino? And also don't go to Caesar's palace. That's a little gosh. First it's bad, that. But financially that's bad for him. But that's the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point the point thoing thoing thoing thoing thoing thoing is to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thoes thoes thoes thoes. thoes. thoes. thoes. the thooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. the the the the to the tooooooooooooooooooes. go to MGM or just something, but financially that's bad for him.
But that's bad for you, but the point is to try to figure out and to wrap our heads around
what it is we're actually capable of doing, because we're always told that we can't tackle
big problems that we face.
We can't deal with housing problems or education or climate infrastructure, social security and Medicare always says the same thing. We can't afford it. We have this deficit
or we have this national debt. Where are you going to find the money to do
these things? And so MMT comes in and says, look, it's not about finding the
money. The money is created when the government spends. Congress authorizes the spending and if the votes are there, the thing you have have to have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have have to have to have to have to have to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, they.mueue, theymemea, theymea,m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m. the, the, the, the are there, the money is there. The thing you have to watch out for is inflation. So it isn't as if it's a free
lunch, there are no constraints, there are limits, there are limits. And the
limit is inflation. You can't run out of money, but you can run out of things to
buy. I mean, so this is an avatar for
gold in our pocket.
The government makes money.
Exactly.
They can decide how much money goes out there, right?
You pay taxes.
They don't need our taxes to fix big problems.
They can make big money.
It's on them to figure out how to spend it and put it into the economy in a way
they can get big things done done th done th done th done th done th done th done th done th done th done th done th done th done th done th done they're the ones who have the money. The government just has created that situation. And inflation becomes the boundary that they have to act
underneath. Correct? Well done. Well done? Are you what? Are you? Okay. Did you read? She's a
published author and created a movie and still assholes won't fucking do the research? But here, here's the pushback. Here's the pushback. She's the pushback. She's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the boundary, the boundary, the boundary, the boundary, the boundary, the boundary, the boundary, the boundary, the the the the the the the the the the the boundary, the boundary, the boundary, the boundary, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, the the the the the the the the the they. inflation, the the the the the the the the the the assholes won't fucking do the research.
But here's the pushback.
Here's the pushback.
So everyone on memorizing the Wikipedia page.
But here is the argument.
Here's what's so compelling.
And Ronnie is a great, he's a useful idiot in this.
And people are scared.
I don't know a lot about money. And I think the narratives around money teach me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be a to be a to be a to be a to to to to to to their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. the their. their. their. their. their. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. money. And I think the narratives around money teach me to be afraid of it.
It's something that we shouldn't talk about because I don't understand the underpinnings of it.
And I think what it's compelling about your argument is we can and half, like World War II,
have figured out ways in which to create money and fix big problems.
It's, it's, we almost need a giant, we need a big thing to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to focus to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the the the to focus on to get those problems done, correct?
To get the narrative around it. Like, I think-
Well, it helps and COVID was that big thing for a period of time where governments around the world
suddenly stopped asking the question, how are we going to pay for it and what are we going to do
about this deficit? And they just pulled out, I'll use to spend a lot of money to shore up people's lives and livelihoods through the pandemic and so we know we spent
some five trillion dollars just in the first 12 months or so of the
pandemic and I wish that climate was going to be that catalyzing event that
kind of forces everybody to have that wake-up moment and realize that
we've been focusing on the wrong sorts of problems that we really can tackle the problem of climate change we can
afford it. We got to watch out for inflation. Okay sure so you're saying the
MMT can be used to solve issues that we claim that we have no money for by
basically the government making money because that's where money
because that's where money? And you're saying, but doesn't that increase inflation inherently if you just keep making money? Well no, I mean, the government has run deficits most of my life,
with the exception of four years during the Clinton administration, the government's budget has
been in deficit. Look at a country like Japan. They've had large deficits every single year for the last
30 years or so and no inflation to show for it. We hardly had any inflation. Flation didn't really become a problem until COVID came along
and started breaking supply chains and then wars in Ukraine
and food and energy prices and so forth.
But you can have large and persistent deficits
without having an inflation problem.
It's when those deficits collide against the backdrop of constraints in the real economy
where the economy
can't resource, can't keep up and satisfy that demand. That's what happened in
the COVID pandemic and in World War II and in World War II and in World War II and
in World War II and in World War II and in World War II and in World War II?
So you know what's evidence of MMT will work then? If we had two real examples?
I'm just you had you had, what's the evidence that MMT will work then?
If we had two real examples.
I'm just joking, I've no idea what I just said, to be honest.
Yeah, because...
Someone, someone just briefed me on that and I just repeated.
So the evidence that it works is. M&T is at work, providing the explanation.
So it isn't about ramping up deficits and running large chronic deficits.
You can have a good, healthy economy in some cases with a relatively small deficit or maybe
even with a balanced budget.
It depends on a lot of other things.
So the evidence that it works is that it's a description, and we think a more honest and accurate description of the monetary system we have and how........ thi. thii. thii. And thii, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to to to to to to thi thi thi to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the thi, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th. thi th. th. th. to to to to to to to thi, the the the thi, the thi, the the thi, the the thi the the theeeeeeean the thean. the thea. theea. toeeea. toea. toean toean the thea thean thea thean is that it's a description and we think a more honest and accurate description of the monetary system we have and how governments
actually pay their bills. Now as a, I guess in theory how this takes greater effect
and affects our lives and gets big things done. Green New Deal that was a big
part of the way in which it would be funded. We need to start looking at money like through an MMT lens, correct? That also presupposes that you do have this paradigm shift
that we start to see as a country, as a collective,
we start to see the usage of money differently.
But getting people to have a cohesive change of mind,
and the way they see the world,
seems like a f-d-possibility from the experiences I've had out on the road and at Thanksgiving.
How much of like, do we live in a culture where we can experience a paradigm shift or is
that in and of itself an impossibility?
I hope so. I mean, Tick-Tock is there. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
I'm kidding. We're going to get better. No, but it's stuff like this, right? It's conversations like these that allow people to hear a different perspective.
And also, I think, you know, look with the last couple of years, what we've done.
In some cases, on a bipartisan basis and in some cases, just with Democrats.
But you had the Inflation Reduction Act, which is the largest climate bill we've ever had in the history of our country. We have the Chips and Sciences Act, which big investments in actual productive capacity
here in the US and the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which is repairing
roads and bridges and, you know, taking care of our infrastructure. So those are
three big packages which I would argue are just an extension in many ways of
what the administration started doing with the COVID spending.
And it's just another example of the government being able to mobilize the the the the the the the the the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the financial the the financial the financial the financial their their their their their their their to their their their to to their their their their their their their their the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual the actual their their their the COVID spending and it's just another example of the government being able to mobilize the financial
wherewithal to commit to spending money that it doesn't have because the
money comes from the willingness of Congress to say yes. When Congress says
yes and writes those bills, the legislation is the set of instructions
that goes to the government's bank, the Federal Reserve.
And it says, we've committed to making these payments, your job is our fiscal agent, is
to carry out all of the payments we've authorized on behalf of the U.S. Treasury.
And that is just how government finance works.
It's no more complicated than that. But we complicate it with stories about taxes and borrowing and dead and all the end of the day the end of the day, the spending is really easy to carry out.
Well, you see, you're a very smart person, you're saying things very calmly.
And everything seems like it's fine.
So how do we get to, what would you, what can people walk away with, like if they want to like not be sad?
When they look at the deficit. This is always his
question. How do I not be sad? What's the what's the what's like the practical
application? Because you're I guess we just the three of us sat down here and
we decided that the deficit is fine and we can well okay then so what's the
next step why would we like say we believe in MMT or yeah, MMT? What, what's the next thing that, I mean is
belief enough? Do I just have to pray to MMT and then it? What has to happen next?
What has to happen next is that the people that we elect to represent us have to
to go in there and and take decisions using the incredible
power that they have called the power of the purse, that they've got to take decisions
about whether to fund programs, whether to cut programs, not on the belief that they ought
to be operating their budget like a household, but when these decisions come up about
social security and Medicare or continuing with the Inflation Reduction Act and staying in the game on climate change and going even beyond what that
legislation did.
What I think gives me hope anyway is that we've demonstrated what we're capable of and that we
can build on it and not revert back to old ways of thinking about austerity and the
need to reduce deficits because thinking about austerity and the need to to reduce
deficits because that's when you hammer your economy that's when people
have a lost decade that's when all of a sudden you know the prosperity that is
within reach starts to slip through our fingers so when the IRS comes
for my taxes I just got to tell them like y'all deficit is good don't
don't worry about it you need worry about it. You need to, you know what you
need to do? You need to take some THC or some DMT and let the MMT just wash over
you. Let the paradigm shift come to you, Ronnie, Jay. Yeah, I think I'm in it right now.
Well, finding the money will be released in select theaters nationwide and on demand
May 3rd. For more information, go to finding film.com Stephanie Kelton we're gonna take a
quick break. Streaming soon on Paramount Plus. This is Dr. Frazier Crane. I'm listening.
He's back again.
Hey dad, I got a question about punctuation.
Ooh.
No, stay on task.
And he's more Frazier than ever.
How do I look?
Rich.
Just when I was going for to.
Oh my God, they traded, or any wine?
Frazier, new season streaming September 19th on Paramount Plus.
That's all show for tonight.
No, that's your life.
No, it is.
You're moving again.
I think everybody has made their own assessment of President Trump's character.
And so far as I know, you don't pay someone $130,000 not to have sex with you.
Wow, that was Republican Senator Mitt Romney.
What a soundbite.
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