#170 Cory Doctorow: Shakedowns, Shell Games & Other Silicon Valley Shenanigans

The MMT Podcast with Patricia Pino & Christian Reilly

Patricia & Christian talk to acclaimed author and activist Cory Doctorow, about his new crypto heist thriller “Red Team Blues”, and the real-world money mechanics and shady shenanigans that inform the story.

Please help sustain this podcast!

Patrons get early access to all episodes and patron-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/MMTpodcast

Order “Red Team Blues” here: https://craphound.com/shop/

LIVE EVENT! Christian will be interviewing Cory Doctorow in Nottingham (UK!) on Tuesday 30th May 2023, tickets here: https://www.waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow/nottingham

All our episodes in chronological order: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43111643

Patron-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/57542767

Patron-only GIMMS Book Launch Presentations [audio]:

• Daniel Kostzer on Argentina’s “Jefes de Hogar” Public Employment Programme: https://www.patreon.com/posts/gimms-book-on-de-82501900
• Phil Armstrong On Useful Economists: https://www.patreon.com/posts/gimms-book-phil-82502071
• Neil Wilson On How The Government Spends: https://www.patreon.com/posts/gimms-book-neil-82502270

Order the Gower Initiative’s “Modern Monetary Theory - Key Insights, Leading Thinkers” (2023): https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/modern-monetary-theory-9781802208085.html

Relevant to this episode:

• All our episodes with Cory Doctorow: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41970049
• Cory’s podcast: https://craphound.com/podcast/
• Cory’s upcoming live events: https://craphound.com/category/redteamblues/
• We talk a little more in-depth about crypto tokens as “proof of work” and “proof of stake” in this episode: Episode 135 - Cory Doctorow: Blockchain, Bitcoin & Selling The Brooklyn Bridge: https://www.patreon.com/posts/68946334
• “The Inevitability of Trusted Third Parties” by Cory Doctorow: https://onezero.medium.com/the-inevitability-of-trusted-third-parties-a51cbcffc4e2
• Cory mentions previous guest Daniel Kostzer likening capitalism to a car with no steering wheel being driven at high speed down a road - that’s from this episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-169-job-82743393
• Cory mentions the inspirational economist and teacher Dr Fadhel Kabuob - here are all our episodes with him: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43484621
• Cory mentions our episode on tally sticks and the history of UK exchequer with Richard Tye. It’s great! Have a listen here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-167-tye-81601103
• “Tiktok's enshittification” by Cory Doctorow: https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/

For an intro to MMT:

• Our first three episodes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41742417
• Episode 126 - Dirk Ehnts: How Banks Create Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62603318

Quick MMT reads:

• Warren’s Mosler’s MMT white paper: http://moslereconomics.com/mmt-white-paper/
• Steven Hail’s quick MMT explainer: https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-modern-monetary-theory-72095
• Quick explanation of government debt and deficit: “Some Numbers Are Big. Let Me Help You Get Over It”: https://christreilly.com/2020/02/17/some-numbers-are-big-let-me-help-you-get-over-it/

For a short, non-technical, free ebook explaining MMT, download Warren Mosler’s “7 Deadly Innocent Frauds Of Economic Policy” here: http://moslereconomics.com/wp-content/powerpoints/7DIF.pdf

Episodes on monetary operations:

Episode 20 - Warren Mosler: The MMT Money Story (part 1): https://www.patreon.com/posts/28004824

Episode 126 - Dirk Ehnts: How Banks Create Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62603318

Episode 13 - Steven Hail: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Banking, But Were Afraid To Ask: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41790887

Episode 43 - Sam Levey: Understanding Endogenous Money: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35073683

Episode 84 - Andrew Berkeley, Richard Tye & Neil Wilson: An Accounting Model Of The UK Exchequer (Part 1): https://www.patreon.com/posts/46352183

Episode 86 - Andrew Berkeley, Richard Tye & Neil Wilson: An Accounting Model Of The UK Exchequer (Part 2): https://www.patreon.com/posts/46865929

Episodes on inflation:

Episode 7: Steven Hail: Inflation, Price Shocks and Other Misunderstandings: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41780508

Episode 65 - Phil Armstrong: Understanding Inflation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40672678

Episode 104 - John T Harvey: Inflation, Stagflation & Healing The Nation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/52207835

Episode 123 - Warren Mosler: Understanding The Price Level And Inflation: https://www.patreon.com/posts/59856379

Episode 128 - L. Randall Wray & Yeva Nersisyan: What’s Causing Accelerating Inflation? Pandemic Or Policy Response?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63776558

Job Guarantee episodes:

• Episode 4 - Fadhel Kaboub: What is the Job Guarantee?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41742701
• Episode 47 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Building Resilience - The Case For A Job Guarantee: https://www.patreon.com/posts/36034543
• Episode 148 - Pavlina Tcherneva: Why The Job Guarantee Is Core To Modern Monetary Theory: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-148-why-73211346
• Quick read: Pavlina Tcherneva’s Job Guarantee FAQ page: https://pavlina-tcherneva.net/job-guarantee-faq/

Episodes on government bonds (and “vigilantes”):

Episode 30 - Steven Hail: Understanding Government Bonds (Part 1):https://www.patreon.com/posts/29621245

Episode 31 - Steven Hail: Understanding Government Bonds (Part 2): https://www.patreon.com/posts/29829500

Episode 143 - Paul Sheard: What Is Quantitative Easing?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71589989?pr=true

Episode 147 - Dirk Ehnts: Do Markets Control Our Politics?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-147-dirk-72906421

Episode 144 - Warren Mosler: The Natural Rate Of Interest Is Zero: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71966513

Episode 145 - John T Harvey: What Determines Currency Prices?: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72283811?pr=true

More on Silicon Valley Bank and bank runs:

• Episode 162 - Warren Mosler: Anatomy Of A Bank Run: https://www.patreon.com/posts/80157783?pr=true
• Episode 163 - L. Randall Wray: Breaking Banks - The Fed’s Magical Monetarist Thinking Strikes Again: https://www.patreon.com/posts/80479169?pr=true
• Episode 165 - Robert Hockett: Sparking An Industrial Renewal By Building Banks Better: https://www.patreon.com/posts/81084983?pr=true
• MMT founder Warren Mosler’s Proposals for the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the Banking System: https://neweconomicperspectives.org/2010/02/warren-moslers-proposals-for-treasury.html

MMT Events And Courses In 2023:

• More information about Professor Bill Mitchell’s MMTed project (free public online courses in MMT) here: http://www.mmted.org/
• Apply for Dr Dirk Ehnts’ Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics course at Maastricht University (July 31st - August 4th) here: https://maastricht.dreamapply.com/courses/course/183-modern-monetary-theory-and-european-macroeconomics
• Details of Modern Money Lab’s online graduate and postgraduate courses in MMT are here: https://modernmoneylab.org.au/
• Details of the next MMT Summer school in Poznań, Poland (September 5th-7th) will be available on this page when confirmed: https://fundacjalipinskiego.pl/wydarzenia/
• Website of the 3rd International European MMT Conference (September 9th-10th: https://www.mmtconference.eu/

MMT Academic Resources compiled by The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies: https://www.zotero.org/groups/2251544/mmt_academic_resources_-_compiled_by_the_gower_initiative_for_modern_money_studies

MMT scholarship compiled by New Economic Perspectives: http://neweconomicperspectives.org/mmt-scholarship

A list of MMT-informed campaigns and organisations worldwide: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47900757

We are working towards full transcripts, but in the meantime, closed captions for all episodes are available on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEp_nGVTuMfBun2wiG-c0Ew/videos

Show notes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/83036883?pr=true