C-span hearings

["LYNN TURGEON, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF ECONOMICS, HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, ECOELT@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <ECOELT@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Saturday, July 26, C-span ran hearings on monetary policy that were very
interesting. Our Jamie Galbraith was very effective, along with Robert Eisner,
in presenting a Post Keynesian view. Perhaps Jamie could post his paper. The
main point is to look at real interest rates and realize that they are still
very high (even indexed bonds at 3 percent real interest are three times higher
than the average before 1980 and Reagan-Volcker boost in real interest rates.)
Instead of arguing when nominal federal funds rate should go up, we should be
pushing for decrease in ffr. The problem is that it isn't difficult to imagine
the reaction of Wall Street to this change in policy. Why not raise margin
requirements to prevent runaway animal spirits?
	Note July 4th issue of London Economist, p. 29, for article on
spreading of local money (LETS) to Montpelier, Vermont. This movement tends to
thrive in areas of high unemployment (Ithaca, Great Britain, Canada, Australia)
and puts local resources back to work. Lynn