Finding the Money

The core basis of this documentary is that the combined national debt is nothing more than the sum of the available capital in the private sector, being that the government creates the money it spends. It cannot spend what it does not create, nor can it exist in surplus without taking back more than it spent.

They reference the declining interest rate with the increase of the national debt as a means to show thst this debt it not bad, and without too much critical thought, you might think this is all a grand idea.

However, what it does not take into consideration is that this created currency is backed by something; in the case of our fiat currency system, our GDP. So let me explain it like this:

Let's say a currency is backed by a gold brick. We all decide that the gold brick is worth 100 pieces of paper. The value of that brick remains fairly constant and the value of those papers do as well.

Now, let's assume again that the value of the brick doesn't change much, but now we put another 100 pieces of paper into circulation. As the brick value remains constant (or near constant) that value if paper has now decreased. This is inflation.

So as the debt (amount of excess spending without tax recuperation) grows, the value of the dollar decreases, as it does not meet the same rate of growth as our GDP.

Short story long, this movie's core premise is easily debunked by even the layperson with a basic understanding of macroeconomics.

I consider(ed) myself to be a very knowledgeable about macro economics. This movie completely altered my understanding. I highly recommend. Taxation and government spending is obviously a subject that sparks a lot of political and ideological debate, but the film-maker exposes the hipocracy and misunderstanding that politicians of all ideologies share. I wish the movie was available by streaming it directly online. I would pay to see it again. I'd even give it away to friends for Christmas if it were possible to do so. Please try to increase the distribution of this really important information.

Fantastic documentary. Explaining what money is and how the monetary system works. Pulling the veil back on many damaging misconceptions and misunderstandings which lead to terrible policy choices and terrible outcomes. Important and timely. Paradigm challenging, which will make many watching uncomfortable as it will go against everything they've ever heard and what they believe to be true intuitively, because it's what everyone says, it's what politicians say, what many economists say, and what many journalists and media say. But once you see it and it clicks, you can't unsee it. We can't solve the biggest challenges we face unless we understand the basics and how things actually work.

This is one of those films that sticks with you. We have all been brought up to believe a certain narrative about money, that it's like a scarce commodity or that it can only come from employers, banks, or taxation and borrowing. And, we all know the federal government can create money, but we're conditioned to believe it shouldn't unless it has to.

This doc takes all those assumptions and blows them up in your face. By demonstrating to the audience how a country's currency is simply a public tool that we have collective say in how to use, the film opens up new areas of debate in how public spending can and should be conducted.

Regardless of your political views, this film has something for you. Whether you hate the idea of taxes and inflation, or love the idea of ending climate change and inequality, you are doing yourself a favor by hearing the arguments laid out in this film. You will understand that we can afford to build any kind of world we want to build as long as we respect and understand the limits and flows of real resources in our economy.

Stephanie Kelton and friends are presenting their radical Modern-Monetary-Theory (MMT) idea as the panacea to all of humanity problems. The main concept of MMT is that government can spend on whatever it feels like. At the end of the day, it is the bureaucrats in the government who get to decide where every citizen's toil and sweat should be channeled into. Should the government decide that Bill Gates needs to get all of your money, and he shouldn't have any competitors, they are wholly free to do so, and they are doing it. There is apparently no constraint or anything that can stop the government from choosing what is best for YOU.

The only thing that is supposedly "easy to calculate" and can stop the rampant spending by government is the risk of inflation. Kelton doesn't even try to explain what Inflation is, or how it is created, she just mentioned that it is important and easy to math out. So the government creating dollars and spending them into the economy in the trillions has nothing to do with inflation. As long as there are enough poor people who can use these dollars to spend like drunken sailors and keep the economy out of a depression.

If you ever had any interest in economy, and you read some significant books by influential economists in history, you might want to call 911 because this "documentary" is going to give you a heart attack.

The bureaucrats in the USSR would be really envious to have some of this MMT drug to explain away their perfect economic system.