Regarding BET's interview with Omar Jones from Color Lines: Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) shows how taxes do not pay for anything, literally. They cannot because all money exists as an IOU. U.S dollars are spent into creation by the sovereign currency issuer, the U.S. And when taxes are paid by taxpayers, the reverse occurs: Those dollars, or IOUs are destroyed or deleted.

The U.S only collects taxes as a way to control the money supply. Thus, the U.S. can afford to spend without constraints (indeed it does so when it comes to imperialism). The only constraints are resource constraints, such as not having enough trees or concrete or what have you.

Please consider MMT coverage at Media Roots, particularly transcripts of presentations given by Dr. Stephanie Kelton of the University of Missouri, Kansas City and NewEconomicPerspectives.org, which features a primer on MMT.

I must be immature but the interview with Prof. Nunberg was hilarious. The beeps were hilarious -- especially when they became increasingly more frequent. Yes, it was useful and interesting too.