Bill Mitchell (economist)

William Francis Mitchell (born 7 March 1952) is a professor of economics at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and Docent Professor of Global Political Economy at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is one of the founding developers of modern monetary theory.

William Mitchell
Born (1952-03-07) 7 March 1952
Glen Huntly, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Academic career
InstitutionUniversity of Newcastle
FieldModern Monetary Theory, political economy, econometrics
School or
tradition		Modern Monetary Theory
InfluencesKarl Marx[1] · Michael Kalecki[1] · Arthur Okun[2]

Early life

Mitchell was born to working class parents in Glen Huntly, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in March 1952. The family moved to Ashwood, a new Housing Commission suburb soon after. He attended Ashwood Primary School (1957–1963) and Ashwood High School (1964–1969).

Education

Mitchell holds the following degrees: PhD in Economics, University of Newcastle, 1998; Bachelor of Commerce, Deakin University, 1977; and Master of Economics Monash University, 1982. He completed a Master's Preliminary at the University of Melbourne in 1978 (with first-class honours).[3]

Career

Academic

Since 1990, Mitchell is a professor at University of Newcastle, New South Wales. He also holds the position of Docent Professor in Global Political Economy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Activist

Mitchell works to promote active government economic policies and the use of fiscal deficits as a tool to enhance well-being and environmental sustainability. He is Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), a non-profit, research organisation at the University of Newcastle. Its mission statement is to advance research and policies that can restore full employment and achieve a society that "delivers equitable outcomes for all".

Mitchell participates in public and community activities on the issues of politics, economics, fiscal sustainability,[4] and the environment.[5]

Mitchell opposes neo-liberal economic theories and practices; he disputes the "revisionism" of History ostensibly perpetrated by mainstream or conservative economists, especially in relation to the policies of the New Deal.[6] He has often been called to appear as an expert witness in industrial matters in state and federal tribunals in Australia, as well as in various government enquiries.[7] His work in childcare industrial cases in Victoria and New South Wales influenced the realignments in the relevant State and Federal Awards in that sector.

Author

Mitchell coined the term Modern Monetary Theory, also known as MMT. He coined the term in reference to John Maynard Keynes' claim that for at least 4,000 years money has been "a creature of the state".[8] He is a prominent promoter of MMT in macroeconomics.[9]

He has written extensively in the fields of macroeconomics, econometrics and public policy.[10] He has published widely in refereed academic journals and books and regularly gives conference presentations abroad.[3]

Macroeconomics

His book Macroeconomics (Macmillan, March 2019), co-written with L. Randall Wray and Martin Watts, is a textbook that "encourages students to take a more critical approach to the prevalent assumptions around the subject of macroeconomics, by comparing and contrasting heterodox and orthodox approaches to theory and policy ... based on the principles of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)".[11]

Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World

His 2017 book Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World (September, 2017), co-written with Italian journalist Thomas Fazi, "reconceptualises the nation state as a vehicle for progressive change. They show how despite the ravages of neoliberalism, the state still contains resources for democratic control of a nation's economy and finances. The populist turn provides an opening to develop an ambitious but feasible left political strategy. It offers an urgent, provocative and prescient political analysis of our current predicament, and lays out a comprehensive strategy for revitalising progressive economics in the 21st century."[12]

Eurozone Dystopia: Groupthink and Denial on a Grand Scale

His book Eurozone Dystopia: Groupthink and Denial on a Grand Scale (May 2015), provides "a critical history and analysis from the perspective of Modern Monetary Theory of the European economic crisis that started in 2009."[13]

Full Employment Abandoned

Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures (2008), co-written with Joan Muysken of Maastricht University, traces the theoretical analysis of the nature and causes of unemployment over the last 150 years and argue that the shift from involuntary to so-called "natural rate" concepts of unemployment are behind an "ideological backlash" against state intervention as notably advocated, within the frame of the free economy, by Keynes in the 1930s. The authors further contend that unemployment is a reflection of systemic policy failures, rather than an "individual problem". They present a theoretical and empirical critique of the neo-liberal approach and suggest that the reinstatement of full employment, along with price stability, is a viable policy goal, achievable through an activist fiscal policy.

The notion of job guarantee is introduced, whereby the government would guarantee a job to every willing and able adult individual, paying a wage that would become society's minimum wage, and would be expression of the aspiration of the society of the lowest acceptable standard of living.[14]

Musician

Mitchell has played guitar professionally in bands over the years.[15] Mitchell currently plays with Pressure Drop, a Melbourne-based reggae-dub band, originally popular in the 1970s and early 1980s. The band reformed in 2010.[16]

Mitchell often refers to the economics discipline, and especially the academia, in disparaging terms,[17] stating, only half-jokingly, that his work as a musician does less damage to people. "I think my economics profession is very dangerous," he says.[16]

Personal life

Mitchell is a "passionate" cyclist.[18] He was an "active bike racer"[19] when, in 1995, he founded the website Cyclingnews.com, which was sold in 1999[18] to the Australian media company Knapp Communications. It was subsequently bought in 2007[19] by Future plc.

See also

References
  1. "The Political Aspects of Full Employment": "I have often indicated that my economic roots come from Marx through Kalecki. Kalecki was a Marxist economist. Marx was the first to really get to grips with the idea of effective demand – that is, spending backed by cash. Kalecki understood this intrinsically." Mitchell, 12 August 2010
  2. "Knowlegable economic commentary still exists": "Arthur Okun...one of my favourite economists...". Mitchell, 1 September 2009; "They have been smoking some doobies": "the late Arthur Okun, the doyen of applied economics...". Mitchell, 1 November 2010
  3. Qualifications Archived 14 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Newcastle University biography
  4. "What is Fiscal Sustainability?", Counter-Conference on Fiscal Sustainability, 28 April 2010, Washington, DC, USA
  5. Climate Action Newcastle event information, 2008
  6. "The conservative reconstruction of history" Mitchell, 25 June 2010
  7. "Public Debt management and Australia’s macroeconomic priorities" Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine by Mitchell & Mosler, presentation to the Review of the Commonwealth Government Securities Market, 2002
  8. Matthews, Dylan (18 February 2012). "Modern Monetary Theory is an unconventional take on economic strategy". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  9. "Debt, Deficits, and Modern Monetary Theory: An Interview with Bill Mitchell" Archived 19 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Harvard International Review, 16 October 2011
  10. List of publications
  11. Macroeconomics, Macmillan Publishers, March 2019, ISBN 978-1-137-61066-9
  12. Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World, Pluto Press, September 2017, ISBN 978-0-7453-3732-6
  13. Eurozone Dystopia - Groupthink and Denial on a Grand Scale, Edward Elgar Publishing, 29 May 2015, ISBN 978-1-78471-665-3
  14. "When is a job guarantee a Job Guarantee?" Mitchell, 17 April 2009
  15. Personal information Bill Mitchell's website
  16. "The real rock-start economist" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Business Review Weekly, 17 May 2012
  17. "The economics profession is a disgrace" Mitchell, 3 March 2011
  18. "It's been quite a climb, and now it's really time to ride" by Gerard Knapp, 4 July 2007
  19. About us Archived 3 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, CyclingNews.com

Additional sources
  • Mitchell, William, Joan Muysken, Tom Van Veen: Growth and cohesion in the European Union: The Impact of Macroeconomic Policy (2006), Edward Elgar Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84542-611-8
  • Mitchell, William & Joan Muysken: Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures (2008), Edward Elgar Publishing 320 pp, Hardback, ISBN 978-1-85898-507-7
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