Shownotes
Steve’s guest, Ivan Invernizzi, co-founder of Rete MMT in Italy, explains that currency has an “exchange rate” within a nation’s borders. In fact it has several, because there are different levels of discrimination in access to currency. With geographical and class differences, the balance of power shifts because of the way the state organizes banking, and who the state supplies with currency.
The corporations and individuals who receive payments directly from the government are in a stronger position than those a few rungs down. Ivan refers to this as filtering; we call it subcontracting. The farther from the currency issuer, the weaker the economic position. This is true of both employer and worker. A job guarantee would eliminate the filter, putting workers on equal footing.
Ivan widens the discussion to include the role of foreign exchange. Does trade determine the exchange rate or is the state still in control?
Ivan Invernizzi is co-founder of ReteMMT Italia and MMT France. He is working toward his MS in Economics and Global Markets at the University of Bergamo, Italy
www.retemmt.it
www.mmt-france.org
