TED Audio Collective

Whenever the government wants to launch an initiative that benefits the general public,

what's the first thing we all ask?

How are we going to pay for it?

I'm talking about plans or policies that address the climate crisis, the rising cost

of healthcare, our aging infrastructure, our need for affordable housing, the list goes

on and on, and then the squabbling begins.

Over the price tag and who exactly is footing the bill.

But there's an economist who says the framework that we're using to contemplate what is

economically possible is all wrong.

I'm Madu back in Ola, this is Ted Business.

We all aim to be fiscally responsible.

I mean, my mom always said, your life is going to be a mess if you don't pay your bills

on time, if you spend more than you have.

And we expect our government to be equally as thoughtful.

But government budgets are nothing like our personal budgets.

So why are we using the same decision making process when it comes to government spending?

Our speaker today, Stephanie Kelton asks this question.

She's a professor of economics and public policy at Stony Brook University.

And in this talk, she shares her perspective on modern monetary theory, which once you

learn about it, you might wonder, our financial deficits so bad after all.

That's coming up after the break.

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