The Activist Humanist

In this episode of the Superstructure podcast, Scott Ferguson is joined by independent film scholar Jonathan Haynes to discuss Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed new film, One Battle After Another.

What makes debt illegitimate?

During our discussion, our cohosts outline the approach to DPF presented in our recent long-form publication, “Democratic Public Finance: A Radical Vision for Mamdani’s New York City.” moneyontheleft.org/2025/11/01/d...

Nobody likes a bottleneck

Cc @wherecreditsdue.bsky.social @moneyontheleft.bsky.social

Big thanks to @katefoxwriter75.bsky.social, whose blog is where I first learned about Nick Walker’s work and whose wonderful podcast Neurotypicals Don’t Juggle Chainsaws (co-hosted with Nic King) introduced me to Amy Pearson and Kieran Rose’s research 🙏 neurotypicalsdontjugglechainsaws.co.uk

I’m looking forward to exploring affinities between the neurodiversity & public money paradigms - via @dr-nicky.bsky.social on neuroqueering and @dramypearson.bsky.social & @kieranrose.bsky.social on masking - in this upcoming talk. Who knew heterodox economics and neuroqueer theory were connected?

"What we name things is how we value them. We name them as valuable. And that naming, monetary and legal, is the driving force by which we get the labor and create these things."

We discuss democratic possibilities for public finance with Saule Omarova, the Beth and Marc Goldberg Professor of Law at Cornell University and President Biden’s original nominee for Comptroller of the Currency.

Reparations for Black Americans w/ William A. Darity

Money on the Left is joined by Dr. Chris Martin to discuss Modern Monetary Theory’s vital importance for the struggle to provide adequate housing for all.

"Mischaracterised by university leaders as financial ‘saving’, austerity is in truth vandalism."

Great insights! "The Ministry for the Future" explores MMT brilliantly. As Frank says, “We have to make the future.” How do you think MMT could reshape our world? 🪐📚 #MMT #Scifi

Modern Money & the Black University Concept

Money’s Place: Science Fiction, Realism & MMT in The Ministry for the Future

Postmodern Money Theory!

Time for some Canadian banking history.

Digitizing the Fisc with Rohan Grey

Buckle up.

Raghavan offers a forward-looking vision for how to build a durable consumer financial protection regime capable of reclaiming democratic authority in the post-Trump era.

"If the psychological wage is a currency, it is one that does not circulate on its own."

🧨 "If money is the ongoing process of issuing and deleting credits, it cannot be solely understood as an inert quantity that reflects past accomplishments. Money cannot be something we need to hoard to create a livable future. And it certainly cannot be scarce unless we make it so." 💥

“DPF redefines politics as the process of coordinating our abundant human and material resources within ecological limits, rather than as an austere and exploitative competition for scarce funds.” On the list #RBE

Democratic Public Finance redefines politics as the process of coordinating our abundant human and material resources within ecological limits, rather than as an austere and exploitative competition for scarce funds.

Grant-based financing beyond profitability is already a central function of financial life in the United States. The time has come to politicize and radically expand this potential for social & ecological justice.

State debt is generative.

In addition to being a highly detailed work of political and institutional history that recounts the struggle over electric power generation in the United States, Vaheesan's book is an agile experiment in heterodox economic and legal theory.

If money is genuinely not a thing, but a social relation, then we can contest and restructure that relation in pro-social ways.

Universities spend gazillions on EdTech software that doesn’t serve faculty or student interests and often doesn’t work well. But what if we got off that path and leveraged internal resources to produce non-profit systems? Here’s a proposal to leverage the CUNY systems platforms.

Love this!!!!

One Battle After Another

Brilliant idea

Adapted from a prompt by Professor Benjamin Wilson (SUNY Cortland, Spring 2025), this assignment encourages students to perceive money and the labor it mobilizes as social forms that we can collectively remake.

What's a merger?

"[E]ven within MMT, the picture is more complicated than is suggested by the T-account’s clean offsetting lines."

In this episode, Money on the Left shares audio from “The Black University & Community Currencies,” a public workshop convened by Professor Andrew J. Douglas at Morehouse College on April 25, 2025. moneyontheleft.org/2025/05/01/t...

We consider the lessons of women’s participation in the Federal Arts Project for the future politics of public arts provisioning.

The Black University and Community Currencies, Pt. 2 moneyontheleft.org/2025/06/11/t...

The gang gets together to talk about Democratic Public Finance. moneyontheleft.org/2025/11/01/d...

"The operating paradigm for the next generation must empower public banks to issue grants, thereby giving communities the financial resources they need and freeing them from the constraints of expected repayment."

“This document argues that building a just future requires shifting from the reigning ideology of neoliberal public finance, NPF, to democratic public finance, DPF. NPF constrains democratic possibilities …” @moneyontheleft.bsky.social CC @eclecticradical.bsky.social

Wait, what’s that you say? MIMA Talks About Trust has whetted your appetite for conversation about trust and money? Well, you’re in luck because I had an equally enjoyable chat with @videotroph.bsky.social and @greenbackbetter.bsky.social for @moneyontheleft.bsky.social back in July!

In this special episode, Rob Hawkes joins Scott Ferguson and Will Beaman to discuss his new article “(Un)conditional Openness: Towards a Neochartalist Theory of Money and Trust.”

Nobody likes a bottleneck!

In July 1934, W.E.B. Du Bois received a letter from an Atlanta resident named Gus Reich. We are excited to share both Reich’s letter and Du Bois’s short reply, along with Will Beaman's commentary.

"To fully realize public banking’s potential, ... we must recognize that loans alone are insufficient for addressing all public needs."

During this conversation we discuss my recent @moneyontheleft.bsky.social article ‘(Un)conditional Openness: Towards a Neochartalist Theory of Money and Trust’ moneyontheleft.org/2025/05/21/u...

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