170% vs 120%. Private debt versus government debt in the United States. Guess which one gets all the headlines? The smaller number. Every economic crisis in modern history has been caused by private debt collapse, not government debt. The Great Depression. The 2008 financial crisis. Both followed the same pattern: excessive private debt buildup, then sudden collapse. Irving Fisher figured this out in the 1930s after losing everything in the crash. He spent the rest of his career warning about private debt dangers. Mainstream economists ignored him. They claimed debt was just redistribution between savers and borrowers, so it couldn't cause macroeconomic problems. They were wrong then. They're still wrong now. Ben Bernanke marketed himself as the Great Depression expert. He missed the 2008 crisis entirely because he didn't understand how banks actually create money and debt. After 2008, his solution was quantitative easing to encourage more lending. More debt to solve a debt crisis. We're still dealing with the fallout. Private debt barely fell after 2008, only 15%, compared to the 75% drop after the Great Depression. Stock valuations are higher than in 1929. Houses are out of reach for young people. My solution: A Modern Debt Jubilee. P.S. Want to understand the real mechanics of private debt and how a Modern Debt Jubilee could eliminate the $20 trillion household debt crisis? Watch my full breakdown in the comments. #Economics #PrivateDebt #FinancialCrisis #DebtJubilee #EconomicPolicy #MonetaryTheory #SteveKeen

Good point. Which is why it is SO important for people to realise that this has nothing to do with "magic money", but is in fact based on 100% solid accounting. It's the Neoclassicals and Neoliberals who have trapped us and themselves in a fairy story gone bad.

Zach is spot on, and it's fabulous to see this being said on national media. Now we need to educate the journalist, who have been "sold a pup" by mainstream economists, who have never and will never understand how money is created.