Summary: <p>Back in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning and the shelter-in-place orders brought the economy to a screeching halt, a quirky-but-clever idea to save the economy made its way up to some of the highest levels of government. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib proposed an ambitious relief <a href="https://tlaib.house.gov/sites/tlaib.house.gov/files/Automatic%20Boost%20to%20Communities%20Act%20.pdf">bill</a> to keep the country’s metaphorical lights on: recurring payments to people to help them stay afloat during the crisis. And the way Congress would pay for it? By minting two platinum $1 trillion coins. (You read that right). </p> <p>In this episode, we take a jaunt through the evolution of our currency, from the gold-backed bills of the 19th century, to the most powerful computer at the Federal Reserve. And we chase an idea that torpedoes what we thought was a fundamental law of economics. Can we <em>actually</em> just print more money? </p> <p><em>This episode was reported by Becca Bressler and was produced by Becca Bressler and Simon Adler.</em></p> <p><em>Special thanks to Carlos Mucha, Warren Mosler, David Cay Johnston, Alex Goldmark, Bryant Urstadt, and Amanda Aronczyk. </em></p> <p>To learn more about these ideas check out: </p> <p>Stephanie Kelton's <a href="https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/stephanie-kelton/the-deficit-myth/9781541736184/">book</a> <em>The Deficit Myth</em></p> <p>Jacob Goldstein's <a href="https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/jacob-goldstein/money/9780316417198/">book</a> <em>Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing </em>and the <em>Planet Money</em> <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/">podcast</a></p> <p>Betsey Stevenson's <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/think-like-an-economist/id1523898793">podcast</a> <em>Think Like an Economist </em></p> <p>This <a href="https://mintthecoin.org">website</a> for more about #MintTheCoin</p> <p>And for a fun quick read, check out <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/01/trillion-dollar-coin-inventor/">this</a> WIRED article about the surprising origin of the trillion dollar coin.</p> <p> </p>
