Ep98 [1/2] Bill Brennan: Bridgegate, running for governor, and MMT

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Welcome to episode 98 of Activist #MMT. Today I talk with fourth-year MMT activist Bill Brennan (Twitter/@). In 2017, Bill ran for the Democratic nomination for New Jersey governor. In 2016, he filed a citizens complaint against then-Republican governor Christie Christie for his role in the . He obtained sworn testimony, resulting in a finding a probable cause. This meant the accusation was legally acknowledged as being a valid one. The Christie administration objected. However, instead of dismissal, the objection resulted in Bill's discovering even more sworn testimony, and winning a second finding a probable cause. The case lingered for several months, but Christie was never charged or given any penalty. This is partly because the prosecutor decided not to pursue the case, claiming an otensible lack of evidence – a prosecutor personally appointed by Governor Christie, and someone who could be arbitrarily fired by the governor at any time, for any reason. (Here's a link to _PART_TWO_.) I met Bill during his run for governor, as a local independent journalist. My outlet was called , which covered the Democratic primaries and its secondary candidates . I also had the honor of between Bill and another Democratic candidate, plus two Republican candidates. Our debate took place outside the official debate, where only those with big donations could enter. (Links to all these things can be found in the show notes.) Bill discovered MMT at least a year before I did, but remained skeptical until only recently. I'm happy to have played a small role in pushing him over the edge by introducing him to the concept of reserve accounting. Reserve accounting shows how simple it is for money to flow around the economy and, indeed, the world. Bill is in the unique position of being a progressive surrounded by highly conservative friends. As a consequence, he can boil some of their arguments down to their essence. He also has some unique analogies to share, which bring these ideas home. One of his conversations with his friends inspired me to write an MMT resource post, which you can find a link to in the show notes: If you like what you hear, then I hope you might consider becoming a monthly patron of Activist #MMT. Patrons get early access to every episode and super-early access to most of them. Patrons also get the opportunity to ask my academic guests questions, and they support the development of my large and growing collection of . To become a patron, you can start by going to . Every little bit helps a little bit, and it all adds up to a lot. Thanks. (Before were begin, a minor correction: I work in a school but I'm not a teacher.) And now, onto my conversation with Bill Brennan, who you can find on Twitter at @BillBrennansays. This is part one of a two-conversation. Enjoy. Resources The audio snippet of Bill at the criminal-justice forum comes from around the 1-hour, 10-minute mark in . by my copy editor, Ben Szioli.