Modern Monetary Theory - Health and Wellbeing

Mental Health

Mental health is a key part of overall well-being. Many public-good policies like M4A and a Federal Job Guarantee would go a long way toward eliminating the underlying root causes of many mental health issues.

Video / Audio

Check out this collection of videos and podcast episodes focused on the Health & Well-Being of all of us.

MMTMondays – Jobs, Money, Debt: Economic Common Sense with Mat Forstater

In this 5th installment of #MMTMondays, Mathew Forstater presents a series of short economic insights about money, debt, unemployment and the negative costs to society. It shows the economic common sense for creating sustainable prosperity and reducing the unnecessary social ills produced by the stresses of long term unemployment or underemployment.

Macro n Cheese Podcast Ep. 46 – Austerity and the Consumer Debt Trap with Emma Caterine

Steve and Emma discuss the effects of austerity, from abandoned malls and virtual ghost towns to shorter, more brutish lives, and an ever-growing private debt bubble from payday and title loans — death traps for the already suffering. The average family cannot afford a $400 emergency but are forced to turn to these predatory forms of credit. Steve, as someone who suffered the ill effects of the recession, and Emma, a consumer rights attorney whose clients are working-class and mostly people of color, discuss how we cannot simply talk about income inequality but must actively choose to reverse austerity and the neoliberal paradigm to end the punishment of poverty.

Mental Health and the Coronavirus Pandemic

Sara Williams, a family therapist from Minnesota, talks with Matt about the emotional challenges of the pandemic. Matt describes the anxiety, fear, and rage we’re all experiencing and Sara suggests some coping strategies to help us get centered during this extraordinary crisis. Lack of health insurance adds an additional layer of stress. Never has the need for universal healthcare been made so clear.

Written Materials

Check out these related articles from our local community and beyond.

Academic Publications

A collection of peer-reviewed white papers and working papers from our friends in the MMT academic community.

The Impact of Austerity on Mental Health Service Provision: A UK Perspective

This is a discussion paper which examines the impact of austerity policies on the provision of mental health services in the United Kingdom. Austerity is a shorthand for a series of policies introduced by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition government in the UK from 2010 onwards. In response to the fiscal crisis following the bail out of the banks in 2008, it was argued that significant reductions in public spending were required. The background to these policies is examined before a consideration of their impact on mental health services. These policies had a disproportionate impact on people living in poverty. People with health problems including mental problems are overrepresented in this group. At the same time, welfare and community services are under increasing financial pressures having to respond to increased demand within a context of reduced budgets.

Mental illness and homelessness – fiscal myopia strikes again

Excerpt: Yesterday, I wrote about the myopic nature of fiscal austerity in terms of starving essential public infrastructure of necessary maintenance and improvement funds, which eventually comes back in the form of destructive floods, sewerage collapses, major bridge collapses, and other damaging manifestations. Fiscal austerity targets public infrastructure because the cuts are less visible to mainstream society and the damage is usually revealed outside the current political cycle where the austerity is imposed.

H.R.2826 – Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our Communities Act

This bill requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to develop and implement an outreach and education strategy regarding behavioral health issues among the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations. The strategy must be designed to promote behavioral and mental health and reduce stigma associated with mental health conditions and substance abuse among such populations.

H.R.1301 – Mental Health Telemedicine Expansion Act

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage under the Medicare program of certain mental health telehealth services.

Policy Resources

Links to progressive bills and proposals currently making their way through the United States Congress

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