Briahna Joy Gray has the podcast on her YouTube channel Why Inflation is a BOGEYMAN Used to Attack the Left.

This week, Briahna Joy Gray spoke to economics professor and exceptional communicator Fadhel Kaboub about what really causes inflation, how Modern Monetary Theory can help, why the Federal Reserve should mint a trillion dollar coin, how to curb education and healthcare inflation, and why elected progressives aren’t talking nearly enough about any of this. If you aren’t already familiar with the Denison University professor, you’re in for a treat.

This is such an excellent podcast, that I cannot recommend this enough. There is one part of Fadhel Kaboub’s explanation of the history of inflation that I disagree with. I will mention it here, but this in no way detracts from everything else he said. Every thing else he had to say is such a clarification of reality that it woould be a shame if my quibbles kept you from watching this podcast.

According to Michael Hudson, the 1970s inflation came from our balance of trade deficits brought on by the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and other military overspending after WWII. The oil crisis of 1970 was a result of the previous inflation that had already occurred. OPEC raised prices because their price per barrel was stagnant while other prices were rising. OPEC decided that they weren’t getting a fair share. With their near monopoly, they were able to force the prices up. Wars with Israel and other factors you mentioned were further excuses for raising oil prices.

Taming inflation in the 1970s happened under Reagan from 1980 onward. He put this country and the world into such a steep recession, that usage of oil declined so much that OPEC lost some of its control over oil prices.

My interpretation of the 1970s inflation is based on my observations having lived through that period. I don’t have access to the data that people like Michael Hudson does. They might certainly be able to provide data to show me that my interpretation is incorrect. The explanation of what Michael Hudson says about our trade deficits comes from a recent reading of his book “Super Imperialism”. Michael Hudson is a tittle older than I am, and he certainly was much closer to the center of power than I could ever hope to be. I think he has that advantage over current day economists like Fadhel Kaboub and Stephanie Kelton.

Rising costs play a vital role for understanding prices. As an example, when thinking about costs, the cost of credit is critical.24 Hiking interest rates at the Federal Reserve raises the cost of credit and can actually contribute to inflationary pressure. Yet this remains the “common sense” approach to many for lowering inflation regardless of the costs on communities: especially working class, impoverished and historically marginalized communities of color