William Francis Mitchell (born 7 March 1952) is a professor of

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

at the University of Newcastle,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia and Docent Professor of Global Political Economy at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is one of the founding developers of

Modern Monetary Theory Modern Monetary Theory or Modern Money Theory (MMT) is a heterodox * * * * * * macroeconomic theory that describes currency as a public monopoly and unemployment as evidence that a currency monopolist is overly restricting the supply of t ...

Early life

Mitchell was born to working class parents in

Glen Huntly Glen Huntly is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District,Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, in March 1952. The family moved to Ashwood, a new Housing Commission suburb soon after. He attended Ashwood Primary School (1957–1963) and Ashwood High School (1964–1969).

Education

Mitchell holds the following degrees: PhD in Economics, University of Newcastle, 1998;

Bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

of Commerce,

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

, 1977; and

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of Economics

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

, 1982. He completed a Master's Preliminary at the University of Melbourne in 1978 (with first-class honours).Qualifications
Newcastle University biography

Career

Academic

Since 1990, Mitchell is a professor at University of Newcastle,

. He also holds the position of Docent Professor in Global Political Economy, Faculty of Social Sciences,

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Activist

Mitchell works to promote active government economic policies and the use of fiscal deficits as a tool to enhance well-being and environmental sustainability. He is Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), a non-profit, research organisation at the University of Newcastle. Its mission statement is to advance research and policies that can restore full employment and achieve a society that "delivers equitable outcomes for all". Mitchell participates in public and community activities on the issues of politics, economics,

fiscal sustainability Fiscal sustainability, or public finance sustainability, is the ability of a government to sustain its current spending, tax and other policies in the long run without threatening government solvency or defaulting on some of its liabilities or promi ...

, and the environment. Mitchell opposes

neo-liberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

economic theories and practices; he disputes the "revisionism" of History ostensibly perpetrated by mainstream or conservative economists, especially in relation to the policies of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

. He has often been called to appear as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in industrial matters in state and federal tribunals in Australia, as well as in various government enquiries. His work in childcare industrial cases in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and New South Wales influenced the realignments in the relevant State and Federal Awards in that sector.

Author

Mitchell coined the term

, also known as MMT. He coined the term in reference to

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

' claim that for at least 4,000 years money has been "a creature of the state". He is a prominent promoter of MMT in macroeconomics. He has written extensively in the fields of macroeconomics, econometrics and public policy. He has published widely in refereed academic journals and books and regularly gives conference presentations abroad.

''Macroeconomics''

His book ''Macroeconomics'' (Macmillan, March 2019), co-written with

L. Randall Wray Larry Randall Wray (born June 19, 1953) is a professor of Economics at Bard College and Senior Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute. Previously, he was a professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, who ...

and Martin Watts, is a textbook that "encourages students to take a more critical approach to the prevalent assumptions around the subject of macroeconomics, by comparing and contrasting heterodox and orthodox approaches to theory and policy ... based on the principles of

(MMT)".

''Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World''

His 2017 book ''Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World'' (September, 2017), co-written with Italian journalist Thomas Fazi, "reconceptualises the nation state as a vehicle for progressive change. They show how despite the ravages of neoliberalism, the state still contains resources for democratic control of a nation's economy and finances. The populist turn provides an opening to develop an ambitious but feasible left political strategy. It offers an urgent, provocative and prescient political analysis of our current predicament, and lays out a comprehensive strategy for revitalising progressive economics in the 21st century."

''Eurozone Dystopia: Groupthink and Denial on a Grand Scale''

His book ''Eurozone

Dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

Groupthink Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness ...

and Denial on a Grand Scale'' (May 2015), provides "a critical history and analysis from the perspective of

of the

European economic crisis The European debt crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis, is a multi-year debt crisis that took place in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until the mid to late 2010s. Several eurozone memb ...

that started in 2009."

''Full Employment Abandoned''

'' Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures'' (2008), co-written with Joan Muysken of

Maastricht University Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; nl, Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities. In 2021, 22,383 students studied at ...

, traces the theoretical analysis of the nature and causes of unemployment over the last 150 years and argue that the shift from involuntary to so-called "natural rate" concepts of unemployment are behind an "ideological backlash" against

state intervention Economic interventionism, sometimes also called state interventionism, is an economic policy position favouring government intervention in the market process with the intention of correcting market failures and promoting the general welfare of ...

as notably advocated, within the frame of the free economy, by

Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in m ...

in the 1930s. The authors further contend that unemployment is a reflection of systemic policy failures, rather than an "individual problem". They present a theoretical and empirical critique of the neo-liberal approach and suggest that the reinstatement of full employment, along with price stability, is a viable policy goal, achievable through an activist fiscal policy. The notion of job guarantee is introduced, whereby the government would guarantee a job to every willing and able adult individual, paying a wage that would become society's

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

, and would be expression of the aspiration of the society of the lowest acceptable standard of living.

Musician

Mitchell has played guitar professionally in bands over the years.Personal information
Bill Mitchell's website Mitchell currently plays wit
Pressure Drop
a

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

-based

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

- dub band, originally popular in the 1970s and early 1980s. The band reformed in 2010."The real rock-start economist"
, ''

Business Review Weekly ''BRW'' (formerly ''Business Review Weekly'') was an Australian business magazine published by the Fairfax Media group. The magazine was headquartered in Melbourne. It regularly compiled lists which rank corporations and individuals according to ...

'', 17 May 2012 Mitchell often refers to the economics discipline, and especially the

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, in disparaging terms,"The economics profession is a disgrace"
Mitchell, 3 March 2011 stating, only half-jokingly, that his work as a musician does less damage to people. "I think my economics profession is very dangerous," he says.

Personal life

Mitchell is a "passionate"

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

."It's been quite a climb, and now it's really time to ride"
by Gerard Knapp, 4 July 2007 He was an "active bike racer"About us
, CyclingNews.com when, in 1995, he founded the website

Cyclingnews Cyclingnews.com is a website providing cycling news and race result owned by Future. History In 1995 Australian Bill Mitchell, a keen cyclist and professor of economics at the University of Newcastle, created the website titled "Bill’s Cycli ...

.com, which was sold in 1999 to the Australian media company Knapp Communications. It was subsequently bought in 2007 by

Future plc Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ...

References

Additional sources

* Mitchell, William, Joan Muysken, Tom Van Veen: ''Growth and cohesion in the European Union: The Impact of Macroeconomic Policy'' (2006), Edward Elgar Publishing, * Mitchell, William & Joan Muysken: '' Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures'' (2008), Edward Elgar Publishing 320 pp, Hardback,

External links

Bill Mitchell's personal website

Bill Mitchell's blog
with "commentary on economic events"
CofFEE website

CyclingNews.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Bill 1952 births Living people 20th-century Australian economists Modern monetary theory scholars Post-Keynesian economists University of Newcastle (Australia) faculty Academics from Melbourne People from the City of Monash Monash University alumni Deakin University alumni University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni 21st-century Australian economists