Tag Archives: Modern Monetary Theory

By J.D. ALT I recently read in the WSJ that Modern Monetary Theory is defined as the proposition that the federal government can borrow as much money as it needs so long as the interest rate it pays is less than the growth rate of the GDP. The short article, by Desmond Lachman, went on to argue why this was a dangerously false premise. Thus, MMT got shot with two bullets in one paragraph: first by defining it in a way that negates its most fundamental principle (that the federal...

Macroeconomic System for Climate Change A U.S. Patent Application Inventor:  J.D. ALT (acknowledging all advocates of modern fiat money) Assignment:  To all citizens of democratic free societies Abstract: A macroeconomic system including the issuing of a fiat currency by a sovereign government; the establishment of a tax regime on the government’s citizens wherein the taxes levied can only be paid with the sovereign government’s fiat currency; the sovereign government’s debiting of its...

Invited Presentation by L. Randall Wray at the UBS European Conference, London, Tuesday 13 November 2018 Q: These questions about deficits are usually cast as problems to be solved. You come from a different way of framing the issue, often referred to as MMT, which—at the risk of oversimplifying—says that we worry far too much about debt issuance. Can you help us understand where fears may be misplaced? Wray: First let me say that I think the twin deficits argument is based on flawed...

L. Randall Wray | November 13, 2018 (These remarks will be delivered today at the UBS European Conference in London.) Q: These questions about deficits are usually cast as problems to be solved. You come from a different way of framing the issue, often referred to as MMT, which—at the risk of oversimplifying—says that we worry far too much about debt issuance. Can you help us understand where fears may be misplaced? Wray:...

By J.D. ALT In recent essays I’ve made reference to a new framing of what is actually happening when the U.S. treasury issues a bond. It seems to me, this new framing goes to the heart of MMT and might well hold the key to a practical implementation of MMT principles in real world applications. The framing is this: A U.S. treasury bond is a certificate of issuance of future dollars. I will expand on this in a moment, but first it is important to say what this framing says a treasury bond...

Mainstream neoclassical economics is hooked on the idea of individual worker-savers as prime movers in capitalist market economies. As workers, individuals choose how much to work, determining the economy’s output; as savers, they determine how much of that output takes the shape of the economy’s capital investment. With banks as conduits channeling saving flows into investment, firms churn inputs into outputs that match worker-savers’ tastes. In this way, the neoclassical world gets...

My remarks for the 2018 MMT Conference September 28-30, NYC L. RANDALL WRAY I was asked to give a short presentation at the MMT conference. What follows is the text version of my remarks, some of which I had to skip over in the interests of time. Many readers might want to skip to the bullet points near the end, which summarize what I include in MMT. I’d also like to quickly respond to some comments that were made at the very last session of the conference—having to do with...

L. Randall Wray | October 1, 2018 My remarks for the 2018 MMT Conference, September 28-30, NYC. I was asked to give a short presentation at the MMT conference. What follows is the text version of my remarks, some of which I had to skip over in the interests of time. Many readers might want to skip to the bullet points near the end, which summarize what I include in MMT. ****************************************************************************** As an undergraduate I...

By J.D. ALT What you believe America can build—or rebuild—as a collective society hinges on how you answer one fundamental question: When the U.S. government issues a treasury bond, is it “borrowing” money that must be repaid with future tax-dollars—or is it “creating” money that can be spent to accomplish big and important collective goals? Getting the right answer to this question could be existentially important. As I’m writing, for example, Hurricane Florence is unleashing...

The Levy Institute is a cosponsor of the Second International Modern Monetary Theory Conference, which will take place September 28–30 at the New School and will feature Institute scholars L. Randall Wray, Pavlina Tcherneva, Stephanie Kelton, and Mathew Forstater: Like the first conference, this year will feature contributions from fields as diverse as macroeconomics, law, history, public policy, and corporate finance, with the goal of creating a community of scholars working within the...