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What's wrong with Modern Money Theory: macro and political economic restraints on deficit-financed fiscal policy

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  • Thomas Palley

    (Independent analyst, Washington, DC, USA)

Abstract

The essential claim of Modern Money Theory (MMT) is sovereign currency issuing governments, with flexible exchange rates and without foreign currency debt, are financially unconstrained. This paper analyses the macroeconomic arguments behind that claim and shows they are suspect. MMT underestimates the economic costs and exaggerates the capabilities of deficit-financed fiscal policy. Those analytic shortcomings render it poor economics. However, MMT's claim that sovereign governments are financially unconstrained is proving a popular political polemic. That is because current distressed economic conditions have generated political resistance to fiscal austerity, and MMT fits the moment by countering the neoliberal polemic that government lacks fiscal space because it is akin to a household.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Palley, 2020. "What's wrong with Modern Money Theory: macro and political economic restraints on deficit-financed fiscal policy," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 8(4), pages 472–493-4, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:rokejn:v:8:y:2020:i:4:p472-493
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jerzy Osiatyński, 2021. "Ograniczenia starych paradygmatów polityki makroekonomicznej. Czym je zastąpić lub jak korygować?," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 3, pages 323-345.
    2. Oberholzer, Basil, 2023. "Post-growth transition, working time reduction, and the question of profits," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    3. Biagio Bossone, 2021. "Exercising Economic Sovereignty in Today's Global Financial World: The Lessons from John Maynard Keynes," Working Papers PKWP2120, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    4. Biagio Bossone, 2020. "Why MMT can’t work: A Keynesian Perspective," Working Papers PKWP2020, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    5. Summa, Ricardo de Figueiredo, 2022. "Alternative uses of functional finance: Lerner, MMT and the Sraffiansh," IPE Working Papers 175/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    6. Delsen Lei, 2023. "Geoff Crocker: Basic Income and Sovereign Money. The Alternative to Economic Crisis and Austerity Policy," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 137-140, June.
    7. Biagio Bossone, 2021. "Why MMT can’t work," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 157-181, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Modern Money Theory (MMT); budget deficits; job guarantee program;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E00 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - General
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General

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