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Modern Money Theory 101: A Reply to Critics

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  • Eric Tymoigne
  • L. Randall Wray

Abstract

One of the main contributions of Modern Money Theory (MMT) has been to explain why monetarily sovereign governments have a very flexible policy space that is unencumbered by hard financial constraints. Through a detailed analysis of the institutions and practices surrounding the fiscal and monetary operations of the treasury and central bank of many nations, MMT has provided institutional and theoretical insights about the inner workings of economies with monetarily sovereign and nonsovereign governments. MMT has also provided policy insights with respect to financial stability, price stability, and full employment. As one may expect, several authors have been quite critical of MMT. Critiques of MMT can be grouped into five categories: views about the origins of money and the role of taxes in the acceptance of government currency, views about fiscal policy, views about monetary policy, the relevance of MMT conclusions for developing economies, and the validity of the policy recommendations of MMT. This paper addresses the critiques raised using the circuit approach and national accounting identities, and by progressively adding additional economic sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric Tymoigne & L. Randall Wray, 2013. "Modern Money Theory 101: A Reply to Critics," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_778, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_778
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eric Tymoigne, 2014. "Modern Money Theory, and Interrelations Between the Treasury and Central Bank: The Case of the United States," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 641-662.
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    Cited by:

    1. Guillaume l'Oeillet, 2022. "Modern Monetary Theory: wrong ideas, real limits and blind spots. An overview of the critics [La Théorie Monétaire Moderne : idées fausses, vraies limites et angles morts. Un tour d’horizon des cri," Post-Print hal-03854814, HAL.
    2. Aloys L. Prinz & Hanno Beck, 2021. "Modern Monetary Theory: A Solid Theoretical Foundation of Economic Policy?," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 49(2), pages 173-186, June.
    3. Eltejaei , Ebrahim & Montazeri Shoorekchali , Jalal, 2021. "Investigating the Relationship between Money Growth and Inflation in Turkey: A Nonlinear Causality Approach," Journal of Money and Economy, Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, vol. 16(3), pages 305-322, September.
    4. Thomas I. Palley, 2015. "The Critics of Modern Money Theory (MMT) are Right," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 45-61, January.
    5. Biagio Bossone, 2020. "Why MMT can’t work: A Keynesian Perspective," Working Papers PKWP2020, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    6. Nicos Zafiris, 2017. "The Financing of Investment in Utility Assets," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 197-212, June.
    7. Olk, Christopher & Schneider, Colleen & Hickel, Jason, 2023. "How to pay for saving the world: Modern Monetary Theory for a degrowth transition," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    8. Tianhao Zhi, 2016. "Animal Spirits and Financial Instability - A Disequilibrium Macroeconomic Perspective," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 28, July-Dece.
    9. Nikolay Nenovsky, 2020. "The Theory of the Emission Economy Bolshevik roots of "Modern Monetary Theory"," Working Papers hal-04084551, HAL.
    10. Biagio Bossone, 2021. "Why MMT can’t work," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 157-181, February.
    11. Eduardo Garzón Espinosa & Bibiana Medialdea García & Esteban Cruz Hidalgo, 2021. "Fiscal Policy Approaches: An Inquiring Look From The Modern Monetary Theory," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 999-1022, October.
    12. Guglielmo Forges Davanzati, 2020. "The Italian Economic Decline and the Proposal of the State as Innovator of First Resort," Working Papers 0049, ASTRIL - Associazione Studi e Ricerche Interdisciplinari sul Lavoro.
    13. Eric Tymoigne & L. Randall Wray, 2015. "Modern Money Theory: A Reply to Palley," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 24-44, January.
    14. Emilio Carnevali & Matteo Deleidi, 2020. "The Trade-off between Inflation and Unemployment in an MMT World: An Open Economy Perspective," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_973, Levy Economics Institute.
    15. Sergio Cesaratto, 2016. "The state spends first: Logic, facts, fictions, open questions," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 44-71, January.
    16. Pedro Leao, 2015. "Is a Very High Public Debt a Problem?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_843, Levy Economics Institute.
    17. Joseph Emmanuel Tetteh & Anthony Amoah & Deodat Emilson Adenutsi, 2019. "Drivers of Stock Market Returns in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Selected Countries," Asian Development Policy Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 7(3), pages 191-208, September.
    18. Vladan Hodulák & Oldřich Krpec, 2015. "Francouzsko-Německé monetární vztahy - pnutí v základech eurozóny [Franco-German Monetary Relations - Tensions Built Into the Eurozone Core]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(4), pages 413-435.
    19. Rohwer, Götz & Behr*, Andreas, 2020. "Banks' Contribution to Government Debts," MPRA Paper 100935, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Shvets, Serhii, 2017. "Internal public debt and economic growth: a case study of Ukraine," MPRA Paper 103873, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2017.
    21. Peter Bofinger, 2020. "Kommt nach der Corona-Krise die Inflation?," Wirtschaftsdienst, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 100(11), pages 825-829, November.
    22. Tianhao Zhi, 2015. "A Critique of Modern Money Theory and the Disequilibrium Dynamics of Banking and Government Finance," Working Paper Series 184, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.
    23. Emilio Ocampo, 2020. "MMT: Modern Monetary Theory or Magical Monetary Thinking? The Empirical Evidence," CEMA Working Papers: Serie Documentos de Trabajo. 762, Universidad del CEMA.
    24. Françoise Drumetz & Christian Pfister, 2021. "Modern Monetary Theory: A Wrong Compass for Decision-Making," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 56(6), pages 355-361, November.
    25. Tianhao Zhi, 2016. "Animal Spirits and Financial Instability - A Disequilibrium Macroeconomic Perspective," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 1-2016.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Modern Money Theory; Price Stability; Full Employment; Financial Stability; Money;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B5 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches
    • E10 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - General
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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